#TV theme songs

[thekylemeredith]

Carole King's iconic song "Where You Lead" became the heartwarming anthem for Gilmore Girls, but did you know she re-recorded it specifically for the show? Teaming up with her daughter Louise Goffin, they created a duet, symbolizing the close mother-daughter bond of Lorelai and Rory and giving it a fresh, emotional depth perfect for Stars Hollow.

💖🎶 Who’s your favorite Gilmore? Tell us below and tune into Kyle Meredith With 's TV In The Radio weeknight at 7:20 on WFPK.

#GilmoreGirls #CaroleKing #WhereYouLead #TVThemeSongs #ClassicTV #FeelGoodTV

[jules-has-notes]

Aca Top 10: Sitcom Themes — VoicePlay music video

Since the emergence of TV sitcoms in the mid-20th century, part of their enduring charm has been the catchy songs that accompany the opening credits. There's something reassuring about a familiar tune that indicates whatever problems the quippy characters might face will be resolved in less than 30 minutes, and probably end with a hug. While VoicePlay can't provide a physical embrace for every listener, this medley is just as fun and entertaining as an episode of your favorite comfort show in a fraction of the time.

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 – Sitcom Themes

original songs / performers: "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts from Friends; [0:20] Saved by the Bell theme by Michael Damian; [0:36] "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids for How I Met Your Mother; [0:45] The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince; [1:05] Seinfeld theme by Jonathan Wolff; [1:18] "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy from Cheers; [1:45] "As Days Go By" by Jesse Frederick for Family Matters; [2:08] "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Cynthia Fee for Golden Girls; [2:30] Mister Ed theme by Jay Livingston; [2:45] Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt theme by The Gregory Brothers; [2:54] "Movin’ On Up" by Ja'Net DuBois for The Jeffersons

written by: "I'll Be There For You" by Michael Skloff, David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Allee Willis, Phil Sōlem, & Danny Wilde; Saved by the Bell theme by Scott Gale; "Hey Beautiful" by Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Patrick Butler, & C.C. DePhil; The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme by Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes & Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith; Seinfeld theme by Jonathan Wolff; "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy & Judy Hart-Angelo; "As Days Go By" by Jesse Frederick & Bennett Salvay; "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold; "Mister Ed" by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans; Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt theme by Jeff Richmond, Michael Gregory, & Evan Gregory; "Movin’ On Up" by Ja'Net DuBois

arranged by: Layne Stein & Earl Elkins Jr.

release date: 19 July 2019

My favorite bits:

that iconic twangy air guitar and the requisite 👏👏👏👏

the fantastic bus "vroom" that was honed through years of "Road Trip" performances 🚌💨

Eli and Earl's squicked out reaction to Geoff's deep "moist" 💧

the light, popping percussion Layne gives to to "Fresh Prince"

Geoff's descending run in the transition into "Seinfeld"

Earl pretending he's going to smack Eli while he's helping with the "Seinfeld" percussion

that lovely four-part harmony for ♫ "get awaaay" ♫

J.None's quick transformation into a pitch-perfect Steve Urkel 🤓

their absolutely joyful tone as they sing the Golden Girls theme

the back row mounting pretend horses during Mr. Ed

animated carrot shenanigans 🥕

Geoff grooving away on that walking bass line in "Movin’ On Up"

Eli and J's gospel hands on that final "oooh!" harmony

Earl's fantastic belt for the end of "Movin’ On Up"

how long they manage to hold on to the ending silence before they burst out laughing

Trivia:

○ Once again, the decision process for this entry in their "Aca Top 10" series was quite contentious. The guys are clearly very passionate about their entertainment preferences.

○ Some of the shows are represented on their shirts, regardless of whether they made the final cut.

Eli — Gilligan from Gilligan's Island (1964–67)

Earl — portraits of the Golden Girls (1985–92) with "squad" above

J.None — Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990–96) title graphic baseball jersey

Geoff — Joey Tribiani's catchphrase "How you doin'?" from Friends (1994–2004) in the show's title font

Layne — Kelly Kapowski from Saved By the Bell (1989–92)

○ The guys had already recorded a version of "Everywhere You Look" from Full House (1987–95) and Fuller House (2016–20) as the second entry in their PartWork series three years earlier. Earl and Layne covered all five vocal parts for that one.

