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Olympic Mashups Make The Mood In London

Spectators at the 2012 Olympic Games in London are likely to hear one of DJ Earworm's pop pairings that span genres and generations.
Carl De Souza
/
AFP/Getty Images
Spectators at the 2012 Olympic Games in London are likely to hear one of DJ Earworm's pop pairings that span genres and generations.
Jordan Roseman, aka DJ Earworm, had about a month to create nine Olympic-themed mashups.
/ Stephan Morais
/
Stephan Morais
Jordan Roseman, aka DJ Earworm, had about a month to create nine Olympic-themed mashups.

You might not be able to hear it on television, but in the Olympic stadiums and arenas of London over the next weeks, games-watchers will be treated to some exclusive new tracks from world-renown mashup artist Jordan Roseman, better known as DJ Earworm.

"Out of the blue, there was an email," Roseman tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "They wanted these mixes."

Olympic organizers asked Roseman for nine tracks, each with a loose theme, to be played as atmospheric music in Olympic venues. One, called "British Time Machine," combines British hits from the past five decades. Another combines songs with lyrics and imagery about rain, which will be played if an event is delayed due to weather.

And there's an inspirational mix called simply "Gold" that features an audacious combination of "Bugler's Dream," (the fanfare used in U.S. network Olympic broadcasts) and the hit song "Give Me Everything" by rapper Pitbull. Roseman says he used "Bugler's Dream" thinking it was the official Olympic theme song — but when he delivered the mix to Olympics officials, they were stumped.

"They actually asked me what that music was," he says. "And I was shocked, and then I went on Wikipedia and realized that's the Olympic theme from an American perspective."

Still, organizers were thrilled with the mixes, he says, including the sound of "Gold."

"It's like you've just won. The world is really good right at this moment. We're shining, and it's perfect."

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