Kevin's Watch

BBC's cricket coverage
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvsCjJtz4fs&feature=related
('Soul Limbo' by Booker T & the MGs)

The Sopranos
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWUW2Vcb_-k
('Woke Up this Morning' by Alabama 3)

Any other classics?

Northern Exposure
www.televisiontunes.com/Northern_Exposure.html

House
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4cToam3ILU

Oh wow I didn't know massive attack did the theme to House. I used to be a big fan, back in student days....

(northern exposure link isn't working for me but I found it on youtube)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-w-inT91AI

funny...
I was thinking of starting a thread on this topic for a couple days now, but thought there had to be one already.
...anyway.

I'll Be There for You ~ The Rembrandts (Friends)
Miami Vice ~ Jan Hammer
Hawaii Five-O
Mission Impossible ~ Lalo Schrifrin
Believe It or Not ~ Joey Scarbury (Greatest American Hero)

Kung Fu

X Files

Captain Kangaroo

I Love Lucy

Andy Griffith

Good Times


okay...okay... there's too many to list!! this is just a smattering of my favorites!!

there's also chico and the man, all in the family, beverly hillbillys, petticoat junction, omg...there's tons more that i just LOVE!!!! oh yeah The Addams Family and The Munsters!! THE JETSONS!!! arg, there's too many to name!!!!

May not be the best or favorite-but my tombstone will read: "I still haven't been able to get f-ing The Flintstones theme out of my head after 93 years."

Oh yeah, luci, love the Good Times theme. That puts me right down memory lane and all those 70's sitcoms I watched endlessly.

Menolly wrote: Miami Vice ~ Jan Hammer
Hawaii Five-O
Mission Impossible ~ Lalo Schrifrin
Believe It or Not ~ Joey Scarbury (Greatest American Hero)

Absolutely. Watching the GAH title credits especially gave me a serious pang for the early 80's.

I can't decide if GAH is my all-time favorite 80's theme or this one:
Magnum, P.I.

Other big favorites:

Dallas
Looked at several versions, but can't seem to find the orchestral one that I liked best. This one's from the '79-'80 season, which is good, but it still has that disco thing which I don't like. And in later seasons, it became a slick synth version which I despised.
Dynasty
Yes, I admit I watched these two prime time soaps. Hey, I watched everything in the 80's. It didn't hurt that they had gorgeous themes.
MacGyver
Sorry, I couldn't care less about Stargate. MacGyver all the way.
Taxi
The only show on this list I didn't watch much of, but the theme - though brief - is a classic.
Simon & Simon
This was the first season theme that I vastly preferred to the later one used for the rest of the series run.
CHiPs
Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, maybe the two biggest tv egos of their time? But what a theme.
Laverne & Shirley
Better than the Happy Days theme - the show this one was spun off from.
Trapper John, MD
Yes, high school bands everywhere have played this theme to death, but I still like its resolute march.
The Bionic Woman
I like how the title sequence tells the background story, just as it does in The Six Million Dollar Man. But Steve Austin's theme is barely there at all, while Jaime Sommers has a nice and wistful - if touchy-feely - theme. Love ya, Lindsay.

M*A*S*H just might be my most favorite TV theme EVER, but all the youtube links I found were of horrible quality. Also didn't link to the Rockford Files, as NBC apparently won't let the title sequence be shown. It's a great theme nonetheless.

I actually thought of Magnum, but when I linked to the youtube and listened to it, I thought to myself, huh, not as good as I remember. I still love the show and the opening sequence, but the theme is no longer up there, for me.

And I also searched for Rockford...but didn't think of searching off of youtube. This site has two versions of the Rockford theme.

Suicide is Painless (M*A*S*H) is awesome.
Especially when sung with the words, as in the movie theme.

Sheesh, another site? I'll never get to bed.

As for the MASH theme song, I'm so used to the TV instrumental version that the sung version is just too weird for me. Sorry...

Yeah, MASH instrumental has my vote. It's an amazing theme song.

