Last post dealt with the four biggest instrumental theme
songs (IMHO) of the 60s, 70s, and 80s...so this week I'll take on the
three biggest vocal theme songs.
I think everyone who was around as a teen or early
twenty-something in the early 80s remembers the first one...remembers
it well and fondly. It's one of catchy, addictive tunes that even
the occasional metal head found him or herself silent lip-syncing to
if they should run across it. Thing is a lot of people don't remember
where it came from. It's one of those cases of a TV theme song that
was far more popular than the show that it was a theme for.
Back in 1981, a teacher named Ralph Hinkley...played by
Richard Katt...was given a suit by a bunch of aliens, tried it on,
immediately lost the instruction manual for it, and alleged hilarity
ensued for the next two and a half seasons. The Greatest American
Hero was a mid-season replacement, premiering on March 18th,
1981...along with it's theme song, Believe It Or Not.
The show was actually pretty forgettable, hitting a wall
after only 44 episodes. The catchy, high energy theme song was far
more popular than the show. The music was written by Mike Post...who
also penned the music for The Hill Street Blues and Rockford Files
themes...the lyrics were penned by Steven Geyer, and they tapped Joey
Scarbury to sing it. It was a talent-trifecta made in heaven for the
song, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 9th,
1981 and climbed the charts steadily, making it to #2 for the week of
August 22nd. The song hung around the Top 40 for a total
of 18 weeks, and outlasted the show by several years, and you could
still hear it occasionally on Oldies stations until a few years back.
It's kind of dropped off the radar other then the occasional 'X# Of
Greatest Hits' count down. To bad really...'Believe It Or Not' was
almost as good an energy boost on a long, never-ending work-day as a
caffeine fix!
So Enjoy...'Believe It Or Not', written by Mike Post and
Sung By Joey Scarbury. The Video has both the lyrics and some scenes
from the show.
As Bonus # 1...the opening credits from 'The Greatest
America Hero.
The song has been referenced in more episodes of other
TV shows...from 'Seinfeld' right on up to 'Heroes'...than just about
any other theme music, and was covered by none other than 'Alvin And
The Chipmunks'
And with that thought in mind...as bonus #2, the
Official...yes, official...music video for Alvin And The
Chipmunks, covering 'Believe It Or Not'
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!
Back
in 1966 a British action-adventure series called 'Danger Man' was
imported into the US, and new theme music was written for
it...written by PF Sloan and Steve Barri, and recorded by Johnny
Rivers, and at first only 15 seconds long. Then the Powers that Be
decided (Rightfully so as it turned out) that it would make a perfect
single, so two more verses were written for it, Johnny Rivers
recorded it, and it sailed up to # 3 on the Hot 100. The song was FAR
more memorable than the show, which lasted for one season in The U.S.
Really...I've asked people who looked at me and said 'Never heard of
it'. I don't remember it, and that is the type of show an eight or
nine year old boy would slam eat up. (Was I ever really That
young???)
The
song, however, has had tremendous lasting power, and of the three
featured this week, it's the only
one still regularly heard on Oldies stations...that distinctive 'Spy
Music' guitar rift has just screamed 'ACTION!' for nearly 50 years,
hard as it is to believe!
So Enjoy! Secret Agent Man by Johnny Rivers
And as a bonus...we answer the question 'What if they
made a 'Pretty Little Liars' spinoff whence Caleb was an Undercover
Agent From The FBI???' Really cool, and creative, IMHO
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Hawaii
5-O
1968
The
Ventures
Remember TV Theme songs...I mean real TV theme
songs, the ones that lasted more than fifteen seconds and two or three
notes and actually had a melody, and a beat, and words, and verses
and the things actual songs tend to have. The ones that people knew
and loved and sang along with. (You've sung both the themes
from The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island...admit it. You
know 'em by heart)
Also, I'm not talking about songs that became hit
singles long before they were adopted for the theme of a show. A good
example of that Genre is The Whos' 'Who Are You' as the theme for CSI.
'Who Are You' hit #14 on the Hot 100 in 1978. 'CSI premiered and
became a huge hit twenty-two years later in 2000. The osng had bcome an Oldie a couple of years before the show's concept was even thought up.
