#1 Songs in the most important years for the Detroit Pistons
After an eventual start, the offseason has started to slow for the Detroit Pistons.
Trajan Langdon took a conservative approach to his first offseason in Detroit, adding veterans without disrupting the young core or committing to long-term contracts.
The rest of the league is waiting on two trades that should get things going again, as the Pelicans are still shopping Brandon Ingram and teams are still inquiring with Utah about the availability of Lauri Markkanen.
But for now, the action has slowed, which makes this the perfect time for a look back in history.
Given the connection Detroit has to Motown, there has always been a musical component to the culture of Detroit. In fact, it’s about time the team recognize that and create a city edition jersey that celebrates Motown, a soapbox I’ve been on for years. Hitsville USA with the colors and font of the Motown Museum is sitting right there!
But I digress.
Here’s a look at the #1 song in particular notable years for the Detroit Pistons, all of which tell a story of the time and the team. For this exercise, I have used the Billboard #1 hit from each year.
1957: “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley
This was the first year the Pistons played in Detroit, so I was hoping for a Motown tune, but we’ll have to settle for Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up.” It’s a fitting song for the move from Fort Wayne to Detroit, which did shake up the league, but it would be a while before the Pistons did anything of note in the Motor City. Detroit’s first 13 seasons were losing ones and they didn’t start winning consistently until nearly 30 years later.
1981: “Physical” Olivia Newton-John
The sustained winning didn’t start until the Pistons drafted one Isiah Thomas with the 2nd pick in the 1981 NBA Draft, a selection that would change the course of the franchise. The song “Physical” is fitting, as this was the beginning of the Bad Boys era, noted for its physical play. That toughness started with a 6-foot-1 point guard out of Chicago, a guy who once got 75 stitches during a game and came back, a guy who put on an epic playoff performance on a busted ankle, a player who would go on to become the greatest Detroit Piston of all time.