I think the Hawaii Five-O title sequence gets my vote for most kinetic use of the camera. That extreme zoom onto Jack Lord on the balcony, the upside down shots, the fisheye lens sweep over the airplane engines, the freeze frames, the unusual perspectives...crazy stuff! I love it.

Forgot to comment on Miami Vice: I didn't follow the show (wasn't a fan of the two lead actors), but I sure liked the theme. Really an inspired piece of work from Jan Hammer. I play the extended version a lot.

Meanwhile, I just remembered the Avengers. Classy couple, classy theme:
The Avengers
Mrs. Peel, I'm so not worthy.

The New Avengers
Okay, this was an uneven and short-lived successor to the original series, but the characters of Purdey and Mike Gambit were a worthy replacement for Emma Peel. (It took two to fill her shoes.) And I instantly loved the theme, not to mention the stylized title sequence.

Bring 'Em Back Alive
Tales from the Gold Monkey
Two very short-lived swashbuckling series, both with thrilling themes. They tried to capitalize on the massive popularity of Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time, but fickle TV audiences said no. Well I for one loved them.

oh god, how did i forget to mention Suicide is Painless! dude i learned it on guitar i loved it so much!! heh.

Menolly wrote:funny...
I was thinking of starting a thread on this topic for a couple days now, but thought there had to be one already.
...anyway.

I'll Be There for You ~ The Rembrandts (Friends)
Miami Vice ~ Jan Hammer
Hawaii Five-O
Mission Impossible ~ Lalo Schrifrin
Believe It or Not ~ Joey Scarbury (Greatest American Hero)

You didn't mention who did the Hawaii 5-O theme song.....I believe it was the Ventures.

dANdeLION wrote:

Menolly wrote:funny...
I was thinking of starting a thread on this topic for a couple days now, but thought there had to be one already.
...anyway.

I'll Be There for You ~ The Rembrandts (Friends)
Miami Vice ~ Jan Hammer
Hawaii Five-O
Mission Impossible ~ Lalo Schrifrin
Believe It or Not ~ Joey Scarbury (Greatest American Hero)

You didn't mention who did the Hawaii 5-O theme song.....I believe it was the Ventures.

Yeah, I was unable to find the artist in the brief time I dedicated to each search. Your guess sounds right...let me see if wikipedia will confirm it...

mmm...

Wikipedia says The Ventures covered it...

Another legacy of the show is the popularity of the Hawaii Five-O theme song.[16] The song was composed by Morton Stevens, who also composed numerous episode scores. The song has been covered by The Ventures, and also by Radio Birdman, a punk-era band from Sydney. A short cover can be seen at the end of the Massacre Palestina´s song, "Madamme X". The song is particularly popular with college and high school marching bands, especially at the University of Hawai'i, where it has become the unofficial fight song. In 1982 Australian ska/pop band No Nonsense recorded a version for their 'Round Tuit' release.

Although the theme song is most widely known as an instrumental, it has been released with at least two different sets of lyrics. The first, by Don Ho, starts with the familiar tempo, then settles into a ballad style.[17] The second, by Sammy Davis, Jr., titled "You Can Count on Me (Theme from Hawaii Five-O)," maintains the driving style of the original instrumental throughout.[18] The Radio Birdman version was called 'Aloha, Steve & Danno' only the middle section of the song was the original version, the rest of the song was a tribute to the show "Steve I wanna say thank you for all you've done for me, my nights are dark and empty when you're not on t.v." Another Australian band The Porkers recorded a cover of the Radio Birdman track in 1994 with Chris Masuak from R.B. on guitar.

My assumption (yeah, yeah) is the theme on television was probably performed by studio musicians for CBS...maybe?

Millennium. [link]

Lots of good ones...

-Magnum P.I.

-Simon & Simon, and I agree, the 1st season music was better than the rest of the series, but it's all good.

-Miami Vice

-Robocop (it's Joe M-F'n Walsh)

-Millennium

Pink Panther, anyone?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus

Quantum Leap, though that's probably half nostalgia.

Airwolf. Can anyone tell which decade I grew up in?

Airwolf....Badass....

Harcastle & McCormick

Knight Rider

Vengeance Unlimited

Brimstone