Guy Sues Over 'Da Da Da Da Da Da.... CHARGE!' Jingle He Might Not Have Written

from the da-da-da-da-da-da....-SUE! dept

A few different folks sent over variations on this story about how a guy named Bobby Kent claims to have come up with the now ubiquitous "da da da da da da... CHARGE!" music in 1978. If you've been to a major sporting event in the US in the past few decades, you've almost certainly heard it. You can finds tons of examples on YouTube, but here's a decent one: Kent apparently was the musical director for the San Diego Chargers football team in 1978, and claims he came up with (and registered a copyright for) the song "Stadium Doo Dads," which apparently includes the same notes, though I cannot find a full version of the song anywhere to compare. Either way, Kent is now suing ASCAP for not paying him royalties for all the stadiums playing those six notes, and that he intends to sue every professional sports team in the US, with the exception of the Los Angeles Lakers, who coughed up $3,000 when he sent them a letter.

You can see the full lawsuit against ASCAP embedded below in all its glory. Of course, it does raise questions about whether or not these six simple notes really rise to the level of creativity required for a copyright. But, even if you accept that, there's another (big) problem. For years, it's been claimed that the true originator of the "da da da da da da... CHARGE!" concept was a dude named Tommy Walker, who was both a drum major and the field kicker for the USC Trojans in the late 1940s and claims to have come up with the basic jingle in 1946. Of course, others point out that, it's really built on an old calvary bugle call, with some reports pointing to a German WWI army manual that has the same six notes listed as number 20 "Battery." Others have pointed out that the (newly moved from Brooklyn) LA Dodgers picked up on using the charge call from USC in 1958 and it spread from there.

All of that history certainly calls into serious question the legitimacy of Kent's overall claims. When asked about this, Kent's lawyer says that the two songs have a different tempo:

Kent's attorney acknowledged that the USC song "does contain five notes that are close to the last five notes of the crescendo of Mr. Kent's song." But, he said, the notes are played at a different tempo.

In the end... I'm sorta left with the simple question: what kind of system do we have when there's now going to be legal fights over the "Charge!" jingle?

Filed Under: bobby kent, charge, jingle, sports, tommy walker