San Diego Super Chargers
Encyclopedia
"San Diego Super Chargers" is the fight song
of the San Diego Chargers
of the National Football League
(NFL). The disco
song was written in 1979 during the Air Coryell era of the Chargers, and it was recorded by a band named Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys. New Chargers owners replaced the song in 1989 with a non-disco cover version
, but the original version was revived aound 2002. Its popularity with Chargers fans endures in spite of its dated sound.
, the team was playing a winning and exciting style under head coach Don Coryell
, popularized by its high-scoring offense, nicknamed Air Coryell. Klein started an aggressive marketing campaign that included the song. Klein's son, Michael, brought some friends from the recording industry to a few Chargers games, and he requested the creation of a song based on the Chargers' playing style. "We wanted something that would light up the crowd," said Michael Klein.
The disco song was written in almost a day by David Sieff and Jerry Marcellino, a producer and songwriter for A&M Records
who had worked with artists such as Bobby Darin
, Diana Ross
and Michael Jackson
. Studio musicians in Los Angeles collaborated with the vocalist, Los Angeles R&B singer James Gaylen, to record the song. Marcellino, who also produced the song, named the band Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys on a lark. A 7-inch, 45 rpm single of the song was sold in San Diego, and Marcellino received a quarter for each one sold.
Under new Chargers owner Alex Spanos
, who acquired the team in 1984, the song was not played for a few seasons. It was brought back in 1989 with a more modern sound. The cover version
was recorded by San Diego singer Leonard Tucker and produced by Bo Donovan. However, the recording was lost when Qualcomm Stadium
, the home of the Chargers, renovated its sound-system room in the late 1990s.
Around 2002, the Chargers resumed playing the original version by Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys. The song is played by the Chargers at home games after San Diego scores and victories.
(AP) sports writer, wrote in his book, San Diego Chargers, that the song is "perhaps one of the catchiest fight songs of all-time". The New York Times
said the song "has a distinctly 1970’s roller disco
vibe". AP referred to the song as a "dated disco smash", while The Standard-Times called it an "infamous piece of NFL kitsch". Mike Downey
of the Chicago Tribune
commented that the song "has tortured more eardrums than anything Simon Cowell
or Paula Abdul
ever judged" on American Idol
. The San Diego Union-Tribune calls the song "cool, catchy and camp" and "a local anthem" while noting that the 1989 remake was "ill-advised."
The Union-Tribune noted that a generation of fans grew up hearing the song and associate it with the good times and winning during the Chargers' Air Coryell era. Safety John Lynch
, a San Diego native, sang the song to his Denver Broncos
teammates before a 2004 game in his hometown against the Chargers. “When you've grown up with that, it's part of you,” he said. After hearing "San Diego Super Chargers" during a 2005 game, Chargers linebacker Donnie Edwards
, another San Diego native, had a flashback to his childhood and attending a Chargers game, watching Dan Fouts
throwing to Charlie Joiner
.
Prior to the 2008 AFC Championship game against the Chargers, New England Patriots
head coach Bill Belicheck said, "I hate that song." He first heard it when he was an assistant coach with the New York Giants
in 1980, when the Chargers won 44–7 while Fouts threw for 444 yards. Belicheck called the game a "track meet" and recalled Chargers players such as Chuck Muncie
, Kellen Winslow
, and John Jefferson
. "They didn’t get through playing that song before they had scored again and they started playing it again. It was ‘San Diego Super Chargers,’ that’s still ringing in my head."
The song is known outside of San Diego as well. ESPN
football anchors Chris Berman and Tom Jackson sometimes sing "San Diego Super Chargers" when announcing Chargers highlights. In a parody, the New York Jets
locker room was humming "San Diego super chokers" after they defeated the Chargers in the 2010 playoffs.
Various news sources including ESPN
, The Los Angeles Times and the New England Sports Network
have referred to the Chargers team itself as the "San Diego Super Chargers" Chargers offensive guard Doug Wilkerson
, who played under Coryell, said, "We were the ‘San Diego Super Chargers.’ That song was fast and electric, and so were we."
Fight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
of the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL). The disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
song was written in 1979 during the Air Coryell era of the Chargers, and it was recorded by a band named Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys. New Chargers owners replaced the song in 1989 with a non-disco cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, but the original version was revived aound 2002. Its popularity with Chargers fans endures in spite of its dated sound.
History
In the 1970s, the Chargers were owned by Gene Klein and ticket sales were lagging after losing seasons. In 19791979 San Diego Chargers season
The 1979 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 9–7 record in 1978. They made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years...
, the team was playing a winning and exciting style under head coach Don Coryell
Don Coryell
Donald David Coryell was an American football coach, who coached in the NFL first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973–1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He was well known for his innovations to football's passing offense. Coryell's offense was commonly known as "Air Coryell"...
, popularized by its high-scoring offense, nicknamed Air Coryell. Klein started an aggressive marketing campaign that included the song. Klein's son, Michael, brought some friends from the recording industry to a few Chargers games, and he requested the creation of a song based on the Chargers' playing style. "We wanted something that would light up the crowd," said Michael Klein.
