A History Of How 'Band Geeks' Became Spongebob's Most Important Episode

On July 17, 1999, millions of people sat down in front of their TVs to watch a new cartoon on Nickelodeon, unaware that they were witnessing the birth of a cartoon icon on the level of Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and the Simpsons. Spongebob Squarepants took the world by storm, and to this day 25 years later, new episodes of the show are still being made.

Credit: Nickelodeon

While we could certainly talk at length about how Nickelodeon has exploited the image of everyone's favorite sea sponge in the name of short-term profits, particularly after the death of show creator Stephen Hillenberg, we're going to focus on something happier today to commemorate 25 years of Spongebob. Something a little more iconic.

'Band Geeks' may not be your favorite episode of Spongebob, but it is mine, and I don't think anyone could reasonably argue that it isn't the most important episode of the show. It's certainly the one that dwells most prominently in the public consciousness. And while the all-important humor is on point the entire way through (go ahead, name a funnier episode of Spongebob), the key to 'Band Geeks' is the buildup to Spongebob and friends coming together and performing a rock ballad for the ages, stunning Squilliam Fancyson from band class and giving Squidward that sweet, sweet victory.

And it's the history of that song, 'Sweet Victory,' that this article focuses on. It's not a song that appears on any record of note, nor is it sung by a guy most people have heard of. David Glen Eisley isn't a complete nobody in the music world, but if you can name the song that he sung that appeared in the Billboard Top 100, I'd be very impressed.

(It's 'Call to the Heart' by the band Giuffria, if you're curious.)

Point being, 'Sweet Victory' has the humblest of humble origin stories: It was recorded as part of an 1998 album called 'American Games,' which was a collection of generic songs aimed to capture the feel of sporting events. These were songs that were meant to be licensed by studios for use as background music over sporting events filmed for TV and/or movies. It was written and performed for a paycheck, and not a particularly large one at that. Not exactly a glamorous birth.

Credit: Nickelodeon

Fast forward a couple years to 2001, and the Spongebob writing team needed a song. 'Band Geeks' was always going to culminate in a song of some sort, but their only guidance from the episode's script was "they perform an amazing marching band song." But after listening to numerous marching band songs, the team settled on 'Sweet Victory,' since hearing a meek yellow sponge singing a anthemic rock ballad was just so much funnier than any classic marching band song could ever be.

The rest, as they say, is history. 'Band Geeks' became an instant classic, the best episode of the series. 'Sweet Victory' became a song embedded into an entire generation of kid's head, to the point where it showed up at the 2024 Super Bowl, complete with new animation. But rather than continue to summarize just how iconic this episode is, we'll end here with one last fun tidbit of information. Did you know that David Glen Eisley has only performed 'Sweet Victory' live once? And that it was at a party hosted by Kelsey Grammer? I've watched 'Frasier' and 'Cheers' multiple times, so I thought that was a very odd and funny coincidence. Of all the people to have this song played at a party, it's Frasier Crane.