Thursday Thirteen #55

13 Things About Dane Bramage
13 Favorite Television Theme Songs

I stole the idea for this week's Thursday Thirteen from Chelle Y. I would also like to thank Jay Campbell for leaving me the link to http://www.televisiontunes.com. I have links to all of the themes (except the two I used YouTube for) so you can listen to the theme if you want. (It will open in a separate window). My taste in music is very eclectic. So don't let it surprise you if you don't remember or even have heard of some of these 13 T.V. theme songs.

1. Man From UNCLE (Link to 1966 version) There was a variation on the theme every year. 1965 and 1966 were the ones I remember. The theme for the Girl from UNCLE was yet another variation on the this song.


2. Johnny Quest (Link to Theme) I loved this cartoon when I was a kid. They subsequently ruined it with a bunch of P.C. crap but the theme was excellent.


3. The Name of the Game (Link to Theme) Something about late sixties early seventies television themes that I really liked. Very jazzy with a big band behind them. TNotG was a great show too!


4. S.W.A.T. (Link to Theme) This theme was a commercial hit during the disco days of the seventies.


5. Soul Train (TSOP) (Link to Theme) Another disco era hit with a big band sound.


6. Rockford Files (Link to Theme) Another theme song musical hit. I didn't watch the show but I heard the theme on the radio everywhere.


7. Hill Street Blues (Link to Theme) I remember hearing this on the radio too. But I never missed an episode of HSB. An excellent T.V. show and theme song.


8. Taxi (Angela) (Link to Theme) I enjoyed watching Taxi. But I was really happy when Angela (The name of the theme song) did so well. I had been a Bob James fan for years and was really happy he got a mainstream hit.


9. Quantum Leap (Link to Theme) I'm a leap head. I loved everything about the show including the great theme song.


10. Twin Peaks (Link to Theme) To be honest, I was never a TP fan. I saw David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and found it disturbing on many levels. So I never watched more than an episode or two of Twin Peaks. I did love the theme song and the soundtrack album.


11. Northern Exposure (Link to Theme) An incredible show with an awesome theme. Where else will you find harmonica, accordion, saxophone with brazilian percussion?


12. Now and Again I found this show through Bravo's "Brilliant But Canceled" series. Dennis Haysbert builds a twenty six year-old white male superman body (Eric Close) and puts John Goodman's forty-something brain in it. It is not really a comedy but a well written show. The theme song was done by Narada Michael Walden and he never recorded it on any of his other works. That is a shame because the theme is very nice indeed. They did two versions (same song but just used different parts at differnt times). Thank God for YouTube. Here is the theme (both)



13. Cowboy Bebop (Tank!) Anime fans know what I am talking about. Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts perform this great jazzy big band sounding theme song called Tank!. The series itself was very good. Lots of style and absolutely great music.

There were others too. I liked a lot of the Norman Lear show themes. Does anyone NOT know the words to the Jefferson's theme? The Mary Tyler Moore Show? Leave your favorite in the comments.

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