I'm talking about original songs that were written
specifically for a TV series...and there were tons of them at one
time. And more of them than most people realize made it to not only
the Hot 100, but cracked the Top 20, and even the Top 10, and a
couple of them even made it to that Coveted Holy Grail of Hot 100
slots...#1
I'm going to stick with theme songs that cracked the Top
20 and got enough airplay that people who didn't watch the show still
knew of, and liked, and yes even bought the song. They fall
into two distinct categories. Instrumentals and vocals. During the
sixties and seventies, instrumentals were almost always the themes
song of choice for Dramas...primarily Police Dramas...while vocals
were usually used as the theme song for sit-coms. If there was any
deviation from that division of types, it was gong to be an
instrumental used for a sitcom (Barney Miller...which was still a
cop show...is a good example, as is 'I Dream Of Jeanie' with the
lovely Barbara Eden, and a pre-'Dallas' Larry Hagman.
<***>
I'm going to go with what I consider the Big 4
Instrumental TV Theme Songs That Became Hits first.
And the first one I'm featuring is the Icon of 'em
all...the one that's still around, and likely will stay around...The one everyone who was old enough to appreciate both music and television from 1968 to 1980 has played air drums to. The
one that to this day is the Unofficial Fight Song for the University
of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
The TV Theme Song That Kicks All Other Themes Songs'
Butts burst hard and unforgettably onto the scene when a guy named
Jack Lord was given the role of Steve McGarrett, the head honcho of a
fictional State Police agency in Hawaii. The producers of Hawaii 5-O
wanted a distinctive, hard-hitting, high energy theme song for the
show, so they tapped Morton Stevens...a veteran of TV Theme
composition... to write the music, and he in turn gave it to a band
that would become the biggest selling Instrumental rock band
ever...The Ventures...to record, and they knocked it slam out of the
park when they did so.
That distinctive, hard hitting drum, Butt-kicking
awesome keyboard and guitar, and uber-fast paced tempo burrowed it's
way into everyone's consciousness from the very first episode, along
with what would become an iconic opening credit sequence. It also became a
staple on Top 40s radio, and climbed to #4 on the Hot 100. Go to
enough high school and college football games and you'll still hear
it played by the band. Want to make a guess as to what the University
of Hawaii's unofficial and much loved fight song is? Don't even think about guessing anything
other than 'Hawaii 5-O!
Just try to listen to this and not play air
drums. And move with the music. And get a smile on your face. You
can't help but just have fun listening to it.
So enjoy...arguably the best loved, most awesome, most
iconic TV Theme Song EVER
Hawaii 5-O by The Ventures.
When The Ventures recorded The Hawaii 5-O Theme Song
back in 1968, they likely had no idea that they had created an icon.
But they had. Of course, Hawaii 5-O itself was an
icon...at 12 years the longest running police drama in history, a
record that they held until Law and Order beat it when it premiered
and ran...and ran...and ran...
But the show Hawaii 5-O wasn't done just yet...not even
close. With a very subtle change of title (From 5-O with a capitol
'O' to 5-0, with a '0') it came back on NBC a couple of years ago.
And they needed theme music. SOOOOO...they shortened the beloved and
iconic theme music to 30 seconds, rerecorded it, added an opening
credit sequence that's an updated mirror of the original (Right down
to the blue light on a police motorcycle at the end) and opened
Hawaii 5-0 just as it should be opened. The only thing better
would have been if they had kept it at a full minute.
Enjoy..the theme from 'Hawaii 5-0, the 2012 version.
It gets better...a lot of people don't know that
there is actually a full version of The Hawaii 5-O theme song
that runs for better than three minutes...and that when they recorded
the 2012 version, they also recorded the full version. You think the
'Opening Credit' version rocks? Wait until you hear the full version.
So enjoy...the full version of both, along with
the old and new titles sequences. A shade over six and a half minutes of awesome!
As long as there are College (And high School ) marching
bands, The Theme From Hawaii 5-O will always be with us. It'll be
played at halftime all over the country long after all of us are long
gone. And rightly so. The song just kicks ass and is absolutely made
for the heavy-on-the-brass-and-drums sound of a marching band. And
the kids love playing it!
First The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors getting
into it big time in a faux Hawaii 5-0 promo that NBC really should
have actually used.
And finally, USC on the beach in Hawaii, along with the
2012 Hawaii 5-0 cast, getting in to it in a big way!
Perhaps you've heard of a guy named Arron Spelling...had
some small success in the field of developing and producing TV shows?
Charlies Angels? 7th Heaven? A little show called 'Beverly
Hills 90210', also starring his daughter Tori? All huge hits
(And just three of a string of hits no other TV producer can even
come close to matching)
Well
not everything he created was a mega hit. S.W.A.T. for example. It
was a spin-off of his hit series The Rookies, and only lasted for
one season...not a bad show at all, it just didn't click with the
public like many of his other shows did. The theme song though...now that
was a different story.
