(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN TESH'S "ROUNDBALL ROCK")
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Can you feel it? MJ and the Bulls, Karl Malone and the Jazz, the '90's - Shaq, Kobe, the Lakers, the "NBA On NBC." But when NBA broadcast departed NBC, that theme, "Roundball Rock" by John Tesh, was no longer heard on basketball broadcasts. The best you could do was an SNL skit.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SEASON 38, EP. 18 ")
TIM ROBINSON: (As Dave Tesh, singing) Ba, ba, ba, ba basketball. Gimme, gimme, gimme the ball because I'm gonna dunk it.
JASON SUDEIKIS: (As John Tesh) Woo (ph).
SIMON: This week, the NBA returned to the network. That means "Roundball Rock" is back in our lives. So we called John Tesh himself and asked if we'd be getting a new version of the tune for its triumphant return.
JOHN TESH: Well, we tried. I got my bands. We went to Nashville to the legendary Ocean Way Recording with the symphony there, brought it back to Los Angeles, mixed it up, put it up on Instagram to test it out with the fans. And mostly what I got was, no, thank you.
SIMON: Oh, my word. For the umpteenth time, how did you write this?
TESH: (Laughter) I actually wrote it the way a lot of composers will write themes, and you'll hear movie composers talk about this. But it was a little stranger, where I was covering the Tour de France bike race. And I heard through the, quote-unquote, "sports grapevine" that NBC had, you know, just gotten the coverage. And people didn't know me as a musician. And so I thought, what would it sound like? What would a theme sound like?
And so it was - basically, I woke up in the middle of the night in Megeve, France, where I was covering the tour. And I had this idea, and it was a little ditty in my head. And I knew if I went to sleep, it would be gone. And so I stayed up for a while, dialed the number from like - the 75-digit number from this tiny hotel back to my answering machine in the States and just sang into my answering machine - you know, (vocalizing). And you know, it cut me off, you know, (imitating answering machine beep). And then it was like, you know, (vocalizing).
And I got home two weeks later, back in the States, and I picked up my messages and put the answering machine on my piano, got my band together, hired a 12-piece, you know, small orchestra with some percussionists. And we laid it down, and we realized there was something wrong. And so I took a break, and I had some - I had a Betamax machine, a video machine, if you remember those. And I had some highlights, basketball highlights. And I actually put a metronome to the fast-break...
SIMON: Wow.
TESH: ...Tempo of Michael Jordan's fast break. And I realized that my version of this new song was at 120 beats a minute, which is basically disco, you know, (vocalizing). But what - the dribble rate was 131. And so when I dialed it up to 131, all of a sudden, it was (clapping, vocalizing). And that's really what changed it for me.
SIMON: Look, you still tour widely, or maybe more widely than ever, with your orchestra. Do you get a lot of requests to hear it?
TESH: It's not so much requests to hear it, but if we end the show without it, I hear about it. And it's - you know, it's a funny thing because, just to be honest, my show is basically - we've played, like, you know, between 2- and 3,000 people now in performing art centers, and it's women who have dragged their husbands or their boyfriends to a John Tesh concert, trying to get some relationship currency, you know? So the guys - we always laugh about it...
SIMON: (Laughter).
TESH: ...'Cause there's always two or three guys in the third or fifth row, and they have their arms folded for most of the show, you know? And they're just sort of...
SIMON: Oh.
TESH: You can see they're doing their taxes in their head, you know? And so we saved the song for, like, second to last. And the guys are whispering in their wives' ears. You know, this is my - I haven't listened to this since - I saw this last week. My biggest joy comes from writing big, bombastic themes. I mean, my - I would say my baseline is every "Rocky" movie, or even "Braveheart," you know? That's the kind of music I love to write. And so a year ago, when I found out that NBC wanted to bring the theme back, my son, Gib, said, you know what - I'm a grandpa - you know what, Pop Pop? I never see you more joyous than when you were in the studio...
SIMON: Aw.
TESH: ...Making music, and so - I know, right? And so I spent a year writing this album called "Sports," which is basically, you know, big sports themes that a lot of people are using to exercise to because there's just not a lot of that out there. The real key, I think, to writing that kind of music is just the left turns, you know, where you might be a key signature of 4/4, and then you might slip into 7/8 or...
SIMON: Yeah.
TESH: It's a lot like if you ever listened to a Yes or Rush or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It's a lot of that influence.
SIMON: Mr. Tesh, you have been a television journalist. You hosted "Entertainment Tonight" for a decade. You, of course, are a beloved keyboardist and composer who's toured with Yanni. Do you think "Roundball Rock" is the thing that should lead your Wikipedia page?
TESH: I'm fine with that. I'm fine with that. But the other thing I just found out is that "Roundball Rock" has its own Wikipedia page. I mean...
SIMON: I found that out, too.
TESH: (Laughter) Yeah. It's - it is - when you look back on it, and when we played the song just a few days ago on the "Today" show with a 14-piece band...
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN TESH'S "ROUNDBALL ROCK")
TESH: ...First time we played it live with an orchestra, live on television. And watching, like, you know, anchors dance around, and watching Ethan Hawke, who was a guest on the show, you know, air drumming to the song, you know, it's - I said to my wife, Connie, I said, you know, this is something that - clearly supernatural that it came back.
SIMON: Well, delightful to talk to you and glad that "Roundball Rock" is back. Thank you so much.
TESH: Thank you, guys. I appreciate you.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN TESH'S "ROUNDBALL ROCK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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