Birdman
perhaps the most influential video game soundtrack(s) of all time
When I was an adolescent, I was never blessed with athletic prowess. Though I played tee-ball as a young child and basketball as an elementary school student, I knew quickly that I didn’t have what it took to pursue sports further. My most positive athletics experience was living vicariously through my video game systems.
My first sports video game that I can recall was Hardball 3 on my family’s ancient Packard Bell running the mighty Windows 3.11 operating system. It was thanks to that computer that I learned the rudiments of working with MS-DOS, that would in turn eventually lead to a moderately successful career piloting a keyboard for eight hours a day. In retrospect I should’ve taken a baseball bat to it when I had the chance.
Hardball was the first of many sports games I played, but far from the last. I had an original Nintendo Entertainment System, though I eschewed the more abstract sports games on that system. I couldn’t relate to the highly pixelated graphics in the same way I could the relatively aesthetic computer games. I received a (used) Playstation for Christmas in 1997, where I gravitated towards professional wrestling most of all, particularly WCW vs. The World.
It was around this time that I began renting games from my local Blockbuster Video store, and even on rare occasions was allowed to rent entire systems for a weekend with money I saved up from birthdays and allowances. This allowed me to play games on the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and eventually the Nintendo 64. It wouldn’t be too long before I received a used N64 for the next Christmas, alongside a beat-up copy of WCW vs. nWo: World Tour.
Most of my exposure to games was from the discount bin of cheap used games from either Blockbuster or the mall’s Electronics Boutique (soon to be EB Games, then eventually GameStop). I rotated throughout the standard sports games, such as Madden, NHL, the MLB series, FIFA, and even NBA Live. Thanks to economy of scale and the relatively disposable nature of sports games, I was able to pick them up for literal pennies on the dollar.
My favorite sports games were the more esoteric ones. NFL Blitz might still be my top pick for football over every Madden game (except the highlight of the franchise, Madden ‘04). JetMoto was like a new generation ExciteBike. I spent more hours on the NASCAR 98 game than anyone ever should have, but I was legitimately skilled at it by the end, winning Bristol Motor Speedway multiple times on the highest difficulty level. It was the relatively obscure game 2Xtreme that proved the gateway drug, though.
The sequel to an adaptation of ESPN’s X Games concept, 2Xtreme made the sports of BMX biking, snowboarding, roller blading, and skateboarding into a Cruisin’ USA style racing game. The graphics were closer to what you’d find in a Sega Genesis or SNES game, but the gameplay was intriguing. I found myself using the skateboard modes most of all, so it came as no surprise that I was drawn to other skateboarding games when they were released. (You already know where this is going.)
When Tony Hawk Pro Skater came out in September of 1999, it was like the gates of Heaven opened up for me. The game combined the customization of my beloved wrestling games with the inherent competition of all of the sports games I liked. My favorite characteristic, though, was the Free Skate mode. I could explore and experiment as I wanted, with no restrictions beyond my skill. I could zone out to my heart’s content, finding myself in a “flow state” of mild disassociation. (Why yes, I was gloriously undiagnosed at the time, why do you ask?)
Free Skate allowed me to explore not only the techniques and arenas of the game, but it provided me with exposure to new and exciting music thanks to its revolutionary soundtrack. Music design was integral to the overall aesthetic from the beginning of Tony Hawk’s involvement. That’s right, the game was significantly developed before Hawk became the star attraction. Initially, THPS was a tech demo using Neversoft’s existing resources, including a model of Bruce Willis lifted from their previous game Apocalypse. Their goal was to build on the success of Sega’s arcade game Top Skater (developed by the team behind Crazy Taxi) and Electronic Arts’ Street Sk8er, but with a more realistic feel.
