From EDM to the Tragically Hip: Inside the playlist that is fueling the Flyers’ good vibes

BOSTON ― If you’re around Philly and hear the late Gord Downie sing soulfully about how he saw the “constellations reveal themselves one star at a time,” give a good look around. With the weather warming up and car windows rolling down, there’s a pretty good probability that Morgan Frost is going past you as he blasts his favorite song by the Tragically Hip, “Bobcaygeon.”

“Sometimes on the drive [to the game],” Frost said about listening to the Hip. “In the summer it’s like 70% of what I listen to, especially if I am up north at my cottage. ... I feel like they have so many different types. They have songs that could fire me up and they have songs that can make me sad. They have songs that could put me in a good mood, whatever.”

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If Frost were to hop on the early bus for road games, he’d be able to jam along to “38 Years Old” or “New Orleans Is Sinking,” two bangers by the Hip that Scott Laughton likes to play before games. The Flyers DJ for almost 10 years, Laughton is in charge of compiling the playlists — and, usually, the Hip come on around 4 p.m., when it’s time for the players to tape their sticks.

“I think so, I take a lot of pride in it. I guess you’ll have to ask some of the other guys,” Laughton said when asked how important the right mix is and if it gets the guys pumped up. He then turned to defenseman Cam York and asked, “What do you think of my mix?”

“It’s pretty good. It gets the boys fired up. That’s what we need before a game,” York said.

“There you go,” Laughton beamed. “That’s a good vote of confidence. Hopefully, I’ve been doing a good job. I’ve had it since 2015, so got to keep it rolling.”

The playlists are carefully crafted works of art. On any given day when walking into the Flyers locker room after a morning skate or practice, you could hear anything from “Santeria” by Sublime to country music. According to winger Joel Farabee, most of the time the morning music is Marc Staal’s doing. The 37-year-old has “a “really good morning playlist, he’s got like a bunch of indie music and good vibe music.”

The pregame music to get the guys fired up is filled with a wide array, including electronic dance music (EDM), Laughton’s favorite, and rap music, Farabee’s. The duo put the time and effort into finding the right flow.

“It’s actually something me and Scott really enjoy doing; we’ve done it the last few years together,” Farabee said. “We’ll kind of start with a small playlist, we’ll add a bunch of songs in, and as the year goes on we kind of build the camaraderie within the team and we add stuff and some guys add stuff that they want.”

Sure, guys can get songs on the list, but it’s a process. Laughton and Farabee set the foundation. A player can then request a song to be added to Farabee and/or Laughton, but per Farabee, Laughton has the final say.

Trust the process.

And, as York joked, there is a wait list.

“I take requests, but it’s hard to get on the playlist,” Laughton added with a chuckle. “There’s 105 songs on it. It’s tough to get on.”

The Flyers alternate captain sets the playlist on shuffle and “lets it fly,” but of course, there are specific songs for specific moments, like taping sticks or right before the team gets onto the ice. And, Frost can confirm it’s a good playlist.

“When I’m at the rink I listen to whatever Scotty puts on pretty much,” Frost said. “I used to be a headphone guy, but I don’t do that anymore.”

Well, as Madonna famously said, music makes the people come together. And music has certainly connected the Flyers this season.

Postgame there’s the “Squirtle Saxophone” followed by Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which Farabee said was played a lot during the All-Star break and is 70% from the trip he and some of his teammates took to get away.

For Frost, it’s an extension of his childhood. His father, Andy, was not just the Lou Nolan of the Toronto Maple Leafs as the team’s public address announcer but was the on-air radio host of Psychedelic Psunday inToronto. He cites his father and his friends as key influencers of his taste in music.

“Honestly, a big part of it is like my best, best friends from back home, like my friend group, we all know all the [Hip] songs. I feel like a lot of them are good sing-along ones for us,” said Frost, who was seen sporting a Psychedelic Psunday T-shirt at the rink recently. “Don’t know how to explain it. There’s certain parts of the songs that are funny and fun to sing together.”

For now, he can sing along with his buddies in Orange and Black to the Hip’s “Bobcaygeon” — his ringtone — or “38 Years Old” — his alarm in the morning on most days. Or maybe he’ll join in on another favorite artist, Tom Petty, and his song “Learning to Fly,” because that’s just what the young Flyers are doing right now as they set their sights on the team’s first playoff appearance since 2019-20.