In 1966, while working as a music instructor in Munich, he was hired to score the mini-documentaries that conveyed National Football League highlights and personalities to fans in the network-television era.
His music cues, combined with the voices of announcers Pat Summerall, Tom Brookshier, Charlie Jones, John Facenda and Harry Kalas, created the trademark style of the NFL's sports highlights films.
It turned out they were Ed Sabol's favorites and he offered me a three-year contract to write, conduct, and produce NFL Films' music.
"[2] In Germany, Spence wrote several TV soundtracks with Hani Chamseddine, e.g., for the Francis Durbridge thriller Wie ein Blitz [de].
He achieved unexpected fame in 1998 with the success of a CD compilation entitled The Power and the Glory: The Original Music & Voices Of NFL Films.
Some of his more recognizable songs are: Spence had long been involved in a controversial situation with the NFL regarding the rights to perform or use his music in any media outlets.
However, I unwittingly 'punctured their balloon' by explaining that they didn't have to bother with this at all because GEMA (a German state-authorized performance rights organization) would protect my music and legally proceed after anyone who used it without permission."
As Klein reported, "soon afterwards, GEMA sent Spence a video copy of the film and asked him to make a list of "where and how long" his music appeared in it.
He never got the paper back and, to this day, the late composer's family is not receiving royalties for the many uses of Spence's music in American television shows and commercials.