Hawk came on board in September 1998, rejecting publisher Activision’s initial offer of a flat fee in exchange for a percentage of the gross royalties. (This would be among the smartest deals ever made in video games, an industry known far and wide for losing money hand over fist.) He was hands-on from the start, requesting demos he could play on his modified PlayStation to judge feel and timing. The animation team attempted to use footage from Hawk’s skating to use a basis for rotoscoping, but only used a handful of his techniques directly.
More important to the mission of this article is Hawk’s influence on the soundtrack. He personally recruited bands for the game, and directed the Neversoft team to spend both time and money on getting just the right sounds. Hawk’s goal was to get skaters to try video games, but instead he wound up inspiring gamers to go skate. Concurrent with his early dominance in nationally televised skating events like the X Games, Hawk became the face of skateboarding for the broader culture. (Whether that’s a good thing is an article for someone more well versed in skate lore to judge, not me. I occasionally know my limitations.)
For me, the soundtracks to the first few THPS games pried open doors that were only a sliver open; though I had exposure to all kinds of music before this, it was this set of tracks that cemented my eclectic tastes. On the first game, Hawk’s personal inclination to West Coast punk and ska shone through, while on subsequent games they made an intentional choice to diversify their selections to reflect the broader skating community. (They also had a significantly larger budget and a bigger team to develop the franchise.)
I’m going to go through track by track and tell a little about each song on the first THPS game. If you’ve read my newsletter before, you know how I do. I don’t want to belabor this intro any more than I need to, so let’s get started with Track One.
1. Dead Kennedys - “Police Truck”
This song from the DK’s was number one on Hawk’s picks for the soundtrack, and he was shocked that it was cleared by Activision without any hassle. The only edit made was to mute the profanity. Opening the game with “Police Truck” was a bold declaration: THPS was going to be representative of the California punk scene, even if it didn’t match up to the standards of decency or decorum that big video game publishers usually held. By using the DK’s, the door opened for other bands to place their songs without being perceived as a “sellout”. (Now, East Bay Ray and the remaining crew will pretty much compromise their integrity at the drop of a hat, but then it was a big deal.) Ray claims that Jello Biafra signed off on the soundtrack, but Biafra disputes it. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for the intellectual property of the band falling out of Biafra’s control, leading to their music being used in all sorts of films and other media.
2. The Ernies - “Here and Now”
The Ernies were composed of four VCU students who loved alternative, punk, and ska music. They quickly expanded to include a full horn section (aided by several of the existing members studying music at VCU) and embraced ska wholeheartedly before their first self-titled album in 1995. Their second album Dropping Science in 1997 pivoted towards a hybrid of rap-metal and generic Nineties alternative music, jettisoning most of the horn section in the process. The Ernies’ third album Meson Ray in 1999 was their last and most successful work, released on SoCal ska-punk label Mojo Records. It was there that they attracted the attention of licensing arm of Activision, enshrining them for all eternity on the Tony Hawk soundtrack.
3. Even Rude - “Vilified”
Even Rude also operated in the ska-punk field, though with an inclination more towards Faith No More style funk-metal than your typical Reel Big Fishes of the world. They were based in Los Angeles, which coincidentally is where Activision had offices. Guitarist Keith “Cake” Kaplanon happened to have gone to high school with a then-current Activision employee, and when they reconnected Kaplanon offered the employee a song off their debut album Superabsorbent. That proved to be their career highlight, with just one more album (2005’s One Size Fits All) under their belt since.
4. Goldfinger - “Superman”
This is THE iconic THPS song, bar none. Goldfinger formed in 1994 when former Electric Love Hogs singer John Feldmann wanted to go in a different direction than their hair metal quasi-parody. Feldmann recruited bassist Simon Williams from the shoe store they both worked at, and the duo connected with an A&R executive at Mojo Records who signed them to the fledgling label. Their first self-titled album in 1996 leaned more aggressive than later outings, but attracted the attention of Universal Records who bought out the entire label. Goldfinger’s second album Hang-Ups in 1997 led with “Superman”, which quickly became licensed in several movies and television shows in background roles. When Activision asked Feldmann for a song they could use for THPS, “Superman” was the obvious choice. Shortly thereafter, Williams left the band leaving Feldmann as the sole continuing member. He would go on to lead the band through six more albums at present date, and spurring his own songwriting and production career. His songs crop up in an incredibly diverse array of locations, from All-Time Low and Good Charlotte, to The Used and Papa Roach, to Ashlee Simpson and Hilary Duff.
