Sirius (instrumental)

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"Sirius"
The Alan Parsons Project - Sirius, Eye in the Sky, Mammagamma single.jpg
Single by the Alan Parsons Project
from the album Eye in the Sky
A-side
B-side "Mammagamma"
ReleasedAugust 1982
Recorded1981–1982
Studio Abbey Road, London
Genre
Length1:48
Label Arista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Alan Parsons
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
"Snake Eyes"
(1981)		"Sirius" / "Eye in the Sky" / "Mammagamma"
(1982)		"Psychobabble"
(1982)
Audio
"Sirius" by the Alan Parsons Project on YouTube

"Sirius" is an instrumental by British rock band The Alan Parsons Project, recorded for their sixth studio album, Eye in the Sky (1982). Nearly two minutes long, it segues into "Eye in the Sky" on the album. Since 1984, it has been played at Chicago Bulls home games, and subsequently became a staple at many other college and professional sporting events throughout North America. [3]

Contents

Background

Alan Parsons wanted the first song on the album to be "Eye in the Sky", but felt there needed to be an introduction leading up to it. As he was working on ideas at home on his Fairlight CMI, he wrote a riff that he liked, which ultimately became "Sirius". [3] This riff was played using a clavinet sample with added tape delay. [4] Originally, "Sirius" was not written in the same key as "Eye in the Sky", but was re-recorded in the studio once the band realized it could lead into "Eye in the Sky". [3]

Usage in media

Sports

"Sirius" has been used as the starting lineup introduction song for the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to the present day. [5] The song was chosen by public address announcer Tommy Edwards after he heard it playing in a local movie theater two years after the song's release in 1982. [5] Since 2006, a version arranged by Ethan Stoller and Kaotic Drumline's Jamie Poindexter has been used. [6] "Sirius" was the opening number of the 2000 documentary Michael Jordan to the Max . [6]

Film, television, and video games

In recent years, the song has been used in the trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues , in the film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , and was played in a Nissan Altima TV advertisement. It is featured on the soundtracks to NBA 2K11 , which is used in the Michael Jordan intro, and a remixed version of the song is used in NBA 2K18 . A soundalike version was used in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius episode "Vanishing Act". It appears in 2017 TV commercials for Best Buy. [7] The 2018 movie, Blockers also plays the song. [8] The track appears in series one of the 2018 YouTube Red production Cobra Kai when Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) tells Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña) "I'm gonna be your sensei." It was also played at the end of the first episode of The Last Dance , a ten-part documentary miniseries by ESPN and Netflix centering around the Chicago Bulls 1997–98 season, when they won their sixth NBA championship. The opening arpeggio is similar to that of the track, "Corridors of Time" in the progressive rock influenced score for the game, Chrono Trigger . The song is heard briefly in Space Jam: A New Legacy , which is a sequel to the original film, during the scene where Sylvester the Cat tries to summon Michael Jordan to help the Tune Squad win the game against Al-G Rhythm and the Goon Squad, only to find out that it is the actor, Michael B. Jordan instead. It was also used in the final episode of Knuckles . In 2023, the song was also used in the sports drama film, Air, which centers around Michael Jordan. In June 2024, it was used in a promotional clip for Deadpool & Wolverine .

On UK television, it was played in the background when a participant was taking part in a record-breaking challenge on BBC's Roy Castle's Record Breakers, and it also played in the main theme of Concorde Special 1989.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Sirius" (instrumental)1:48
2."Eye in the Sky"4:33
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Mammagamma" (instrumental)3:34

Personnel

Covers

References

  1. ↑ Rolling Stone Staff (8 February 2024). "The 100 Greatest Jock Jams of All Time: Staff List". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 29 December 2024. A spectral prog-rock intro instrumental...
  2. ↑ "The 200 Best Songs of the 1980s". Pitchfork . 24 August 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2022. Never mind that the song's spacey instrumental intro ("Sirius")...
  3. 1 2 3 Cohen, Jonathan (24 April 2020). "Alan Parsons, Writer of Chicago Bulls' Theme Song and Former Beatles Engineer, Talks 'Sirius' and 'Let It Be'". Variety. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  4. ↑ Mikula, Jeremy (29 April 2020). "'Aaaaaaaand now ...' Everything you need to know about the Chicago Bulls' intro song, Ray Clay vs. Tommy Edwards and why Alan Parsons isn't collecting many royalties". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  5. 1 2 "How Alan Parsons Project Became the Soundtrack to Jordan's Bull". Ultimate Classic Rock. 9 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 Cohen, Ben (12 April 2016). "The One Record the Warriors Can't Take From the Bulls: Even as Golden State closes on a historic 73rd win, Chicago's pre-game music still sets the standard". Wall Street Journal.
  7. ↑ "Best Buy TV Commercial, 'Sprint Savings' Song By The Alan Parsons Project". ispot.tv. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project - Song Info - List of Movies and TV Shows".
  9. ↑ Pitbull (31 December 2014). "Miami S***". YouTube . Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  10. ↑ https://www.edmtunes.com/2021/08/armin-van-buuren-and-avira-release-new-track-sirius/
  11. ↑ Armin van Buuren & AVIRA - Sirius , retrieved 13 August 2021
  12. ↑ Zombi. "ZOMBI & Friends, Volume 1". Bandcamp. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

Further reading

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