Write Back Weekend "The World Don't Move To The Beat Of Just One Drum"
As most of you have figured out by now, most of my TITMT inspired questions are nostalgia inspired. This, one of course, is no exception.
This week I asked you what your favorite TV Themes were. Some of you, like me, had to dig deep to recall what a good TV theme once was. Nowadays most shows have abandoned the old school TV theme song in favor of something shorter and sweeter. This is no doubt, in an effort to fit in more show and less fluff. The Office, for example, is a short and to the point, no frills theme that brings you right back into the thick of action before too long.
Then there are what I like to refer to as the "cop out" themes. These are theme songs that are really regular songs that shows have adapted as their themes, most likely to hook people in on the song alone. The OC did it with California, One Tree Hill meanwhile uses Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Wanna Be. Ten years ago it probably got it's start with Dawson's Creek's use of Paula Cole's I Don't Wanna Wait. Shows like these are smart and have mass marketing on their side, but it becomes the classic chicken vs. egg scenario. Which was popular first? Woke Up This Morning or The Sopranos? Years from now you really may not recall.
The list I've come up with pays homage to the golden years of the TV theme song. The song was written for the show, even if it went on to be a hit in its own right. It also, almost without exception, told the story of the show, just as the music video used to tell the tale of the song, too.
1. Believe It Or Not (It's Just Me)- Joey Scarbury (Theme To Greatest American Hero) Many of you have felt the same about this theme song and mentioned it here or even went one step further to include it on your own lists. This song brings back so many memories for me and even sometimes makes me feel rather melancholy when I think about it being from so long ago now. Oddly enough, my memories of the show itself are somewhat vague given the fact I was so young at the time. The song, though, has stuck with me all of these years. I couldn't imagine anything evoking more of a reluctant hero vibe than Believe It Or Not.
2. The Love Boat- Jack Jones (The Love Boat) When I was a kid, Saturday nightlife WAS the NBC lineup, culminating in watching The Love Boat. Every week The Love Boat would feature different passengers, people who were usually plucked from other hit shows on at the time. I always loved how there were different storylines going on at the same time, too. Almost always something dramatic happened against the romantic waterview backdrop. The opening sequence not only set the tone, it introduced you to the ship's workers who would be with you on your voyage. It was even funnier when they decided to use it in Airplane Two. The first two lounge act like bars. Love. Exciting and new. Come aboard. We're expecting you.
3. As Long As We've Got Each Other- BJ Thomas and Jennifer Warnes (Growing Pains) I've written not too long ago about my recent Growing Pains obsession here so I won't bore you by rehashing it again. Let's just say I loved the theme song too, complete with its "photo album" look into the present day Seavers. Thank God they got rid of the Victorian piece of crap they pawned off as their first year's theme!
4. Doing It The Best I Can- Just The Ten Of Us was actually a spin off of Growing Pains so it's only fitting it should come after it here. It all centered around lovable Coach Lubbock who moves his big brood across country after getting a different job. As an added bonus, check out The Lubbock Babes, the four sister singing group that started on the short-lived tv show.
5. Brand New Life- Steve Wariner (Who's The Boss?) Who can forget Tony, Angela, Mona and the gang? Who's The Boss? was a classic show that deserved a classic theme song, even if it was the beginning of many years of watching Tony Danza ultimately play himself. I can still recall finding out the news that Danny Pintauro was in fact, gay. Many people were shocked. All I remember thinking was "finally". I think he was one of the first gay people I was aware of. It's amazing the things you remember.
6. Every time I Turn Around- Gary Portnoy (Punky Brewster)When most people think of Gary Portnoy they think of Cheers. Ok, if we're really being honest, most people don't think of Gary Portnoy, at least not on a conscious level. Cheers the program was the bigger hit so it makes sense it had the more popular song. Still, Punky the theme, and the show, had spunk in its own right. You couldn't have been a girl growing up in the eighties and not wanted to be Punky, even if it was just a little bit.
7. Where Everybody Knows Your Name- Gary Portnoy (Cheers) There are very few theme songs, or TV shows for that matter, that have achieved the cult like status that Cheers has. It's one of the few shows that you knew you were watching greatness when you watched it, but still somehow you didn't appreciate how special it was until it was gone. ut don't take my word for it. Just ask Shelly Long.
8. What's Happening Now Theme? There are very few instrumental inclusions on my list. This is because it's harder to get into a theme where you can't sing along. In a few special cases, however, humming along proved to be the next best thing. What's Happening? had its own theme that What's Happening Now? it's eighties counterpart, only jazzed up a bit. I grew up watching both, but it's the latter that always had my heart.
