Saturday, April 27, 2013

Weekend blogging -- TV themes by the otherwise famous

When I get around to a post discussing the different branding strategies of the various terrestrial superstations, one of the practices I'll be singling out is METV's policy of playing opening and closing credits uninterrupted. It costs little but goes a long way to build brand both by showing respect for the product and addressing a long standing complaint of hard core fans.

This got me thinking about TV themes, specifically those by musicians known for other things.For example, Flatt and Scruggs were bluegrass legends long before the the Beverly Hillbillies.






Here are some other TV themes known for things other than TV themes like collaborating with Dizzy Gillespie or scoring 500+ movies.

I'll post credits in the comments later.




















And bonus points if you can recognize the time signature...



2 comments:

  1. Wendy and Lisa had become famous as members of Prince's band, the Revolution. "Where the Day Takes You" was written specifically for this short-lived sitcom, "The Crew"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksk6tsVY8_k

    One of the first, if not the first African-American credited with a TV theme song was Count Basie, who wrote the second season theme to "M Squad"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAhXez5Ib2k

    B.B. King composed this theme for "The Associates"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozcg_WjcPd8

    "Karen" was a one-season show that featured a peppy Beach Boys song:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSOQtyIQois

    Jose Feliciano was commissioned to write the theme for "Chico and the Man"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7FISjhfpmc

    According to this obituary of Marius Constant, his most famous composition out of the many he wrote was "Etrange no. 3", which was a piece of CBS library music. He had not seen the show, nor did he know of the status of the music. Many of us know "Etrange no. 3". Sing it with me, won't you?

    "Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo,
    Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo..."

    http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2004/061104.html

    As for the Mission Impossible time signature, it is best counted off by saying the name of the composer "Rimsky-Korsakov" over and over.

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  2. Also, on the cartoon side, the Globetrotters cartoon soundtrack featured old harmony groups, such as the Cadillacs, the Coasters, the Drifters and the Platters, so I am guessing one of these groups sang the theme song:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRdvXBFaBMQ

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