Best TV Theme Song

[searadiofreak]

The Monkees Theme was good, but the show wasn't.

I will disagree "The Monkees" was a bad tv show. I was like, 8, but I thought it was very funny, very cutting edge, and very much a vision of things to come...of course, I was 8.

 

[radioman148]

The Monkees Theme was good, but the show wasn't.

I will disagree "The Monkees" was a bad tv show. I was like, 8, but I thought it was very funny, very cutting edge, and very much a vision of things to come...of course, I was 8.

Personal taste I guess.

 

[searadiofreak]

Well, if you have any "persol taste" at eight?

 

[searadiofreak]

"personal" is the word I meant to type. Radio-Info does not give you much time to correct your errors! Please relax ths rule R-I.

 

[Otto Maddock]

The Monkees Theme was good, but the show wasn't.

I will disagree "The Monkees" was a bad tv show. I was like, 8, but I thought it was very funny, very cutting edge, and very much a vision of things to come...of course, I was 8.

The Monkees... definitely an example of how our tastes can, and do, change over time. Loved it as a kid. Then sometime in the mid '90s they ran the series on TV Land or Nickelodeon, and I couldn't believe how I could have liked such a stupid show. (Didn't it win an Emmy, too?) Oh well, I wonder how fans of Hannah Montana will view her 30 years from now.

 

[radioman148]

The Monkees Theme was good, but the show wasn't.

I will disagree "The Monkees" was a bad tv show. I was like, 8, but I thought it was very funny, very cutting edge, and very much a vision of things to come...of course, I was 8.

The Monkees... definitely an example of how our tastes can, and do, change over time. Loved it as a kid. Then sometime in the mid '90s they ran the series on TV Land or Nickelodeon, and I couldn't believe how I could have liked such a stupid show. (Didn't it win an Emmy, too?) Oh well, I wonder how fans of Hannah Montana will view her 30 years from now.

They'll probably be watching Monkees reruns ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

The Monkees Theme was good, but the show wasn't.

I will disagree "The Monkees" was a bad tv show. I was like, 8, but I thought it was very funny, very cutting edge, and very much a vision of things to come...of course, I was 8.

The Monkees... definitely an example of how our tastes can, and do, change over time. Loved it as a kid. Then sometime in the mid '90s they ran the series on TV Land or Nickelodeon, and I couldn't believe how I could have liked such a stupid show. (Didn't it win an Emmy, too?) Oh well, I wonder how fans of Hannah Montana will view her 30 years from now.

Agreed. The Monkees seems terrible in retrospect. The show was an attempt to copy the style of the ground-breaking Beatles films A Hard Day's Night, and later Help, which both used a lot of quick cutting and out of sequence footage shot silently, with hit songs played over them. These two films were also credited with influencing the development of the music videos that became so popular in the 1980s.

It would be interesting to see Hard Day's Night again to see if it stands up at all, or seems dated. I have a feeling it would stand up better than The Monkees.

There was a lot of talent involved in The Monkees - the producer, Bob Rafelson, became an acclaimed film director just a few years later - Five Easy Pieces (Jack Nicholson), and the controversial 80s remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice were two of them.

The Monkees developer, writer, and often director was Paul Mazursky, a veteran actor and TV director who later went into films, having a string of hit comedies in the 70s and 80s, including Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, An Unmarried Woman, and others. Mazursky has lately appeared as an actor again in small cameo roles on The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and others.

 

[nightfly61]

I liked the zany slapstick stuff like the Monkees as a kid, same with the Banana Splits. I'm surprised if you were to buy a box set of the Monkees series they wouldn't edit out the real songs.
I just saw an interesting episode of the Munsters where they rent out their home to the Standells(Dirty Water fame), but Eddie put their record on the (Victrola) and it was an unfamiliar tune(then made the Victrola explode)...then later when the band played a tune, it was them covering the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and not "Dirty Water".

 

[radioman148]

I liked the zany slapstick stuff like the Monkees as a kid, same with the Banana Splits. I'm surprised if you were to buy a box set of the Monkees series they wouldn't edit out the real songs.
I just saw an interesting episode of the Munsters where they rent out their home to the Standells(Dirty Water fame), but Eddie put their record on the (Victrola) and it was an unfamiliar tune(then made the Victrola explode)...then later when the band played a tune, it was them covering the Beatles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and not "Dirty Water".

Somehow I can't picture the Standells doing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" ???

 

[The_X_Man_Cometh]

The theme writer for the MTM show was not Paul Williams; it was actually Sonny Curtis ( who also sang the theme during the first few years).

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313954,00.html

 

[wbhist]

The theme writer for the MTM show was not Paul Williams; it was actually Sonny Curtis ( who also sang the theme during the first few years).

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313954,00.html

Moreover, the only Williams who was involved musically with the MTM show was Patrick (a.k.a. Pat) Williams, who did the incidental music scores heard on the program.

 

[The King Bee]

Ah, yes, "F Troop"..."where indian fights are colorful sights where nobody takes a lickin'...where paleface and redskin both turn chicken!"
(words by I. Taylor, music by W. Lava, copyright 1965 Warner-Tamerlane Music)

Great lyrics to a great theme to a highly underrated, laugh-out-loud TV comedy. Another point to ponder...didn't Screen Gems have the best arrangements and orchestration of their theme music? All their shows ("Hazel," "The Flying Nun," "I Dream Of Jeanie" and many others) really jumped out at the viewer and sounded great.