9. Facts of Life-revived version- Gloria Loring (The Facts of Life) Now there were a few different versions of this theme song. Unlike the others, I am pretty particular in using this one (I even had to dig a little bit). This was the theme they adapted after the bake shop, Edna's Edibles burned down. In its place they built Over Our Heads, a novelty shop. Along with the novelty shop came the novelty version of the theme song. It's one of my favorite shows of all time and the later years my favorite part. Plus it's got early George Clooney. What's not to love?
10. Diff'rent Strokes- Alan Thicke and Gloria Loring (Diff'rent Strokes) Long before Alan Thicke was playing it cool, calm and collected as dad Jason Seaver on Growing Pains, he was co-writing theme songs for shows like this one and Facts of Life. It's sad that over the years this show has become synonymous with messed up child stars. I remember when it was just an innocent program about some lovable adopted boys and their father. Incidentally, I always thought the theme was saying, the man is bald!
11. Movin' On Up- Ja'net Du Bois (The Jeffersons)There was a time where I was very in to the gospel themed TV theme song. The Jeffersons theme is just one example of this. It told the story of The Jeffersons rise to the upper echelons of society, despite not being ritzy in any way, shape or form perfectly. The show I only have vague memories of but the theme song will be with me forever.
12. Shine On- Vanessa Bell Armstrong (Amen) I can still remember watching Amen as a little girl. It almost always came on as we were getting ready to leave my grandmother's house as we used to go there a lot on weekends. It was the type of show I never would have thought I would have loved on paper, but I did watch it faithfully for a period of time. The theme song was great. I think American Idol should do a TV theme week. Lakisha or Melinda could blow this one wide open.
13. Thank You For Being A Friend- Cynthia Fee (The Golden Girls) A classic show like The Golden Girls deserved an equally classic theme song. Enter, Thank You For Being A Friend. Years after discovering the show I purchased an album by Andrew "Lonely Boy" Gold. Imagine my surprise when I found out he actually wrote this song, though they didn't use his version in the show. Now that I've burned through my episodes of Growing Pains I think I might take up watching old Golden Girls episodes next.
14. Charles In Charge Theme- Shandi (Charles In Charge) Another song that told the story of the show in under a minute, Charles In Charge was a great show from the eighties that starred Scott Baio as Charles in charge of their days, their nights, their wrongs and their rights. Actually, if we're being technical, he was in charge of a different group of kids and their days and nights first but then the first family was replaced in order to make room for Nicole Eggert. Years later a Christian pop rock band by the name of Relient K would even make a pop version of the song.
15. According To Our New Arrival- Leon Redbone (Mr. Belvedere) Believe it or not, this is another song that was written by Gary Portnoy though it was performed by Leon Redbone. I didn't know about Portnoy's involvement until this post, however. Mr. Belvedere was a great show about the butler, Lynn Belvedere and his interaction with the Owens family. My favorite part of this theme song was always the way they timed everything so perfectly. All the clips look like they were fit to be in the opening credits. Don't you just love it when that happens?
16. Together (Silver Spoons) Growing up I loved the show Silver Spoons. But something about Punky Brewster and Silver Spoons so many years later, they are good for nostalgia purposes only. The overacting was usually too much to bear. All you need to do is watch one episode where the grandpa came to visit and you'd know what I mean about the boredom factor, too. Rick Schroeder was so popular at the time. Puberty wasn't too kind to Ricker, but luckily he snapped out of it.
17. You Can Count On Me - Greg Evigan (My Two Dads) Before Paul Reiser was "mad about" Helen Hunt there was another leading lady in his life. Her name was Nicole and she may or may not have been his biological daughter. She also may or may not have been Greg Evigan's character's daughter either. It didn't really matter because although it had a wacky premise, the show actually worked. I always thought the character of Nicole was really lucky because she had two great dads. She also got to hang out with a young Giovanni Ribisi. Not a bad deal!
18. Room Enough For Two- Kim Carnes (My Sister Sam) This show wasn't on that long but it's theme song was an instant favorite of mine. The show became news again after the untimely death of its young star, Rebecca Schaeffer who was gunned down outside her apartment by an obsessed fan. I can still remember being on vacation, swimming in the pool, when I heard that news. The show, the star and the theme song have stayed with me to this day.
19. Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now- David Pomeranz (Perfect Strangers) This is a rare inclusion on the list if only because I probably like the theme song a lot better than the show itself. I did watch and enjoy the show growing up, but after awhile it all became a bit too campy, even for my taste. The theme song though was uplifting and full of hope, just like a great eighties theme song should be.
20. My So-Called Life theme (My So-Called Life) The only other instrumental theme on the list, My So-Called Life's theme stayed with me because of it's simplicity. I always would get jazzed by hearing the spoken word dialogue "Go now! Go!" before watching a new episode. It was a show that was a pioneer in terms of intelligent programming for the teenage set. Of course now they know better. But things were different back then. TV themes are just one small representation of such a difference.
So there you have it. The incomplete list of theme songs that have touched my heart over the years. I'm sure I'll think up a few hundred before this post goes live but I think limiting it to twenty is smart, for now.