“Superman” remains Feldmann’s most well-known song among the general public, and it is associated so strongly with the THPS series that the documentary about the games comes from the lyrics: Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story. Tony Hawk is an avowed fan of the song, going so far as to perform it with the current iteration of Goldfinger in concert a number of times, as seen above.
5. Primus - “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver”
First of all, Primus sucks. With that out of the way, Primus was among the first picks for Hawk when selecting music for the game. To quote the man himself:
I think of Primus as a really integral part of our skate culture, they did a lot of songs that meant a lot to the skate community – and that song probably wasn’t the first pick that people would associate with them, but that was what they were becoming known for.
Although lead singer and bassist extraordinaire Les Claypool wasn’t a skater, guitarist Larry Lalonde had a long history with the SoCal skate community and was friends with many of the skaters who would eventually become involved in the game. “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” is perhaps their most well-known song now thanks to THPS, although “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” and “My Name is Mud” were more successful in terms of sales. (Besides, it’s fun to type “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”). “John the Fisherman” would later see fame as part of the Guitar Hero franchise, which should probably be somewhere in the queue for me the next time I want to write about video games.
6. Speedealer - “Screamer / Nothing to Me”
Hailing from Lubbock, Texas, the band originally named “REO Speedealer” was born in 1992, playing metallic punk they called “high speed rock’n’roll”. Their big break came in 1996 when they recorded with Daniel Rey (the man responsible for the majority of the later Ramones material) to produce Here Comes Death on Royalty Records. Unfortunately, REO Speedwagon issued a cease and desist right after, just in time for Royalty to go under. Undeterred, the band continued to plug away, playing upwards of three hundred shows a year for the better part of a decade with a variety of members. They are still going, although with bitter disputes and frequent breaks stopping them for periods along the way.
7. Suicidal Tendencies - “Cyco Vision”
The godfathers of crossover thrash (the unholy hybrid of hardcore punk and thrash metal), Mike Muir’s band Suicidal Tendencies were one of the first bands to receive national attention from MTV outside of the confines of pop music. Their song “Institutionalized” and the accompanying video was many young music fans’ introductions to modern punk-ish music. Despite an ever-changing lineup and frequent hiatuses, they remain on the road today, never staying in one place musically. This song comes from their 1999 album Freedumb, leaning more towards mainstream skate punk than anything else. All they wanted was a Pepsi, after all.
8. The Suicide Machines - “New Girl”
Detroit ska-punkers The Suicide Machines released their first full-length Destruction by Definition in 1996 on Hollywood Records, bridging the gap between third-wave ska and seventh (?) wave punk rock. The opening track “New Girl” is one of their most well-known songs, although I’d wager more people know either “Give” off of their second album Battle Hymns (featured in a Disney Channel Original Movie) or their cover of Lynn Anderson’s “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” from the soundtrack to SLC Punk.
9. Unsane - “Committed”
Unsane is arguably the most abrasive and non-commercial band featured on the first soundtrack, but their noise-rock fits in well with skate punk as a whole. The band formed at that bastion of rebellion Sarah Lawrence College in 1988. Their most prominent song “Scrape” was featured on MTV with a video highlighting wipeouts from skate videos. The band achieved notoriety with their self-titled debut in 1991, portraying a police photograph of a man who had been decapitated by a subway car (no, I’m not linking it, find it for yourself).