○ Revisiting some of the memorable shows of their youth got Earl and Layne in a bit of a nostalgic mood, so they gave a shoutout to a favorite after-school snack on social media.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VoicePlay (@thevoiceplay)

[cosette141]

I’ll make another poll with more because it was way too hard to narrow it down and tumblr only offers 10 options. I tried to think of the first of my favorite cartoon theme songs off the top of my head. Gosh we had good tv

[alwaysbewoke]

My Top 5 TV Theme Songs… feel free to reply with your own choices.

1. Mash 2. 2nd Season of "A Different World" 3. Three's Company 4. Mission Impossible 5. 4th Season of "The Cosby Show"

[thesobsister]

With the recent passing of TV legend Norman Lear, I thought it'd be interesting to spotlight the theme songs for the groundbreaking shows that he created and/or developed: the Bunkerverse, if you will, of All in the Family and its spinoffs Maude (which, itself, spun off Good Times) and The Jeffersons, as well as Sanford and Son and One Day at a Time.

The themes were written by top-shelf artists such as Quincy Jones (Sanford), Dave Grusin/Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Good Times), Lee Adams/Charles Strouse (All in the Family), and Jeff Barry and Ja'Net Dubois (The Jeffersons). And they're some of the most memorable theme songs of the era and of the medium.

[burlveneer-music]

Youtube user redo (@redoalfo) has been uploading 80s nuggets for years; here's a fun novelty he just posted

[hezigler]

Watch ""Mission: Impossible" (Intro, 1967)" on YouTube

Big Bamd Jazz TV Theme Music

[thekylemeredith]

Jack Marshall’s surf-rock inspired theme for The Munsters brought spooky fun to life in a way that only a '60s classic could! With its catchy guitar riffs and playful tone, it perfectly matched the quirky charm of the Munster family.

Fun fact: Jack Marshall was also a producer and arranger, known for blending genres. His unique combination of spooky and surf rock made the theme as iconic as Herman Munster’s laugh.

What’s your favorite old-school TV theme? Tell us below and tune in for Kyle Meredith With 's TV In The Radio weeknights at 7:20

#TheMunsters#JackMarshall#TVThemeSongs#BehindTheScenes#ClassicTV#RetroVibes#60sTV

[jules-has-notes]

Aca Top 10: 80s Cartoon Themes — VoicePlay music video

The VoicePlay boys might technically be grown-ups, but they'll always be big kids at heart. So for their first "Aca Top 10" countdown of the year, they decided to revisit the joy of Saturday mornings spent in front of the TV with bowls of sugary cereal. Everybody sing along!

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 — 80s Cartoon Themes

original songs / performers: "La La Song" by the cast of The Smurfs (1981); [0:18] Inspector Gadget (1983) theme song; [0:35] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) theme by Chuck Lorre; [0:57] Scooby-Doo theme by Larry Marks; [1:16] G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983) theme; [1:36] Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985) theme by Joseph Williams; [2:03] Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989) theme by Jeff Pescetto; [2:24] My Little Pony (1986) theme; [2:34] "JEM – Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" by the singing cast of Jem and the Holograms (1985); [2:55] The Transformers (1984) theme; [3:14] "DuckTales" by Jeff Pescetto for DuckTales (1987)

written by: "La La Song" by Hoyt Curtin; Inspector Gadget theme by Shuki Levy & Haim Saban; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme by Dennis C. Brown & Chuck Lorre; Scooby-Doo (1969) theme by David Mook & Ben Raleigh; The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984) theme by Hoyt Curtin; G.I. Joe theme by Ford Kinder & Spencer Michlin; Adventures of the Gummi Bears theme by Michael & Patty Silversher; Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers theme by Mark Mueller; My Little Pony theme by Ford Klinder, Anne Bryant, & Barry Harman; "JEM – Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous" by Barry Harman; The Transformers theme by Ford Kinder & Anne Bryant; "DuckTales" by Mark Mueller

arranged by: VoicePlay

release date: 30 March 2018

My favorite bits:

kicking things off with an extra dramatic fanfare

Layne's incredible ratchet sound and miming for the safe's lock dial in the Inspector Gadget theme

