Team Glory Bound

The story of the "Who Dat" phenomenon begins way back in 1983, when a New Orleans Saints team badly in need of some boosterism, and just a few years removed from the paper bags of the putrid "Aints" era, got a perennial anthem.

Local producer Carlo Nuccio took the unofficial theme of the team, the traditional jazz standard "When The Saints Go Marching In," and added a chant he'd heard some fans yelling at games: "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" Local pianist David Torkanowsky brought the jazz cred, and Aaron Neville agreed to handle the vocals; a few weeks later, Howard Cosell name-checked the song on Monday Night Football, and the rest is history.

For an updated team with an actual shot at the Superbowl, an updated version was necessary. Keeping the same arrangement and many of the same performers, Nuccio added local mainstays Theresa Andersson (vocals) and Jon Cleary (piano), Aaron's son Ivan Neville on organ, and Matt Perrine on tuba and bass. Then he spun the second half of the song into a gospel-styled arrangement, renamed it "Glory Bound," and history was made once again. (You can hear and purchase the "Glory Bound" single through
teamglorybound.com.)