This week I asked you what your favorite TV Themes were. Some of you, like me, had to dig deep to recall what a good TV theme once was. Nowadays most shows have abandoned the old school TV theme song in favor of something shorter and sweeter. This is no doubt, in an effort to fit in more show and less fluff. The Office, for example, is a short and to the point, no frills theme that brings you right back into the thick of action before too long.
Then there are what I like to refer to as the "cop out" themes. These are theme songs that are really regular songs that shows have adapted as their themes, most likely to hook people in on the song alone. The OC did it with California, One Tree Hill meanwhile uses Gavin DeGraw's I Don't Wanna Be. Ten years ago it probably got it's start with Dawson's Creek's use of Paula Cole's I Don't Wanna Wait. Shows like these are smart and have mass marketing on their side, but it becomes the classic chicken vs. egg scenario. Which was popular first? Woke Up This Morning or The Sopranos? Years from now you really may not recall.
The list I've come up with pays homage to the golden years of the TV theme song. The song was written for the show, even if it went on to be a hit in its own right. It also, almost without exception, told the story of the show, just as the music video used to tell the tale of the song, too.
1. Believe It Or Not (It's Just Me)- Joey Scarbury (Theme To Greatest American Hero) Many of you have felt the same about this theme song and mentioned it here or even went one step further to include it on your own lists. This song brings back so many memories for me and even sometimes makes me feel rather melancholy when I think about it being from so long ago now. Oddly enough, my memories of the show itself are somewhat vague given the fact I was so young at the time. The song, though, has stuck with me all of these years. I couldn't imagine anything evoking more of a reluctant hero vibe than Believe It Or Not.
2. The Love Boat- Jack Jones (The Love Boat) When I was a kid, Saturday nightlife WAS the NBC lineup, culminating in watching The Love Boat. Every week The Love Boat would feature different passengers, people who were usually plucked from other hit shows on at the time. I always loved how there were different storylines going on at the same time, too. Almost always something dramatic happened against the romantic waterview backdrop. The opening sequence not only set the tone, it introduced you to the ship's workers who would be with you on your voyage. It was even funnier when they decided to use it in Airplane Two. The first two lounge act like bars. Love. Exciting and new. Come aboard. We're expecting you.
3. As Long As We've Got Each Other- BJ Thomas and Jennifer Warnes (Growing Pains) I've written not too long ago about my recent Growing Pains obsession here so I won't bore you by rehashing it again. Let's just say I loved the theme song too, complete with its "photo album" look into the present day Seavers. Thank God they got rid of the Victorian piece of crap they pawned off as their first year's theme!
4. Doing It The Best I Can- Just The Ten Of Us was actually a spin off of Growing Pains so it's only fitting it should come after it here. It all centered around lovable Coach Lubbock who moves his big brood across country after getting a different job. As an added bonus, check out The Lubbock Babes, the four sister singing group that started on the short-lived tv show.
5. Brand New Life- Steve Wariner (Who's The Boss?) Who can forget Tony, Angela, Mona and the gang? Who's The Boss? was a classic show that deserved a classic theme song, even if it was the beginning of many years of watching Tony Danza ultimately play himself. I can still recall finding out the news that Danny Pintauro was in fact, gay. Many people were shocked. All I remember thinking was "finally". I think he was one of the first gay people I was aware of. It's amazing the things you remember.
6. Every time I Turn Around- Gary Portnoy (Punky Brewster)When most people think of Gary Portnoy they think of Cheers. Ok, if we're really being honest, most people don't think of Gary Portnoy, at least not on a conscious level. Cheers the program was the bigger hit so it makes sense it had the more popular song. Still, Punky the theme, and the show, had spunk in its own right. You couldn't have been a girl growing up in the eighties and not wanted to be Punky, even if it was just a little bit.
7. Where Everybody Knows Your Name- Gary Portnoy (Cheers) There are very few theme songs, or TV shows for that matter, that have achieved the cult like status that Cheers has. It's one of the few shows that you knew you were watching greatness when you watched it, but still somehow you didn't appreciate how special it was until it was gone. ut don't take my word for it. Just ask Shelly Long.
8. What's Happening Now Theme? There are very few instrumental inclusions on my list. This is because it's harder to get into a theme where you can't sing along. In a few special cases, however, humming along proved to be the next best thing. What's Happening? had its own theme that What's Happening Now? it's eighties counterpart, only jazzed up a bit. I grew up watching both, but it's the latter that always had my heart.
9. Facts of Life-revived version- Gloria Loring (The Facts of Life) Now there were a few different versions of this theme song. Unlike the others, I am pretty particular in using this one (I even had to dig a little bit). This was the theme they adapted after the bake shop, Edna's Edibles burned down. In its place they built Over Our Heads, a novelty shop. Along with the novelty shop came the novelty version of the theme song. It's one of my favorite shows of all time and the later years my favorite part. Plus it's got early George Clooney. What's not to love?
