Not the Same Ol' Song

As far as tunes that name-check the team go, the new track "San Diego Chargers," by Mexican dance-pop-punk-funk duo Plastilina Mosh  won't take over first place in the hearts of Chargers faithful anytime soon — not when that deathless discofied ditty "San Diego Super Chargers" continues to hold the top spot — after 29  years.

"Super Chargers" came about through a marketing campaign initiated by Gene Klein, who owned the Chargers in the '70s. Recorded at a Los Angeles studio in 1979, the song was reportedly written in a day by David Sieff and Jerry Marcellino — the latter a recording-industry vet producer/arranger/songwriter who picked up 17 gold albums, six gold singles, and three platinum albums. (Marcellino worked with artists such as Bobby Darin and Michael Jackson from his Jackson Five days  on.)

L.A. R&B session vocalist James Gaylen was drafted to sing lead, and Marcellino put the recording out under the name "Captain Q.B. & the Big Boys." The song still rallies the crowds at the Q and is known far beyond SD; a copy of the original seven-inch single fetched $52.51 on eBay last  year.

In August, "San Diego Chargers" came out on Monterrey-based Plastilina Mosh's fourth studio album, All U Need Is Mosh. A promo sheet says the song is an "instrumental track that experiments with a drumline battery" and quotes composer Alejandro Rosso: "It's basically a testosterone song about football tackles. The arrangement is focused on the percussion. The song is a weird blend between two styles that I find original and  fresh."

A review on Mexico City website mehaceruido.com noted the song's "evident homage to the sound of Daft Punk"; James Hudson in the Tucson Weekly praised its "spine-tingling, halftime march"; reviewer Tamara Palmer on Metromix.com found it "[o]ne of the most charming songs on the album…a marching, drum-heavy groove. It features sounds that give the illusion of being sampled from an actual football game, but were actually created in the  studio."

Reached by email, Plastilina's Rosso explained, "I actually recorded some clashes and bought some sound library's football effects to use. I  wouldn't dare use any unauthorized NFL audio in a song — they would tackle my bank account faster than a  linebacker.

"I had the idea to do a song that involved…manly brutal clashing, etc.; I was in San Diego that day and decided the song could have football elements, and 'San Diego Chargers' sounded  nice.

"I am not a Chargers fan but think that they have a cool team, and  wouldn't like the song to be called 'Dallas Cowboys' — that would be distracting in a way because there's a lot of different things that could come to mind rather than football —  heh-heh."