Welcome Back by John Sebastian

Welcome Back

1976

John Sebastian

In September of 1975 The world was introduced to 'The Sweathogs' at James Buchanan High School, in Brooklyn, and loved 'em...at least for three seasons. They tried to ring too many changes in the show for Season 4, and basically killed it.

It also introduced the world to a guy named John Travolta who, as we may recall, enjoyed some small success on The Big Screen and equal success as a private pilot (Really...how many other general aviation pilots own, are fully qualified to fly, and indeed do fly a fully restored Qantas Airlines Boeing 707, converted to a the ultimate private luxury get-a-way ride.)

Most importantly, for our purposes, it introduced the world to a tune named 'Welcome Back, penned and sung by former 'Lovin' Spoonful' front-man John Sebastian. The name of the show got changed because of the song, BTW...originally the series was to be called 'Kotter', and Sebastian was tapped to write and record the theme music. He looked at the show's proposed title, scratched his head, buried his head in thesauruses, and finally told the show's producers 'There is no word in any known or unknown language that both rhymes with 'Kotter;' and makes sense in the context of this show'.

So John Sebastian, being a pretty decent songwriter as we may recall, changed the lyrics so they'd be more generic, and more importantly, more easily rhymed. And the words 'Welcome Back' were prefixed to the title of the show, and became the title of the theme song.

As popular as the show was the song was possibly more popular. The public wanted a single...now! Of course, being a TV theme song it was only about a minute long, far too short to release as a single, so Sebastian went back to the drawing board and wrote a second verse, and added a harmonicas solo...oh, By The Way, that's him playing the Harpoon. He was a studio-quality harmonica player. And the public had their wish granted in a big way, rewarding Sebastian by giving him his only hit as a solo artist. It also saved his bacon with his label...Warner Bros. Records was about to drop him due to low sales, instead they rushed him into a marathon writing and recording session to get the single out.

'Welcome Back' The Single debuted in late March or Early April 1976, and made it to #1 on the Hot 100 in May of that same year.. It was also certified Gold'. But it's dropped off of the Oldies Station radio play-lists, a common fate of hit TV theme songs. To bad, really...everyone loved that piano solo leading in to one of the mellowest TV theme songs to ever become a hit.

So Enjoy! Welcome Back, By John Sebastian

And as a Bonus...the original opening credits from Welcome Back Kotter

Gabe Kaplan, who both co-created and starred in the show, based the show and the characters on his own experiences at New Utrecht High School , also in Brooklyn. New Utrech is also the building used for many of the exterior shots. Take a look at the list of Notable Alumni over on the school's Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Utrecht_High_School Definitely not a bunch of Sweathogs!