Earl giving an excellent Dr. Claw impression

the couch trio doing enthusiastic karate chops at the air 🥷 🐢

J.None taking over the bass line while Geoff sings lead

Layne making the pew-pew noises of the G.I. Joe lasers

Eli, Earl, and J delighting in how springy the couch cushions are at the start of the Gummi Bears theme

Layne and J crooning ♫ "my little brony" ♫ at Geoff while he scowls until he can't resist smiling anymore 🐎

Earl half-heartedly protesting at Eli and J singing the Misfits' part of the Jem! theme whlie he's wearing their signature colors / print

all the electronic-sounding elements they added to the Transformers theme

♫ "here in… Duckburg" ♫ ::quack:: 🦆

Gotta get in a bell chord somewhere, and that's a very good spot.

finishing on a joyful ♫ "Woo-ooo!" ♫

Eli quietly playing with a Transformer and Earl's enthusiastic "Cowabunga, dude!" in the outro

Trivia:

○ This was the first full-length video released on VoicePlay's YouTube channel in 2018. They started the year with a short video of "Happy Birthday", in between two collaborations they had recorded the previous fall that are on other channels — "Waving Through a Window" with Kurth Hugo Schneider, and "Look What You Made Me Do" with pocket.watch.

○ According to their replies to some YouTube comments, there was quite a debate about which songs to include or not, and "Thunder Cats was about a 2 hour argument. Shoes were thrown." 😆

○ Despite being very recognizable as The Smurfs theme, the version of the "La La Song" with lyrics was only used for the show's opening credits during season 2 in the U.S. However, an instrumental version was used for the closing credits from then on.

○ At least one of the guys came by his martial arts moves honestly. Eli studied karate from age six until he was sixteen.

○ For the Scooby-Doo theme, VoicePlay combined the original 1969 song from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (which was still airing in reruns) with some jazzier elements from the 1984 New Scooby Doo Mysteries opening.

○ The silliness in the YouTube description for this one is another misheard lyric — "JIM is truly outrageous / Truly Truly Truly outrageous / Woh oh oh JIM - JIM!!!" // "That's such a weird song. Who the heck is Jim anyway..?"

○ The guys' shirts reflect some of their childhood favorites:

Eli — Scrooge McDuck from DuckTales half-buried in the gold pile in his money vault with the inscription "living the dream"

Earl — Ultimate Warrior (WWF / WWE) facepaint, sort of referencing Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, though the show was cancelled before that character could appear; bonus charteuse zebra-print leggings for The Misfits from Jem! and the Holograms

J.None — face masks of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which aired into the mid-90s for the younger guy)

Geoff — Autobot mask symbol from The Transformers

Layne — Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony (a slight cheat with a character from the 2010s series, but probably inspired by one or more of his daughters). I cannot for the life of me figure out where that specific design came from, but I found a couple close-ish approximations.

○ Layne posted some videos of both the final rehearsal and cleanup process on his Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Layne Stein (@laynestein)

Those light diffusers can be a handful.

[jeffcross5000]

Nobody gets out of the Rodeo Center without singing the blues.

[mellicose]

Anyone else kinda miss good TV show theme songs?

Like, not a popular song they picked to be the theme song, but music they specifically wrote for that show? Mission Impossible, the Bond theme, I Dream of Jeannie, or Gilligan's Island ...

Those theme songs still bang, and are instantly recognizable. I wish it was still the rule and not the exception.

[russelllamon]

post wash day with no haircut gave Beverly Hills, 90210 Opening Theme vibes. 😆

definitely time for a rewatch.

[mindofsmoothie]

"You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life."

-The Facts of Life

[daiseys-vintage-and-cool-stuff]

I see this picture, and the Al Jarreau theme song starts playing in my head. (Theme song link below 👇)

Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd / publicity still for Moonlighting (ABC 1985-89)