I consider the 1970s and 1980s the Golden Age of great TV theme music. The theme song to “Sesame Street” welcomed Patrick and Katie each morning back then. Then there are the iconic themes to “Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Laverne And Shirley,” and “The Jeffersons.”
But it was action TV programs that really connected with me: the themes to “Miami Vice,” Baretta,” “Starsky and Hutch,” and “The A-Team.” That music really got my blood pumping! But my favorites are “Hill Street Blues,” “The Rockford Files,” and “S.W.A.T.” Do you remember these TV theme songs? Which ones are your favorites? GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
Early Morning Cartoons | |||
| 1 | Unknown Artist– | Sesame Street | 0:59 |
| 2 | Unknown Artist– | The Muppet Show | 1:11 |
| 3 | Unknown Artist– | The Alvin Show | 1:05 |
| 4 | Unknown Artist– | Speed Racer | 1:11 |
| 5 | Unknown Artist– | The Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo | 0:47 |
| 6 | Unknown Artist– | Inspector Gadget | 1:15 |
| 7 | Unknown Artist– | The Smurfs | 1:03 |
| 8 | Unknown Artist– | Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines | 1:15 |
| 9 | Unknown Artist– | Scooby-Doo | 1:02 |
| 10 | Unknown Artist– | Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids | 1:04 |
| 11 | Unknown Artist– | The Archies (“Everything’s Archie”) | 1:01 |
| 12 | Unknown Artist– | Josie And The Pussycats | 1:02 |
| 13 | Unknown Artist– | Dudley Do-Right | 0:23 |
| 14 | Unknown Artist– | Fractured Fairy Tales | 0:24 |
| Sit-Coms | |||
| 15 | Gary Portnoy– | Cheers (“Where Everybody Knows Your Name”) | 1:06 |
| 16 | Unknown Artist– | The Bob Newhart Show (“Home To Emily”) | 1:05 |
| 17 | Joey Scarbury– | The Greatest American Hero (“Believe It Or Not”) | 1:46 |
| 18 | John Sebastian– | Welcome Back, Kotter (“Welcome Back”) | 0:58 |
| 19 | Unknown Artist– | Room 222 | 1:30 |
| 20 | Unknown Artist– | WKRP In Cincinnati | 0:44 |
| 21 | Bob James– | Taxi (“Angela”) | 1:05 |
| 22 | Unknown Artist– | Barney Miller | 0:48 |
| 23 | Unknown Artist– | Three’s Company | 1:01 |
| 24 | Pratt And MacLain*– | Happy Days | 1:16 |
| 25 | Cyndi Grecco– | Laverne And Shirley (“Making Our Dreams Come True”) | 1:19 |
| 26 | Unknown Artist– | The Facts Of Life | 0:53 |
| 27 | Jim Gilstrap & Blinky Williams*– | Good Times | 0:49 |
| 28 | Unknown Artist– | One Day At A Time | 0:53 |
| 29 | Nell Carter– | Gimme A Break | 0:54 |
| 30 | Donny Hathaway– | Maude (“And Then There’s Maude”) | 0:49 |
| 31 | Ja’net DuBois & Oren Waters– | The Jeffersons (“Movin’ On Up”) | 1:09 |
| 32 | Carroll O’Connor & Jean Stapleton– | All In The Family (“Those Were The Days”) | 0:46 |
| 33 | Quincy Jones– | Sanford And Son (“The Streetbeater”) | 0:56 |
| Prime Time Drama | |||
| 34 | Unknown Artist– | Dallas | 1:14 |
| 35 | Unknown Artist– | Dynasty | 1:18 |
| 36 | Unknown Artist– | Knots Landing | 1:36 |
| 37 | Unknown Artist– | L.A. Law | 1:36 |
| 38 | Unknown Artist– | St. Elsewhere | 1:28 |
| 39 | Unknown Artist– | Marcus Welby, M.D. | 1:01 |
| 40 | Unknown Artist– | M*A*S*H (“Suicide Is Painless”) | 0:55 |
| 41 | Unknown Artist– | The Waltons | 1:03 |
| 42 | Unknown Artist– | Little House On The Prarie | 0:57 |
| 43 | Unknown Artist– | Hart To Hart | 1:20 |
| 44 | Unknown Artist– | Charlie’s Angels | 1:06 |
| 45 | Unknown Artist– | Wonder Woman | 1:37 |
| 46 | Jack Jones– | Love Boat | 1:37 |
| 47 | Barry Manilow– | American Bandstand (“Bandstand Boogie”) | 1:25 |
| 48 | Unknown Artist– | Solid Gold | 1:24 |
| 49 | Unknown Artist– | Entertainment Tonight | 1:29 |
| Late Night Action Adventure | |||
| 50 | Jan Hammer– | Miami Vice | 1:02 |
| 51 | Rhythm Heritage– | S.W.A.T. | 1:14 |
| 52 | Sammy Davis, Jr.*– | Baretta (“Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow”) | 1:06 |
| 53 | Unknown Artist– | The Streets Of San Francisco | 1:07 |
| 54 | Unknown Artist– | Barnaby Jones | 0:54 |
| 55 | Unknown Artist– | Starsky And Hutch (“Gotcha”) | 1:15 |
| 56 | Unknown Artist– | Rookies | 1:02 |
| 57 | Unknown Artist– | Kojak | 0:51 |
| 58 | Unknown Artist– | The A-Team | 1:40 |
| 59 | Unknown Artist– | The Name Of The Game | 1:13 |
| 60 | Unknown Artist– | Quincy, M.E. | 1:03 |
| 61 | Unknown Artist– | Hill Street Blues | 1:18 |
| 62 | Unknown Artist– | Simon & Simon | 1:05 |
| 63 | Unknown Artist– | Magnum, P.I. | 1:02 |
| 64 | Unknown Artist– | The Rockford Files | 0:56 |
| 65 | Unknown Artist– | NBC’s Saturday Night Live | 1:15 |
George, you’re talking about an era that spawned the theme from MAUDE:
“Joan of Arc,
she lit the spark,
now there was a gal,
who really cooked….”