10. The Vandals - “Euro-Barge”
Perhaps the quintessential punk band from Orange County, California, the Vandals have become a legacy of how to effectively use humor to get their point of view across. Born at the outset of American punk in 1980, the Vandals flipped through members quickly before settling on a rock-solid lineup including frontman Dave Quackenbush (no relation to indie wrestling “legend” and #MeToo perpetrator Mike), guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, bassist and songwriter Joe Escalante, and fill-in drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese in 1988. Unfortunately, their political stance (or lack thereof) means they have courted controversy in recent years after playing shows in Iraq for American soldiers. Escalante is also notable for being one of the few lawyers in punk rock, and he had a radio show offering legal advice to musicians and entertainers for years.
Now I could have stopped with the original soundtrack, but to be honest with you I played the sequel (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2) far more than the first entry in the series. It’s widely acclaimed as one of the best video games of all time, attracting attention for its accessible gameplay, easy-to-learn-hard-to-master technique, and sheer replayability. The addition of a level editor is a (pardon the pun) game changer, allowing users to design their own parks and generate endless content. In terms of time I’ve invested, this is one of my top five games of all time. (Star Trek: Birth of the Federation, The Sims, Minecraft, and Extreme Wrestling Revenge round out the list for the completists). Because I love you, dear reader, I’m going to go over the second (and superior) set of songs. Let’s get started with the first tune on the playlist…
1. Papa Roach - “Blood Brothers”
Yes, they’re more than just “Last Resort”. Hailing from Vacaville, California (the onion capital of the state), they were at the forefront of nu-metal in the late Nineties thanks to blending their influences of Faith No More, Snot, and Mr. Bungle. As they progressed, they opened for Incubus, Static-X, and (hed)PE and attracted attention from Dreamworks. Their big-label debut Infest in 2000 featured their biggest hits, including the aforementioned “Last Resort”, “Between Angels and Insects”, and “Blood Brothers”. After this album, the impact of rap-metal waned and lead singer Jacoby Shaddix’s enthusiasm for rapping declined as well. Eventually, they transitioned into more of a standard metal band. They’re still going, though with diminished sales and a renewed emphasis on the nostalgia circuit. Don’t you feel old now?
2. Anthrax and Public Enemy - “Bring Tha Noize”
Public Enemy released their song in 1987 off of the Less Than Zero soundtrack, later leading off their landmark 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back with the track. By 1989, thrash icons Anthrax began playing a cover of “Bring the Noise” in concert, where it became a highlight of their live shows. (Part of the appeal was Public Enemy shouting out Anthrax in the song itself, thanks to guitarist Scott Ian frequently wearing Public Enemy merchandise in public.) This led to Ian asking Chuck D for permission to release the song jointly in 1991, to which Chuck agreed. In turn, the two groups toured together, closing out each concert with the combined performance. Unfortunately, this paved the way for increased cooperation between rap groups and metal bands, inevitably leading to Limp Bizkit.
3. Rage Against the Machine - “Guerrilla Radio”
From the third Rage album The Battle of Los Angeles, and the last released when they were a going concern, “Guerrilla Radio” was the second Grammy winning Rage song after 1997’s “Tire Me”. If “Superman” is the iconic track for the first THPS game, then “Guerrilla Radio” is the iconic track for the second. The game itself opens with a video highlighting the song. It’s sad to think that this really marked the death knell of Rage’s career, since it’s all downhill from this point. You know the saying: if you put two leftists in a room, you’ll hear five opinions. I can’t say whether it’s politics, money, or personal differences that ended their run, but it’s almost certainly a combination of the three.
4. Naughty by Nature - “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”
An album track from their second album, “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” is a bit of an odd selection. “O.P.P.” would have been the obvious choice, but perhaps it was too upbeat and poppy? Regardless, this song is notable for being the first solely hip-hop track on the THPS soundtracks, rather than a crossover or rap-metal composition. Ironically, the song samples Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome”, meaning that Chuck D received two separate royalty checks from Activision. Good work if you can get it, unless you consider the absolute minefield that is Public Enemy’s sampling legalities. I bet the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy’s production arm) really couldn’t stand Biz Markie (whose sample of “Alone Again” essentially ruined the golden age of sampling without paying).
