Marsonator's Top TV Themes
Posted by marsonator on 18 October 2008 - 1:19am.
After all these years still get a buzz from hearing:
1. Thunderbirds
2. Joe 90 (Bazza Gray unsung genius)
3. Hill Street Blues
4. Crown Court (end credits in particular)
5. Wonder Years (Joe Cocker start and end credits music)
6. World Of Sport
7. Black Beauty (he was a dark horse)
8. Hawaii 5-0
9. Van Der Valk
10. The Protectors
11. The Avengers
Feel better now I've got that off my chest. Remember we're all different.
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The ones that similarly stir my memories are
Roobarb and Custard (hit that wah wah peddle!)
Dr Who (earliest Delia Debyshire mix but also the *boom* at the end of the 80's theme)
Jamie And The Magic Torch (funky pop)
The Prisoner (damn you Iron Maiden!)
Stingray (Marina, aqua Marina etc)
Sapphire and Steel (....have been assigned to some weird shit)
Minder (sing da theme toon)
Last Of the Summemr Wine (oh no its Sunday night - back to school\ work\ signing on in the mornimg)
Monkey (great tune, great lyrics)
The TOTP 'Yellow Pearl' Themetune
the Minder theme toon...
...is in my top 10 songs ever, never mind TV themes!
Bluetones
Have you heard The Bluetones version? Nice.
ooh!
didn't know about that, will seek it out.
I know, I know
but Coronation Street
Oh and...Cheers
What about BBC sport....
...
Grandstand,
Match Of The Day,
Test Match Cricket.
One for the Old Ones
The theme from Fireball XL5
I wish I was a spaceman, the fastest man alive.
I'd fly you round the universe in Fireball Xl5 etc
How about The Persuaders and The Champions, although that might be memories of Alexandro Bastedo!!
The 1980's NWPBHM power-trio Vardis...
...used to occasionally do a cover of Fireball XL5.
I recall the guitarist (appropriately called Steve Zodiac) ripping off a viscious solo ending with the shout "...and THAT'S what you can do with a fuckin' Telecaster"
Simpler, more innocent times
Er, Excuse me...
Final Score.
White Horses.
Robinson Crusoe.
Ah yes
Hill street blues, MOTD and the cricket. the professionals .
Barry Normans tv show about the cinema.....
.....what was it called? Maybe Film 84(insert year)?
I remember the name of the music though.....it was "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free".
I don't know who did the tv version, but I have a version by Nina Simone......lovely laid back jazz!
I seem to remember it was the Billy Taylor Trio...
...Billy Taylor originally wrote and recorded it
Billy Taylor
....yes, that's correct....thanks!
I heard Jools Holland play a version once.
Wot?
No Sweeney??
The themes to The Professionals, Man In a Suitcase, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and Department S are ace, too.
from my youth
Flashing Blades ('You've got to fight for what you want..')
Follyfoot ('Lighting tree! Lightning treeeeeee!')
and
der der der de der der der der.
der der der de der der dur.
Z Cars!
What?
No opening music to "Stingray"? Surely the most exciting piece of music ever. I used to have a party tape which opened with it and the segued into Van Halen doing "You really got me".
get it here
On second thoughts, and I've posted it before, this is brilliant
And this almost certainly accounts for my lifelong love of bluegrass
Rum-Ti-Tum-Ti-Tim-Ti-Tum
Know it's radio and not TV but...
The Archers Theme = Barwick Green (no relation)
Dangermouse
Written by...
...Mike Harding, of course.
Listen
There's a huge collection of TV themes at this link - many of those listed above can be heard here. Dig!
http://mythemes.tv/
Kids programmes of my youth
Belle and Sebastian (the programme not the band). It was sung in French, as I remember, by either a young girl or boy (or an adult sounding like one)
Robinson Crusoe always sounded slightly out of tune as if the recording was being played on a slipping tape machine.
Blue Peter - stirring stuff.
Banana Splits - chorus later nicked by Bob Marley in Buffalo Soldier (or was it the other way round?)
Known in our house as the "Potato Splits" song
...my mother, famous for mixing up her words, used to wander round singing "One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four..."
she told me this morning she'd been to see the new Coen brothers film, "Read after Burning". Bless her...
It's Live
From Norwich, it's the Quiz of the week!
Hello Mr Moody
Edge of Darkness: Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen with the button marked Moody turned all the way up to 11.
In a similar atmospheric vein, the cruelly-ignored Millennium. Short, but wonderful (particularly the violin/cello):
Must go, I think my valium is running low. The world's not looking quite black enough...
The Littlest Hobo
"Maybe Tomorrow".....takes me back....
Star Fleet was a rip off from Gerry Anderson...
... which doesn't stand the test of time, but I liked it and the music. I have the end title here because it had words, but imagine this without them and you have the opening. Made me happy on a Saturday morning as a little 'un.
Made Brian May happy as well it seems...
This one was a cracker. This echoed around the playground of my primary school
But my favorite is Mr Rossie. For some reason I get awfully weepy when I play this, it's a really happy-sad tune. I've had it on vinyl for years so I can't even claim to have just been reminded of it on youtube.
YABBA DABBA Dooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Surely and undeniably THE greatest theme song of all time has to be The Flintstones theme. Even the B-52's / BC-52's version of it was terrific.
Witches, Animals, Cowboys and Monsters
1 Bewitched
2 Animal Magic
3 Top Cat
4 Bonanza
5 The High Chaparral (is that how you spell "chaparral", it's not a word I use every day - apparently it means an area of dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes ...never knew that)
6 The Addams Family - neat, sweet, petite
7 The Munsters
Champion the Wonder Horse
There's a time when everyone will know the name of...
plus...
The Littlest Hobo - a Johnny Cash cover version would have sounded awesome. "There's a voice, that keeps on callin' me..down the road, that's where I'll always be..." Genius, genius, genius...
The Red Hand Gang
Top Cat - I always imagine Davy Jones singing that, not sure why.
Honourable mention to Dogtanian and the three muskerhounds. Surreal, just surreal
got to mention dogtanian
got to mention dogtanian (even had it as a ringtone till I realised it would get annoying very quickly)
and the mysterious cities of gold
it just makes feel so very old now and now i'm going to waste the rest of the day on you tube watching cartoons
NYPD Blue
Not very old, but still great. Reminds me, I still have about 20 episodes to watch...
The Equalizer
Used to just watch this show for the theme tune...an 80's classic.
The Adventurer
Anyone else remember this series from the seventies?
I think it had 30 minute episodes like The Protectors,and a cracking theme tune which strongly recalled that of The Persuaders.If John Barry didn't write it he should have sued.