Dan, great lyrics!
George,
You think those are good lyrics?
Dan, they are catchy!
They didn’t include the theme from “Wacky Racers”, but they do have Dudley Do-Right, so I guess all is forgiven!
Deb, “Dudley Do-Right” doesn’t get enough love!
I don’t remember most of the cartoon theme songs; by that time I was at least 18 and morning cartoons were a thing of the past.
I do remember all the sit-com themes though. My favorites are Taxi and The Bob Newhart Show. There’s something very nostalgic and wistful about both.
Beth, Diane and I love the theme song to “Taxi.” Wistful, indeed!
I don’t know most of the kiddie stuff (other than Sesame Street, of course), but remember a lot of the others. I’m with Steve (if he gets here) in hating “Welcome Back.”
Jackie had her class do “Believe it or Not” from THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO in one of her many shows.
Correction: Jackie said she did NOT use “Believe it or Not ” in a show. Instead, she use it to do daily aerobics with the kids. She also used “Chicken Fat.”
Jeff, correction noted.
Jeff, Diane and her classes performed dozens of musical numbers over the years based on TV theme songs. As with Jackie’s, they were well received.
I think of most of that stuff as utilitarian music! It does its job but doesn’t make me want to dance!
BTW, I got your CARE package today and I thank you even if Linda doesn’t!
Bob, glad you like the package of goodies I sent you! Utilitarian music describes a lot of the theme songs on this CD!
Among Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine [v52 #2, Whole No. 297, August 1968] ed. Ellery Queen (Davis Publications, Inc., 60¢, 164pp, digest) []
Details supplied by Douglas Greene.
6 · The Gemminy Crickets Case · Christianna Brand · nv; Second Prize Winner in the Crime Writers Association Contest.
28 · The Spy Who Read Latin [Jeffrey Rand] · Edward D. Hoch · ss
41 · A Theme for Hyacinth · Julian Symons · ss Argosy (UK) August 1967
59 · The Man Who Read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · William Brittain · ss
66 · Hardcovers and Paperbacks of the Month · [Various] · br
67 · Play It Cool, Pal · Alex Pelle · ss
76 · The Grisly Game · C. B. Gilford · ss
87 · The Precedent · Vincent Cornier · ss
99 · Time Bomb · William Bankier · ss
104 · A Case of Jurisdiction · John Pierce · vi
107 · Riddle: A Real Brain Teaser · [uncredited] · pm
108 · The “Watch Out!” Girls [Haila & Jeff Troy] · Kelley Roos · na The American Magazine May 1951, as “Final Performance”
146 · The Gods Are Not Mocked · Robert Bloch · ss
151 · Change of Heart · Lawrence Treat · ss
Todd, I’m always surprised by the number of “Name Writers” who show up on the TABLE OF CONTENTS of SF and Mystery magazines from that era. It was a Golden Age!
Indeed. And in The ’70s, when I started buying them new…fantasy/horror and eclectic magazines, too..
OK, that’s odd…sorry, not quite sure why that happened.
I did mean to send (the other day) that nearly all of these were/are certainly familiar…perhaps unsurprisingly the jazz-infused ones, such as BARNEY MILLER’s, THE BOB NEWHART SHOW’s, among those not included PETER GUNN’s or MR. BROADWAY’s or THE SAINT’s, have tended to stick with me. But I liked the like of ROOM 222’s, THE WALTONS’s, and such as THE PRISONER’s (and DANGER MAN’s harpsichord and SECRET AGENT’s Johnny Burnette theme), and so on. MEDICAL CENTER’s could be considered an obscure one.
Todd, there used to be a clique of TV theme composters like Mike Post (“Theme from Baa Baa Black Sheep” (with Pete Carpenter), “Theme from Magnum, P.I.”, “Theme from The Rockford Files”, “Theme from The A-Team”, “Theme from Hunter”, “Theme from The White Shadow”, “Theme from Riptide”, “Theme from Toma”, “Theme from L.A. Law”, “Theme from Law & Order”, “Theme from Doogie Howser, M.D.”, “Theme from Quantum Leap”, “Theme from Hill Street Blues”, “Theme from Wiseguy”) who could deliver memorable music.