Friday Five - TV Theme Songs
Is it just me or are the more recent TV theme songs pretty lame by comparison to those of days gone by?
Maybe I’m just getting older but it seems that the best TV music happened between the 60’s and the 80’s. Here are five of my favorite TV themes from yesteryear:
- From Sanford and Son - Streetbeater by Quincy Jones. A great show. A great song. What else do you need?
- From The Benny Hill Show - Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph. Can anyone hear this song without immediately thinking of the late great Mr. Hill? Bonus: check out Chet Atkin’s Guitar version (called Yakety Axe, of course)
- From The Dukes of Hazzard - Good Ole Boys by Waylon Jennings. Waylon Jennings was one of the few good things about this dog of a show (and the movie that inspired it).
- From Hawaii Five-0 - The original orchestral theme by Morton Stevens. The Ventures’ cover is commonly believed to be the TV theme but it’s a later version. I loved watching 5-0 as a kid but only for the first 30 seconds or so.
- And from The Beverly Hillbillies - The Ballad of Jed Clampett by Flatt and Scruggs:
Lots of trivia and legends about that last one… This song was written for the show by producer Paul Henning and it WAS recorded by Flatt & Scruggs NOT by studio musicians. But for some reason the studio executives decided to bring in singer Jerry Scoggins to re-record Lester’s vocal track. Why? Because they thought Mr. Flatt sounded too “Country”… Right, too country for a show about a bunch of hillbillies from the Ozarks? Go figure… There’s also a video posted on the internet which claims some generic bluegrass noodling is “the original” theme music. This too is false. Another version of the song was used in the horrible 1991 movie, again with Scoggins singing but with banjo viruoso Bela Fleck and Randy Scruggs (Earl’s son) providing the instrumentation.
So there you have it. Five of my favorite TV theme songs And yes, I realize that 3 of the 5 are not technically songs…
So what are your favorite TV Themes?
April 11, 2008 at 12:13 am
Hi Art
Why do you think that you are getting older? Pls and always think that you are getting younger and younger each day.
I always think like that.I believe that my body is more flexible and more healthy than 10 yrs ago.
April 11, 2008 at 7:26 am
I had the theme from “The Greatest America Hero” last week, one of my favorites.
Friends had the great song that was a great song before Friend started using it.
” Welcome Back” from Welcome Back Kotter was a good one too.
And who can forget the Theme from Gilligan’s Island!
have a great weekend!
April 11, 2008 at 7:38 am
Adams Family theme song is probably my favorite.
Followed by Three’s Company (just Cheesy enough to be fun)
I like Gilligan’s Island, too. VERY chipper for the nautical mishap.
And then The Jefferson’s and All in the Family (Edith Bunker Wailing away gives me Giggles).
OH! And M*A*S*H* of course. That instrumental sounds so melancholy, but I love it.
April 11, 2008 at 7:56 am
I really enjoyed Chet Atkins’ version of “Yakety Sax.”
Okay, call me silly, but as far as tunes go, I always enjoyed “Fraggle Rock.” The lyrics are simple and basic, but how can you go wrong with, “Dance your cares away, worry’s for another day, let the music play…?”
Linda mentioned it above, but I like the theme from “Greatest American Hero?”
Also, how about Desi Arnaz singing “I Love Lucy?” I know this wasn’t the theme song version, but he did perform it during one of the episodes.
How can you forget “The Muppets?” This one, too.
The others that I come up with are instrumentals only: “Stargate Atlantis,” “Magnum, PI,” “Due South,” and lastly, you can’t forget “WKRP in Cincinnati.” Finally, for a little fun, the nonsensical ending to “WKRP” was this.
April 11, 2008 at 7:57 am
Okay, I just put in a long comment. Did it go to Akismet?
April 11, 2008 at 8:29 am
Yes it did. I rescued it
April 11, 2008 at 9:29 am
Thank you, Kind Sir!
April 11, 2008 at 9:34 am
The Star Trek themes: Original version, and the one from Enterprise were pretty good.
The Mary Tyler Moore show’s theme is pretty good, too, as was the one from the Dick van Dyke show.
April 11, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Hawaii 5-0 was always my favorite… but I (like Linda) also loved the themes from Gilligan’s Island. I also liked the themes from Get Smart, Land of the Lost, and The Partridge Family.
April 11, 2008 at 4:16 pm
My twenty something daughter is always amazed that I know the theme songs to those old TV shows by hard. I agree that the old stuff is better, but I have to admit that TV is totally different now. Many more channels and I don’t watch too much anymore.
And I still find myself singing the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZp2JcmUU6o
April 11, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Oh, and now I understand why you recommended that I switch to wordpress.
April 11, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Ok I had to come back, because (obviously) I watched too much tv growing up!
I can’t believe no one said I’m a Little Bit Country, I’m a Little Bit Rock and Roll – just screams cheesy Donnie and Marie doesn’t it?
I also like Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, and I am Mr Ed. And dadadadadadadadadada Batman! Happy Days had Rock Around the Clock their first season.
Oh and the theme from Chico and the Man, and LaVerne & Shirley, One Day at a Time. How about …Love….exciting and new…come aboard…..we’re expecting you…the Love Boat!
April 11, 2008 at 9:56 pm
We had a lot of TV series from the USA in France, but the songs were always dubbed and changed… so I have no idea!
April 12, 2008 at 6:47 am
Great coments and plenty of good memories. How about “Those Were the Days” from All in the Family…and the song that played during the credits “Till Death Do Us Part.” Then for the Jeffersons spinoff…”Moving On Up”.
April 12, 2008 at 7:03 am
The “I Dream of Jeannie” theme song is the ringer on my cell phone. I’ve had so many strangers smile when they hear my phone ring; I love it!
“Hawaii 5-0″ had a good theme song, too!
April 12, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Great list. I also like the Jefferson’s Moving on Up…it was hip.
April 13, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Have gun will travel and the Song that started the I love Lucy Show. Now when they played we all ran to the T.V.
Art, I just loved Tennessee. The Smoky Mountains are truly God’s gift and people are about the most friendliest I have come accross. You live in heaven.
April 13, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Yes this I know ~ Only the Hawai-5-O heheheh…
April 16, 2008 at 1:34 pm
[...] Notre Dame a 5-4 victory over the top-ranked …http://www.wsbt.com/sports/local/17545564.htmlFriday Five - TV Theme Songs Is it just me or are the more recent TV theme songs pretty lame by comparison to those of days gone [...]
April 16, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hawaii Five O - try humming it without pretending you’re on a surf-board - even though there was no surfboard in the titles - how whacked is that?
Oh and Mission Impossible - I always try to pull my face off when that comes on, ‘don’t know why…