Brits. Beach music. Basketball. How one band’s Duke-UNC theme song came to be.
The Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry has history, excellence, passion and national attention.
The one thing it hasn’t had?
A theme song.
A British band, accomplished at pumping out tunes mixing drums, horns and guitars with sounds of country, R&B, British pop and good old rock-and-roll, took care of that.
Chadwick Station, a London-based band that also spent time in Nashville during pre-pandemic times, released “The 15-501” last week just in time for Saturday’s first game of the season between rivals Duke and North Carolina.
“Really the only thing this rivalry has been missing is a song,” Alvis Kensington, the band’s lead singer who wrote the song, said in an email to the News & Observer this week from London. “March Madness has a song, that hokey ‘One Shining Moment’ thing. `The 15-501’ is not like that at all. It’s purposefully subtle.”
So subtle that the words Duke and UNC are not in the lyrics. Neither are Tar Heels or Blue Devils.
Instead, as the song’s bridge, Kensington opted for:
One thing’s certain everybody’s gonna be blue
Only one question and that’s which shade are you?
“I think the driving nature of the song captures the intensity of the rivalry,” Kensington said. “It’s fun while at the same time letting the listener know that these two schools have a lot of bad blood between them. It doesn’t matter what their records may be at the moment. It’s about a history, a grudge, a tradition. And it’s one like no other in college sports.”
The short trip from Chapel Hill to Durham
Through his mother, an American from Philadelphia who naturally prefers Villanova’s shade of blue, Kensington learned of the Duke-UNC basketball rivalry even from across the Atlantic Ocean.
“My mum would check in to see how the Wildcats were doing,” Kensington said, “and I became fascinated with North Carolina and Duke. I guess because they were consistently playing at a higher level. And the whole intrastate rivalry thing intrigued me.”
That intrigue grew stronger a couple of years ago while the band was traveling through the Triangle on I-40 and passed the sign at exit 270 for U.S. 15-501, which connects Durham and Chapel Hill.
“I asked the driver how close they were,” Kensington said. “He said, `Just a few miles.’ I couldn’t believe it. Two such unbelievable basketball programs, and they were literally next door neighbors.”
That called for a side trip. The band exited the freeway, turned right and headed to UNC’s campus.
“We followed the signs to the Dean Smith Center, got out and had a look about,” Kensington said. “Then I said, `Take us to Cameron.’ Within just a few minutes we were standing in front of what appeared to be a church, you know, with large wooden doors. There was something symbolic to me given the reverent nature of the rivalry. I mean, basketball is almost a religion around those parts.”
The road’s name stuck with him.
“Fifteen five-o-one,” Kensington said. “There was something instantly melodic to me.”
He grabbed his cell phone and made a voice note, using the British practice of putting ‘the’ in front of every highway, that became the song’s hook:
Oh, they’re makin’ the run down the 15-501
He filed it away and never forgot.
Chadwick Station’s Carolinas following
In the meantime, Chadwick Station developed a following in the Carolinas among shag dancing beach music fans. Influenced by Northern Soul music, Chadwick Station produced a song in that sound called `Cryin’ (Ain’t Gonna Win Her Back)’ that hit number one on the Beach music charts last year.
When the band’s publicist informed them they had a hit in the Carolinas late last year, Kensington remembered that short trip from Chapel Hill to Durham. Reading about basketball on the internet, the idea for a Duke-UNC song reentered his head. He looked up the date of the first game.
“Crikey!” he said. “That’s coming up fast!” I better get to work straight away. And here we are.”
He started writing Dec. 6 and finished it the next day. At the next recording session, he played it for his bandmates.
“Everybody was into the beat, the vibe,” he said.
The fact that it doesn’t mention UNC or Duke by name makes it “beautiful,” Kensington said, because the song is a good tune even for people who wouldn’t know the story behind it.
The record company signed off because they wanted to build on Chadwick Station’s popularity in the Carolinas.
“I told them this is part of that same audience,” Kensington said. “There’s nothing more Carolina than basketball, especially Duke and North Carolina.”
Lyrics to ‘The 15-501,’ by Chadwick Station
Ten short miles from door to door
Tonight somebody’s gonna even the score for sure
It’s gonna be so much fun
Oh, they’re makin’ the run down the 15-501
There’s never been a feud like this before
They say there’s gonna be an all-out war tonight
It’s gonna be second to none
Well, ‘cause they’re makin’ their way down the 15-501
One thing’s certain everybody’s gonna be blue
Only one question and that’s which shade are you?
Better get yourself a window seat
We’re gonna see who’s bringin’ the heat tonight
We’re gonna come undone
Yeah, ‘cause they’re makin’ a run down the 15-501
One thing’s certain everybody’s gonna be blue
Only one question and that’s which shade are you?
They’ve both been here many times before
Tonight there’s gonna be blood on the floor for sure
Just like a hit-and-run
Whoa, they’re makin’ their way down the 15-501
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 8:15 AM.