Canucks found new goal song to be Clutch

The rock band Clutch is known for its high-energy shows, which are fueled by the passion the band's fans bring to each performance.

That passion carried into the hockey world last season and gave Clutch's lead singer, Neil Fallon, a present he could not have ever imagined.

Last summer, one of the band's fans nominated "Electric Worry" by Clutch as the new goal-celebration song for the Vancouver Canucks for the 2011-12 season. Game presentation officials from the team checked out the song, off the 2007 compact disc "From Beale Street to Oblivion," and found what they craved.

NHL INSIDER

Players looking to avoid one-hit label

By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist
In the world of music, they're known as "one-hit wonders" -- artists who have a big-time record, but can never replicate that kind of success. The NHL has its own version -- players who were in the right spot at the right time for a season, but found out that repeating their success wasn't as easy. READ MORE ›

• Brodeur, Selanne lead NHL's over-35 club
• Shootout retrospective: Seven-year history
• 10 candidates for bounce-back seasons

MORE NHL INSIDER STORIES ›

Fallon found out when a fan sent him a video of a goal celebration with his creation blaring throughout GM Place as thousands of fans rose to their feet and partied to the soundtrack.

"I was really stoked," said Fallon, who still remembers his first NHL game -- a 1988 matchup between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. "No team has done that for Clutch in any sport. It's really flattering.

"To think that the lyrics I wrote in my basement with an obvious nod to John Lee Hooker and his song, 'Boom, Boom' would be used like this. Again, all I can say is it is very flattering."

It was extra special because Fallon follows the sport of hockey closely, cheering for his hometown Capitals as well as following the Colorado Avalanche and, now, the Canucks.

"Hockey is the most rock-and-roll of all the sports," Fallon said, speaking hours before a Clutch show in New Orleans. "Like a band, it is a team sport where everyone on the team has to count on the others."

The hook from "Electric Worry" hook caught the attention and ears of the game presentation programmers almost immediately and, from there, a new tradition began.

“We encourage fans to submit their suggestions for goal celebration songs every offseason," a spokesman for the Vancouver Canucks said. "One of our fans suggested Clutch -- 'Electric Worry.' We liked the song because it was original with a catchy hook in the chorus and great lyrics. That’s how it became our goal song of choice this past season.”

The song, a play off "Fred's Worried Life Blues," by Mississippi Fred McDowell, features a catchy chorus:

"Bang, bang, bang, bang! Vamanos, vamanos. Bang, bang, bang! Vamanos, vamanos."

It didn't take long for Vancouver fans to embrace the lyrics and the hook behind them.

Perhaps it was fate that Clutch and the Canucks would find a match.

Although Clutch, based in Maryland, has been far more popular on the East Coast during its 20-plus-year existence, the band has always had a special affinity for Vancouver, Fallon said.

"Vancouver is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have been to," Fallon said. "Great views, great food, relaxed atmosphere. The city has it all. It's probably one of my top cities in North America. We just don't get there as often as we would like."

That may change. Clutch will be out on a major tour soon enough. Presently, they are doing a small summer swing along the East Coast before they head to the studio to record a new album. Fallon is also on tour soon with The Company Band, a side project in which he is involved. Their new EP, Pros and Cons, comes out July 31.

After recording the new Clutch album, Fallon says another tour -- the band's lifeblood -- is likely, perhaps with a stop in Vancouver.

"I would love to see 'Electric Worry' as the goal song in person," Fallon said.