Best Iconic American TV Theme Songs and MusicBy Raymond Lockley
Some people have said that a great television show has to have a great
opening to immediately pull in the viewer, and that a key component of
that is great music. I think we can cite many examples of that not
being true: great shows with little music or poor music, and lousy
shows with great music. But still, there is something to be said for
a memorable musical opening. Some opening music even transcended
catchy and became truly iconic--part of the American pop culture.
Here are my personal lists of iconic TV theme music and songs. (To clarify, I've divided "songs" which have lyrics out from "music" which do not.) Beyond my usual arbitrary judgement, the criteria for being considered great and iconic are that it must be:
Iconic American TV Theme Songs from the Classic Age of Television
Iconic American TV Theme Music
It's not an American show, even though it has been shown on American public TV channels for decades. And there are some people who really know it as a great piece of American music in its own right--and in fact, some college graduating classes have marched in to "Pomp and Circumstance", but have marched out to this music with a straight face for over a century. But it is such a great piece, and iconic in its own way, I cannot fail to mention this 1893 march by John Phillips Souza. It's... "The Liberty Bell", the much-loved opening theme music (with flatulent foot splat appended) for Monty Python's Flying Circus. Iconic TV Theme Music That Has Words (But You Might Not Have Known It)Star Trek: Theme from Star TrekYes, a few of us rabid Trekkers (not Trekkies!) know this piece of trivia, but Gene Roddenberry wrote words for this classic instrumental piece with the iconic opening French horn solo that was composed and conducted by Alexander Courage, (who also composed music for those other 1960s classic sci-fi series, Lost In Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea). The words are never heard or referred to in the TV episodes or movies. However, they were published in the book, The Making of Star Trek by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry. Here are the horribly schmaltzy words which go with the beautiful Star Trek theme music:Beyond M*A*S*H: Song from MASH (Suicide Is Painless)This cheerful instrumental opening for the TV show M*A*S*H actually comes from its movie predecessor, MASH, and was recorded to a new arrangement to make it upbeat (and shorter). Fans of the movie will remember it as not only the theme music, but as the doleful, guitar-accompanied musical piece sung in the faked assisted suicide scene for the 4077th's dentist, known as the Painless Pole. The music was written by veteran jazz musician Johnny Mandel, whose career included both a Grammy and an Academy Award. The lyrics were written by Mike Altman, the 14 year old son of the movie's director, Robert Altman (who told Johnny Carson that his son earned far more in royalties on the song than he earned for directing the movie).. The song was made even more popular by the long-running TV show, and sold lots of sheet music:Through early morning fog I see BonanzaVeteran devotees of the epic Western show know that the words to the theme song were not a part of the opening (or closing) of Bonanza. However, they may also recall that there was one amusing episode where Ben and the Cartwright boys went into town and rip-roarin' drunk; and as they rode back to the Ponderosa, they did an a capella rendition of the words. [I found a posting on YouTube that includes excerpts of that scene. Can you find one that has only that clip?] Wikipedia has an extensive section on the song, mentioning that a rendition was first recorded by country and western great Johnny Cash, and that later, series star < href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA-PdP4k4Xw">Lorne Greene released an album with his cover. The words were not always the same from artist to artist, but here is one version:We chased lady luck, 'til we finally struck Bonanza.And here's another frequently found shorter set of lyrics: We got a right to pick a little fightAnd somewhere in my brain, I remember a fragment of a verse that says, "Find a pretty girl, give her a twirl: Bonanza!"
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