TV Freak Scott Goodings is crazy about TV. Scott's first TV memory is an
episode of "Matlock Police" called "A Piece Of Cake". His first experience of
the medium in colour was seeing a Hector The Cat road safety commercial through
the window of the CBA bank in Cheltenham in 1975. Catch his regular reviews at
Quickflix
.
The Soundtrack to our Lives
Whereas most people have pop and rock on their I-Pods, the TV Freak has a
mighty fine collection of TV themes at his disposal.
Instrumentals, duets, and ballads - he's got them all.
There are TV shows that could exist solely on the strength of their theme –
they're literally worth the hire fee for their opening tune (and perhaps
opening title sequence) alone.
Here are ten TV shows and their themes definitely worth your time and
consideration.
- Scott
The Persuaders theme by John Barry
Check out
The Persuaders (1971)
Not the sort of thing you'd expect from a dramedy starring Roger More as an
English lord and Tony Curtis as a New York millionaire playboy solving crimes
for a retired judge in order to keep out of jail (did someone say "Hardcastle
And McCormick"?). John Barry, musical genius on most of the decent 60s and 70s
James Bond franchise, abandons the brass of "Goldfinger" and lush strings of
"Born Free" for spooky violins and a chilling Moog bass line, proving even
something akin to a funeral dirge can be haunting and beautiful.
Father Ted theme by Neil Hannon
Check out Father Ted
(1995)
It could have been Jarvis Cocker and "Pulp"!!! "Father Ted" creator Graham
Linehan asked the Sheffield band to pen the theme, but they were busy with
their Brit Pop classic "Different Class". So Graham turned to "The Divine
Comedy's" Neil Hannon (band mate Joby Talbot later wrote the Tom Waits-ish "The
League Of Gentlemen" theme), who came up with a tune, that when matched with
the opening title sequence shot from a helicopter over the Aran Islands'
Inisheer, makes you feel nostalgic, melancholy, romantic and exhilarated all at
the same time. A lilting instrumental classic.
Twin Peaks theme by Angelo Badalamenti
Check out Twin
Peaks (1990)
It's the early 90s, and while Sub Pop guitar grunge from Seattle is conquering
the world, an altogether different ethereal, dreamy soundtrack resonates from
the opening of a TV show filmed on location in Washington State. Angelo
Badalamenti's guitar and atmospheric layered synths drew us to the 'Twin Peaks
Population 51,201' sign, as we became sucked into David Lynch's small-town
white picket fence world. Best heard whilst drinking great coffee and eating
cherry pie, this is the complete antithesis to the pan-pipe dross that
composers like W.G. Snuffy Walden were churning out around the same time for
the likes of "thirtysomething".
That 70s Show theme performed by Cheap Trick
Check out That
70s Show – Season Two (1999)
A show set in Milwaukee in the late 70s could have had an opening theme sung by
stadium king Peter Frampton, bubble gum star Leif Garrett or even Meatloaf.
Mid-west Illinois power-poppers Cheap Trick rightly got the nod (at least from
Season 2 on), updating "Big Star's" cruising in the car classic "In The
Street", whilst also referencing their own finest hour "Surrender" with the
'we're all aright, we're all alright' refrain. Hyde's (Danny Masterson)
inspired 'Hello Wisconsin' at the end seems influenced by smoke stronger than
that coming from "Cheap Trick's" drummer Bun E Carlos' trademark cigar.
Gilligan's Island theme by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle
Check out Gilligan's
Island (1964)
So you've created a sitcom about seven castaways on a desert island but can't
be bothered with the high cost and drama of filming the initial shipwreck ...
well then just co-write a theme which tells the story in less that a minute.
That's what Sherwood Schwartz did with "Gilligan's Island". The band behind the
original version, "The Wellingtons", even turned up in the show as "The
Mosquitoes". Season two made it clear no one was going nowhere off no island
with a new end credit version featuring new lyrics that resigned the castaways
to their fate. It would be years before they were saved - let alone be visited
by "The Harlem Globetrotters".
"When We're Singing" Vs "Come On Get Happy" (themes from The Partridge Family)
Check out
The Partridge Family – Season One (1970)
Following the Sherwood Schwartz theory of 'explain the show's premise in the
opening tune', the theme used from season two on the "The Partridge Family",
"Come On Get Happy", also had the added lucrative dimension of money-spinning
hit single. I prefer season one's "When We're Singing" – it tells more of a
story ... how 'Danny got Reuben to sell our song' and 'it really came together
when Mom sang along'. Pity it didn't also let the cast in on where the money
from the more than four million records the show sold (not to mention
magazines, lunch boxes and 'love beads') disappeared to.
The Muppet Show theme by Jim Henson and Sam Pottle
Check out The
Muppet Show (1976)
MC Kermit starts it all off with a blasting 'It's The Muppet Show with our very
special guest star. …(Insert your favourite celeb here)'. Suddenly it's time
for the music, the lights and make up that is the ragtime stomp of "The Muppet
Show" theme. Throw in some heckling from Waldorf and Statler, a drum
'interlude' from Animal, and round it off with a trumpet sound from Gonzo. This
was Friday nights in the late 70s in between "Blankety Blanks" and "Wonder
Woman". And as 'Dicko' proved on "Dancing With The Stars" recently, it's
definitely danceriffic.
"Can We Fix It?" (theme from Bob The Builder) by Paul Joyce
Check out Bob
the Builder-Skateboard Spud (2003)
Allow me to brag – it's London, December 2000, and me and over 50,000 other
people a day are buying the single of this tune to help it secure the coveted
Number One Xmas chart spot ahead of Eminem's "Stan" and bookies' favourite
"Westlife". What got me was the soccer crowd/Sex Pistols-esque chanted chorus
rejoinder of 'Yes we can!' to Neil "Men Behaving Badly" Morrissey's monotone
poser 'Can we fix it?' Namedropping Scoop, Spud, Pilchard et al in the verse
was the icing on the cake.
"Woke Up This Morning" (theme to "The Sopranos") by Alabama 3
Check out The
Sopranos (1999)
I first heard Alabama 3's mix of country, blues and gospel in a pub called The
Queen in their native Brixton, London. It was as fearsome then as it is now
when you listen to them opening an episode of 'The Sopranos". If it's
foreboding you want, combine the lyrics 'you woke up this morning, got yourself
a gun, Mama always said you'd be The Chosen One' with the long drive Tony
Soprano takes through the wastelands between New York and New Jersey in the
opening titles.
'I Could Be So Good For You" (theme from Minder) sung by Dennis Waterman and
The Dennis Waterman Band
Check out Minder
(1979)
"Little Britain's" satirical take on a tiny Dennis Waterman apparently
insisting he only takes TV roles when he can 'write the theme tune, sing the
theme tune' was at times mercilessly cruel, but perhaps not too far off the
mark. (Want more recent evidence, check out "New Tricks"). What was it with TV
stars in the 80s that convinced them they could sing (hello Bruce Willis)? "I
Could Be So Good For You" always reminded me of a song a stripper would perform
to at one of those after hours smoke and booze filled stag sessions I'm sure
took place in the seedy after dark world of Arthur and Terry's favourite
watering hole, Dave's Winchester Club.