10. Diff'rent Strokes- Alan Thicke and Gloria Loring (Diff'rent Strokes) Long before Alan Thicke was playing it cool, calm and collected as dad Jason Seaver on Growing Pains, he was co-writing theme songs for shows like this one and Facts of Life. It's sad that over the years this show has become synonymous with messed up child stars. I remember when it was just an innocent program about some lovable adopted boys and their father. Incidentally, I always thought the theme was saying, the man is bald!
11. Movin' On Up- Ja'net Du Bois (The Jeffersons)There was a time where I was very in to the gospel themed TV theme song. The Jeffersons theme is just one example of this. It told the story of The Jeffersons rise to the upper echelons of society, despite not being ritzy in any way, shape or form perfectly. The show I only have vague memories of but the theme song will be with me forever.
12. Shine On- Vanessa Bell Armstrong (Amen) I can still remember watching Amen as a little girl. It almost always came on as we were getting ready to leave my grandmother's house as we used to go there a lot on weekends. It was the type of show I never would have thought I would have loved on paper, but I did watch it faithfully for a period of time. The theme song was great. I think American Idol should do a TV theme week. Lakisha or Melinda could blow this one wide open.
13. Thank You For Being A Friend- Cynthia Fee (The Golden Girls) A classic show like The Golden Girls deserved an equally classic theme song. Enter, Thank You For Being A Friend. Years after discovering the show I purchased an album by Andrew "Lonely Boy" Gold. Imagine my surprise when I found out he actually wrote this song, though they didn't use his version in the show. Now that I've burned through my episodes of Growing Pains I think I might take up watching old Golden Girls episodes next.
14. Charles In Charge Theme- Shandi (Charles In Charge) Another song that told the story of the show in under a minute, Charles In Charge was a great show from the eighties that starred Scott Baio as Charles in charge of their days, their nights, their wrongs and their rights. Actually, if we're being technical, he was in charge of a different group of kids and their days and nights first but then the first family was replaced in order to make room for Nicole Eggert. Years later a Christian pop rock band by the name of Relient K would even make a pop version of the song.
15. According To Our New Arrival- Leon Redbone (Mr. Belvedere) Believe it or not, this is another song that was written by Gary Portnoy though it was performed by Leon Redbone. I didn't know about Portnoy's involvement until this post, however. Mr. Belvedere was a great show about the butler, Lynn Belvedere and his interaction with the Owens family. My favorite part of this theme song was always the way they timed everything so perfectly. All the clips look like they were fit to be in the opening credits. Don't you just love it when that happens?
16. Together (Silver Spoons) Growing up I loved the show Silver Spoons. But something about Punky Brewster and Silver Spoons so many years later, they are good for nostalgia purposes only. The overacting was usually too much to bear. All you need to do is watch one episode where the grandpa came to visit and you'd know what I mean about the boredom factor, too. Rick Schroeder was so popular at the time. Puberty wasn't too kind to Ricker, but luckily he snapped out of it.
17. You Can Count On Me - Greg Evigan (My Two Dads) Before Paul Reiser was "mad about" Helen Hunt there was another leading lady in his life. Her name was Nicole and she may or may not have been his biological daughter. She also may or may not have been Greg Evigan's character's daughter either. It didn't really matter because although it had a wacky premise, the show actually worked. I always thought the character of Nicole was really lucky because she had two great dads. She also got to hang out with a young Giovanni Ribisi. Not a bad deal!
18. Room Enough For Two- Kim Carnes (My Sister Sam) This show wasn't on that long but it's theme song was an instant favorite of mine. The show became news again after the untimely death of its young star, Rebecca Schaeffer who was gunned down outside her apartment by an obsessed fan. I can still remember being on vacation, swimming in the pool, when I heard that news. The show, the star and the theme song have stayed with me to this day.
19. Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now- David Pomeranz (Perfect Strangers) This is a rare inclusion on the list if only because I probably like the theme song a lot better than the show itself. I did watch and enjoy the show growing up, but after awhile it all became a bit too campy, even for my taste. The theme song though was uplifting and full of hope, just like a great eighties theme song should be.
20. My So-Called Life theme (My So-Called Life) The only other instrumental theme on the list, My So-Called Life's theme stayed with me because of it's simplicity. I always would get jazzed by hearing the spoken word dialogue "Go now! Go!" before watching a new episode. It was a show that was a pioneer in terms of intelligent programming for the teenage set. Of course now they know better. But things were different back then. TV themes are just one small representation of such a difference.
So there you have it. The incomplete list of theme songs that have touched my heart over the years. I'm sure I'll think up a few hundred before this post goes live but I think limiting it to twenty is smart, for now.
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