The disco song was written in almost a day by David Sieff and Jerry Marcellino, a producer and songwriter for A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
who had worked with artists such as Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. Studio musicians in Los Angeles collaborated with the vocalist, Los Angeles R&B singer James Gaylen, to record the song. Marcellino, who also produced the song, named the band Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys on a lark. A 7-inch, 45 rpm single of the song was sold in San Diego, and Marcellino received a quarter for each one sold.
Under new Chargers owner Alex Spanos
Alex Spanos
Alexander Gus Spanos is an American real estate developer and self-made billionaire of Greek origin who founded the A. G. Spanos Companies and owns the San Diego Chargers.-Early life:...
, who acquired the team in 1984, the song was not played for a few seasons. It was brought back in 1989 with a more modern sound. The cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
was recorded by San Diego singer Leonard Tucker and produced by Bo Donovan. However, the recording was lost when Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
, the home of the Chargers, renovated its sound-system room in the late 1990s.
Around 2002, the Chargers resumed playing the original version by Captain Q.B. and the Big Boys. The song is played by the Chargers at home games after San Diego scores and victories.
General reaction
Bernie Wilson, Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
(AP) sports writer, wrote in his book, San Diego Chargers, that the song is "perhaps one of the catchiest fight songs of all-time". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said the song "has a distinctly 1970’s roller disco
Roller disco
A roller disco is a discothèque or skating rink where all the dancers wear roller skates of some kind . The music played is modern and easily danceable, historically disco but in modern times including almost any form of dance music or pop music...
vibe". AP referred to the song as a "dated disco smash", while The Standard-Times called it an "infamous piece of NFL kitsch". Mike Downey
Mike Downey
Mike Downey is an American newspaper columnist.From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the Chicago Tribune originated by Ring Lardner in 1913...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
commented that the song "has tortured more eardrums than anything Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
or Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
ever judged" on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. The San Diego Union-Tribune calls the song "cool, catchy and camp" and "a local anthem" while noting that the 1989 remake was "ill-advised."
The Union-Tribune noted that a generation of fans grew up hearing the song and associate it with the good times and winning during the Chargers' Air Coryell era. Safety John Lynch
John Lynch (American football)
John Terrence Lynch, Jr. is a former National Football League strong safety and current NFL on Fox color commentator. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Stanford.A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Lynch earned a Super...
, a San Diego native, sang the song to his Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
teammates before a 2004 game in his hometown against the Chargers. “When you've grown up with that, it's part of you,” he said. After hearing "San Diego Super Chargers" during a 2005 game, Chargers linebacker Donnie Edwards
Donnie Edwards
Donnie Edwards is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL Draft...
, another San Diego native, had a flashback to his childhood and attending a Chargers game, watching Dan Fouts
Dan Fouts
Daniel Francis Fouts is a retired Hall of Fame American football quarterback in the National Football League. Fouts played his entire professional career with the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987...
throwing to Charlie Joiner
Charlie Joiner
Charles B. Joiner Jr. is a former American football player who starred in professional football for eighteen seasons, virtually exclusively at the position of wide receiver. He retired with the most career receptions, receiving yards, and games played of any wide receiver in NFL history. He was...
.
Prior to the 2008 AFC Championship game against the Chargers, New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
head coach Bill Belicheck said, "I hate that song." He first heard it when he was an assistant coach with the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1980, when the Chargers won 44–7 while Fouts threw for 444 yards. Belicheck called the game a "track meet" and recalled Chargers players such as Chuck Muncie
Chuck Muncie
Harry Vance "Chuck" Muncie is a former American football running back who played for the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers in the National Football League from 1976 to 1984...
, Kellen Winslow
Kellen Winslow
Kellen Boswell Winslow is a former American football tight end with the Missouri Tigers and the San Diego Chargers. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the game. He is currently the athletic director at Central State University.Winslow did not play high...
, and John Jefferson
John Jefferson
John Jefferson is a retired American football wide receiver in the National Football League . He was selected out of Arizona State University in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. He played three seasons in San Diego, where he became the first NFL player to gain...
. "They didn’t get through playing that song before they had scored again and they started playing it again. It was ‘San Diego Super Chargers,’ that’s still ringing in my head."
Other uses
Chargers fans play the song in preparation for upcoming games, and some fans even play "San Diego Super Chargers" at their weddings.The song is known outside of San Diego as well. ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
football anchors Chris Berman and Tom Jackson sometimes sing "San Diego Super Chargers" when announcing Chargers highlights. In a parody, the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
locker room was humming "San Diego super chokers" after they defeated the Chargers in the 2010 playoffs.
Various news sources including ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, The Los Angeles Times and the New England Sports Network
New England Sports Network
The New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...
have referred to the Chargers team itself as the "San Diego Super Chargers" Chargers offensive guard Doug Wilkerson
Doug Wilkerson
Douglas Wilkerson is a former American football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers. Wilkerson played college football at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina....
, who played under Coryell, said, "We were the ‘San Diego Super Chargers.’ That song was fast and electric, and so were we."
External links
- "San Diego Super Chargers" MP3 and Lyics at Chargers.com