5. Bad Religion - “You”
I figure this is my newsletter, so I give myself permission to go off on a tangent. I can’t stand people like Greg Graffin (primary songwriter and only continuous member of Bad Religion) who wield their own political viewpoints like a cudgel against others, but don’t have the temerity to examine their own actions for consistency. Graffin was vehemently against “sellouts” in his early career, but when a major label came calling in 1993 he had no compunctions about ditching Epitaph Records (founded and run by fellow bandmate Brett Gurewitz) for the big money of Atlantic Records. There, they put out four albums that began as mediocre and descended from there. Graffin came crawling back to Epitaph when Atlantic was cutting poorly selling bands, allegedly making amends for calling Gurewitz a worthless drug addict in the process. Seems like a real winner, doesn’t he? I don’t mind selling out, I do mind hypocrisy.
6. Powerman 5000 - “When Worlds Collide”
Spider One (born Michael Cummings) is the only consistent member of Powerman 5000, formed in Boston in the early Nineties. Despite his insistence that he does his own thing, isn’t it remarkable how the music he became known for (a hybrid of industrial metal and alternative rock laced with B-movie samples) resembles that of other Boston bands like White Zombie (a hybrid of industrial metal and alternative rock laced with B-movie samples)? Wait, hold on… Michael has a brother named Robert Cummings… better known as Rob Zombie… I think I’ve cracked the code. Powerman 5000 was omnipresent for most of a decade on any kind of licensed media, and for that they should be praised. Again, I have no problem with selling out, just be internally consistent.
7. Millencollin - “No Cigar”
Millencollin were at the forefront of the minor Swedish punk revival of the Nineties, culminating in the ascension of the Hives and Turbonegro. Pennybridge Pioneers was their fourth album, and their first for an international company: Epitaph Records. Bad Religion guitarist (and label head) Brett Gurewitz was the producer for this album, and Epitaph was the North American distribution arm for Millencollin’s Swedish label Burning Heart Records. (It’s a small world after all.) Millencollin carried the flag for skate punk, ska punk, and all genres in between from their inception, earning the respect of Tony Hawk himself. He even performed in a music video for a reinterpretation of the song, seen here:
8. The High & Mighty ft. Mos Def and Mad Skillz - “B-Boy Document ‘99”
The combination of producer Milo “DJ Mighty Mi” Berger and vocalist Eric “Mr. Eon” Meltzer formed The High & Mighty in 1996 in Philadelphia, earning accolades for their combination of underground bonafides and their commercial potential. Their first album Home Field Advantage has features from a murderer’s row of guest stars, including Pharoahe Monch, Rashida Jones, Eminem, Kool Keith, Wordsworth, and Thirstin Howl III. This song was the outstanding moment of their careers, as Berger’s skills running the label Eastern Conference Records soon took precedence. By 2005, the label essentially imploded under accusations of mismanaging their other artists, using proceeds from releases by Cage, R.A. the Rugged Man, and Aesop Rock to prop up High and Mighty business.
9. Dub Pistols - “Cyclone”
The British duo behind Dub Pistols made their name with big beat in the style of Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim), the Chemical Brothers, and the Crystal Method, despite their name hinting at a more dub-oriented direction. Later releases after “Cyclone” frequently featured former Specials singer Terry Hall, providing a push back towards ska, reggae, and dub. Personally, my tastes lean more towards big beat, such as in my playlist here:
10. Lagwagon - “May 16”
Whenever a musical group is described in a review as “seminal”, my music critic red flag gets thrown. In the case of Lagwagon, though, it applies. Originating from just outside Santa Barbara, California, the band once known as Section 8 signed to Fat Mike’s Fat Wreck Chords label whereupon he personally offered them a new name, based on their somewhat reliable touring van. They’ve been recording for Fat Mike on and off ever since, never entertaining offers to move labels or pursue more lucrative gigs. There’s something noble in deciding how successful you want to be and sticking to it. More bands could benefit from that mindset: you don’t have to be the Beatles, nor does everyone want to be. By the way, drummer Dave Raun and guitarist Joey Cape might be more notable for their tenure in their side project Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, alongside Fat Mike and a fourth member who’ll be introduced later in this article. (Look at the continuity!)