 

[The King Bee]

Ah, yes, "F Troop"..."where indian fights are colorful sights where nobody takes a lickin'...where paleface and redskin both turn chicken!"
(words by I. Taylor, music by W. Lava, copyright 1965 Warner-Tamerlane Music)

Great lyrics to a great theme to a highly underrated, laugh-out-loud TV comedy. Another point to ponder...didn't Screen Gems have the best arrangements and orchestration of their theme music? All their shows' theme music and bridges/cues ("Hazel," "The Flying Nun," "I Dream Of Jeanie," "The Donna Reed Show" and many others) really jumped out at the viewer and sounded great.


[/quote]

 

[Pratte4Life]

Regarding "Good Ol' Boys," The Theme to "The Dukes of Hazzard,"

The song was actually Waylon Jennings' biggest crossover hit, ranking No. 21 (if memory serves) on the pop charts somewhere around 1980-81.

It is easily my choice for all-time greatest theme song.

 

[nightfly61]

Regarding "Good Ol' Boys," The Theme to "The Dukes of Hazzard,"

The song was actually Waylon Jennings' biggest crossover hit, ranking No. 21 (if memory serves) on the pop charts somewhere around 1980-81.

It is easily my choice for all-time greatest theme song.

Unlike Sean Cassidy who performed his version of "That's Rock-N-Roll" on the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, I am almost positive John Schneider never sang his only hit "It's Now Or Never" at the Boar's Nest as Bo Duke.

 

[Pratte4Life]

No, he didn't.

Schneider, Tom Wopat, and Catherine Bach all sang the bluegrass staple "Fox on the Run" during the final episode of Dukes- "Opening Night at the Boar's Nest," and two episodes began with Tom & John singing- once to the Eagles' "Take it Easy," and another time to the Hee Haw staple "Where, Oh Where, Are You Tonight?" but he never did that.

The first Dukes reunion movie did feature Tom & John singing a new theme called "Carrying On."

I used to know all the artists who were stopped in the Celebrity Speed Trap.

The Oak Ridge Boys were caught twice.

Donna Fargo

Dottie West

Hoyt Axton

Mel Tillis (during the infamous Coy and Vance Episodes)

Johnny Paycheck

Roy Orbison (correct, Roy Orbison- did Pretty Woman with Daisy right beside him)

Mickey Gilley (actually performed two songs in Hazzard Square, not the Boar's Nest, in "Sound of Music, Hazzard Style"

Loretta Lynn (she really wasn't caught in the celebrity speed trap but rather had an entire episode written around her and then sang "Ya'll Come" with the rest of the cast at the end of one of the better episodes of the series)

Freddy Fender

Tammy Wynette

Waylon Jennings sang "Never Could Toe the Mark" at the end of the episode "Welcome Waylon Jennings," which was the No. 1 country album at the time and allowed him to show his face- as well as his hands- on TV!

Tom Wopat did a song with a Roberta Lighton (also known as John Winger's girlfriend who walked out on him in "Stripes") at the end of the episode "Play It Again, Luke."

There may have been more, but off the top of my head and without serious internet searches that's what I remember.

 

[mleach]

Regarding "Good Ol' Boys," The Theme to "The Dukes of Hazzard,"

The song was actually Waylon Jennings' biggest crossover hit, ranking No. 21 (if memory serves) on the pop charts somewhere around 1980-81.

It is easily my choice for all-time greatest theme song.

Unlike Sean Cassidy who performed his version of "That's Rock-N-Roll" on the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, I am almost positive John Schneider never sang his only hit "It's Now Or Never" at the Boar's Nest as Bo Duke.

"Pratte4Life" is right, John never did sing "Its Now or Never" on the Dukes, but he DID sing that song on at least two other shows back then. "the John Davidson Show" and the local WKBW-TV Buffalo talk show "AM Buffalo". Cant tell you much about WKBW and John Schneider but when he did that song on John Davidson's program, from what I can remember, John didn't seem to be enjoying doing that song..like he was being forced to do it or something.

Looking back now, I wouldn't had been surprised that John had did that song on a lark only to have that tune ending up being a hit.

 

[firepoint525]

Waylon Jennings sang "Never Could Toe the Mark" at the end of the episode "Welcome Waylon Jennings," which was the No. 1 country album at the time and allowed him to show his face- as well as his hands- on TV!

Wasn't that line also left off of the portion of the theme song that was played on TV at the beginning of the show (opening credits) every week? After all, they only had time for a 30-second snippet of the theme song, so I'm thinking that that line was among the ones that got cut.

 

[firepoint525]

Looking back now, I wouldn't had been surprised that John had did that song on a lark only to have that tune ending up being a hit.

It wouldn't surprise me if his record company put him up to that! Record companies sometimes like for their stars to record cover songs to launch their careers. That way, they can put their artists out there with material that is already familiar to the fans.

But it appears that Schneider was at least able to capitalize on the initial exposure, and had himself a minor career in country music in the early '80s.

 

[The King Bee]

This reminds me of the days when TV and movie production companies had associated, co-owned record labels. Screen Gems-Columbia (Colgems, Colpix Records), Warner Bros., Disney (Buena Vista, Disneyland), United Artists, NBC/RCA Victor (RCA, Victor, Vik), ABC (ABC, Dunhill, and later the historic R&B labels Duke-Peacock-Back Beat acquired by ABC) along with CBS (Columbia) come to mind.

For example, artists such as Shelly Fabares ("Johnny Angel," Colpix) got massive cross-promotion on Screen Gems' "The Donna Reed Show," where she was a cast member. The Monkees also benefitted greatly from Don Kirshner's Screen Gems-backed Colgems Records tie-in.