The
theme music was written bu Barry DeVorzen and performed by a funk
group called Rhythm Heritage.The show may have fizzled after one season, but the theme music hit #1 on the Hot 100 on Feb 28th,
1976...just two months before S.W.A.T ended it's run on The Tube.
Rhythm Heritage recorded two versions of the
song...the short version that was used in the Opening credits, and a
long version that clocked in at a bit over 4 minutes that they
released as a single from their debut album 'Disco-fied' . The single
was the version, of course, that made it to #1. It was also certified Gold for selling more than a million copies, and was
significantly different than the TV show's title sequence. Not only
was the title sequence shortened to one minute, it was toned down
considerably from the single.
So Enjoy! The Theme From Swat (The long version) by
Rhythm Heritage
And the short version, with the original Opening Credits from S.W.A.T
Who can forget Jim Rockford, portrayed expertly by Jim
Garner, and his gold Pontiac Firebird Espirit appearing weekly from
1974-1980 in one of the more popular detective shows of that era.
Each episode of The Rockford Files kicked off with a message on his
answering machine, usually from a creditor, and seldom related to the
plot of the episode. And as the Answering machine message ended that
catchy theme music immediately kicked in...one of the catchiest tunes
ever to kick off a TV series, and third in my mind only to Hawaii 5-O
and Hill Street Blues. Speaking of Hill Street Blues, it's theme
music, and that of The Rockford Files had something in common. Both
were composed by Mike Post, and both made it to #10 on the Billboard
Hot 100, and in fact The Rockford Files was the first of the two do do
so, cracking the Top 10 when it was released as a single after the
show's first season, in 1975, and remaining on the charts for 16
weeks. It was also nominated for and won The Grammy for best
instrumental arrangement for 1975.
The Rockford Files was one of the the first hit songs to
use a Minimoog synthesizer...it was the lead instrument and really
makes the song's unique sound and mood. You also hear a blues
harmonica, a dobro, and an electric guitar...and what Post describes
as 'A Chamber Group On Steroids. A pair each of flutes, french horns,
and trombones.
The
Theme for The Rockford Files may not have had the lasting power of
Hawaii 5-O or Hill Street Blues, but it was still an awesome, catchy
tune that would burrow it's way into your head and stay there all
day.
It was on the radio a lot in the mid 70s but I haven't
heard it on an Oldies station in years. Sad really...it really is
that good and that catchy. Like most theme songs, especially
instrumentals, that hit as singles there were two versions...the
version played over the opening credits, and the extended version
that charted.
So enjoy! First, the long version that cracked the Top
10 on The Billboard Hot 100
I searched high and low on YouTube for The Rockford
Files opening credits. Apparently NBC has decided that they are
sacred territory and claimed Copyright every time they've been
posted. I did find a pretty neat little tribute to the show with the
original opening theme played over it thought. So enjoy!
Hill Street Blues Premiered in 1981, and was a major
hit. The show lasted for six seasons, from 1981 to 1987, and it became a benchmark in television production, with many of it's features used on law enforcement dramas right up to
the present day. It was gritty. It was realistic (For a TV show
anyway) and it gave us a look at the characters' personal lives, the
first show to do so. All of the above are pretty much a given with
any modern Law enforcement (Or fire service) drama today.
Hill Street Blues also had some pretty kick-butt theme
music. The theme music was written by Mike Post, and featured Larry
Carlton on Guitar. Hill Street Blues, though, is best known and best
loved for that awesome piano work...that's Mike Post on Piano, too,
BTW. Steve Broncho, the show's producer, asked Mike Post to write the
theme music, and two of them decided on a less gritty, more poignant
and emotional tune that was in keeping with the show's theme.
The long version of the theme song, released as a
single, climbed to #10 on the Hit 100, and was a staple on the top 40
stations for months! It only took Mike thirty minutes to write it,
and it's lasted ...and lasted. Just ask any Piano student!
Occasionally you'll still hear it on an Oldies station. But nowhere
near often enough.
First
the long version that cracked the Top 10. You can hear Larry
Carlton's Guitar work big time in this version, and he nails it,but
ya gotta LOVE
that piano!
So Enjoy! Hill Street Blues (Long Version) by Mike
Post.
And as a bonus, the opening credits everyone remembers
so fondly and well.
And finally, a tribute to Mike Conrad, who passed away
during the second season of the show.