11. Styles of Beyond - “Subculture”
Styles of Beyond was a collaboration between two MCs (Ryu and Tak), a DJ (DJ Cheapshot), and a producer (Vin Skully) hailing from the almighty San Fernando valley. They worked on an album entitled Terraform, which included the track “Subculture”. That album was sidelined, though, when the group came under the wing of Linkin Park guru Mike Shinoda, who signed them to his own label. The remainder of the album was shelved, but this track was licensed ahead of time. Shinoda incorporated their works into his own Fort Minor project, where unfortunately the group languished. Shinoda’s attention was understandably divided, leading Styles of Beyond to fall by the wayside. Their lasting impact was being featured on numerous video game soundtracks, including THPS 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and several different WWE games over the years.
12. Consumed - “Heavy Metal Winner”
Although signed to Fat Wreck Chords and sounding like any number of SoCal skate punk bands, Consumed came from Nottingham, England circa 1992. Their first EP Breakfast at Pappa’s featured “Heavy Metal Winner” as the opening track, perhaps paying homage to the band’s death metal origins under the name Desecrator. Consumed released that EP and two more full-length releases before calling it quits in 2003. The band reconvened in 2015 with the memorable song “What Would Cliff Burton Do?”:
13. Fu Manchu - “Evil Eye”
One of my guilty pleasures is stoner rock: big sludgy guitars with meandering tempos and loads of distortion. Fu Manchu was one of the leading lights of what became known as the Desert Rock scene, with a cluster of bands all starting in and around the Palm Desert area of Southern California. Other bands from the area include Mondo Generator, Kyuss, and Queens of the Stone Age. One of the hallmarks of the scene was the lack of traditional performance venues, so musicians would gather at parties staged in the middle of the desert powered by generators. The natural reverb and echo from the wide open spaces lent itself to wide open volumes, typified by songs like “Evil Eye”. For more desert rock, try this playlist:
14. Black Planet ft. AlleyLife- “Out With the Old”
This is a case where the original liner notes don’t tell the whole story. The song “Out With the Old” is credited solely to Alleylife, a relatively minor indie rapper from Michigan with few other releases. Alleylife only contributed guest vocals to the track, though, which was created by the genre-bending Detroit band Black Planet, who describe their music as “UrbanMetalGhettoGrunge”. Their recorded output, according to the invaluable Discogs, is just this one track. But once again the liner notes lie as their Bandcamp is far more comprehensive. Sometimes it pays to do a little bit of digging.
15. Swingin’ Utters - “Five Lessons Learned”
For a change, Swingin’ Utters represent not SoCal punk, but instead NorCal punk. Originally from Santa Cruz but moving soon after their founding in 1988 to San Francisco, Johnny Peebucks (a.k.a. John Bonnel) is the only continuous member though guitarist Darius Koski has been with the band since 1990 . They incorporate more country and Celtic influences into their street punk style, verging on both cowpunk and folk punk as they mature. They’ve been signed to Fat Wreck Chords for almost thirty years now, with longtime bassist Spike Slawson finding fame as the lead singer for Fat Wreck Chords supergroup… Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. (Callback! Continuity! Paying off the gag!)
That does it for this newsletter. Feel free to yell at me on social media, in the comments below, or via carrier pigeon. Telegrams are accepted as well, though just the actual physical ones and not the online messaging service. If you have ideas for future articles, you’re more than welcome to suggest them. I have several articles planned, but good topics are always pushed to the front of the line if they’re juicy enough. See you next time!