Smash hit! What's the power of a walk-up song?
What's in a walk-up song? As a baseball player struts up to bat, a good song blaring over stadium speakers can really pump up both the athlete and the crowd. But a bad tune can do the exact opposite.
As the Toronto Blue Jays head into today's crucial game against the Texas Rangers, Shad explores the power of walk-up music with Sonali Karnick of CBC Sports and former Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart.
What does a player's song say about him? How does music figure into a winning team's strategy?
WEB EXTRA | Q-niverse, after this segment we asked: what's your walk-up song and why? Listen below to see which audience members we brought up to bat.
Also, here's the q team's (a.k.a. "The Q Jays") walk-up playlist:
First up, we have q host Shadrach "Smooth Moves" Kabango with Teddy Pendergrass, Love TKO
Now, in fighting shape, here's the rest of the q crew with their choice walk-up song:
- Alain Derbez with Beastie Boys, Sabotage
- Brian Coulton with Björk, Army of Me. "Obviously."
- Fabiola Carletti with Major Lazer, Watch Out For This. "Pull up! Pull up!"
- Mitch Pollock with Bon Jovi, Bed of Roses "I want to stun the pitcher with the smooth guitar of Richie Sambora and then blast a dinger."
- Tyrone Callender with Kanye West, Power
- Diane Eros with M.I.A., Bad Girls "I can't help it."
- Steve Johnston with Iron Maiden, Run to the Hills
- Nick McCabe Lokos with The Melvins, Hooch
- Julie Crysler with The Ramones, I Wanna Be Sedated
- Sean Foley with Black Sabbath Snowblind
- Sonya Bell with Selena Gomez, Like a Champion "If it's good enough for Hillary Clinton, it's good enough for me."
- Chris Berube with Sonic Youth, Kool Thing "Realistically, it wouldn't be played at a baseball stadium."
- Carolyn Wu with Kelly Clarkson, Miss Independent
- Stuart MacLean with U.N.K.L.E, Restless "I was tempted to say The Chemical Brothers, Block Rockin' Beats, but I swear that someone in the MLB has that already."
- Lisa Bryn Rundle with Nanci Griffith, Trouble in these Fields
- Stuart Berman with Iggy Pop, Lust for Life
- Ben Edwards with Jesus Christ Superstar
- Anupa Mistry with Beyonce, End of Time