"Heavy Action" is a piece of music composed byJohnny Pearson forKPM Music. Composed in 1970 and featuring a strongbrass andstringfanfare opening, "Heavy Action" soon became a well established sporting theme tune, most associated in the United Kingdom as the theme forSuperstars[1] and in the United States as the theme music not only forABC andESPN'sMonday Night Football, but also forAnimal Planet'sPuppy Bowl.[2]APM Music exclusively controls the rights to the song in North America.
TheBBC commissioned Pearson to write the piece for its music library, while he was working as a member of theTop of the Pops orchestra accompanying pop stars on the weekly music TV show. During production of the first series ofSuperstars in 1973, "Heavy Action" was chosen as the theme music, owing to its high energy brass and string fanfare opening and Olympian themes.[3] The show (which aired in its first run from 1973 to 1985 and has been revived regularly since then) has always used the theme tune for all episodes of the show in its various incarnations, including the latest 2012 OlympicSuperstars edition. The theme is now synonymous with sport in the United Kingdom, and was used extensively by the BBC during their coverage of the2012 Summer Olympics.
Inthe 1975 NFL season,ABC, which had developed the originalSuperstars show in the US, acquired the rights to use "Heavy Action" as the opening theme music toMonday Night Football, although it would not become the official theme until the1989 NFL season. It was also used as the background music during a halftime segment asHoward Cosell narrated highlights of the previous Sunday's games. In 1990,Edd Kalehoff arranged an entirely new recording of "Heavy Action" for the final years ofMonday Night Football on ABC.[4]
For the2006 NFL season, a team of composers comprising Robert Anthony Navarro,Cris Velasco, Sven Spieker,Sascha Dikiciyan andChris Rickwood were hired byAPM Music (APM) to arrange yet another entirely new recording of "Heavy Action" for the rebirth ofMonday Night Football onESPN.[4]
For the2010 NFL season, Cris Velasco, Robert Anthony Navarro, Rod Abernathy, and Joachim Svare were hired by APM to do several arrangements of "Heavy Action" in various musical styles including rock, hip-hop and holiday forMonday Night Football on ESPN.
For the2018 NFL season, ESPN brought back the original Pearson arrangement of "Heavy Action" as the main theme forMonday Night Football.
For the2022 NFL season, ESPN used a remix of "Heavy Action" by EDM producer and DJMarshmello as the intro theme forMonday Night Football.
On 6 February 2005, Animal Planet also acquired the rights to use "Heavy Action" as the opening theme music toPuppy Bowl, and it was used as the official theme ever since.