Hill Street Blues was a popular American police drama series that aired from 1981 to 1987. It revolutionized the television landscape by introducing a more realistic and character-driven approach to police procedural dramas.
And, it had a very nice theme song.
Continue reading Hill Street Blues Theme SongEat your heart out, Criminal Minds, Profiler came first.
True fans would know that there were two profilers in the show’s four-season run. Ally Walker as Dr. Samantha Waters for seasons 1 to 3, and Jamie Luner as Dr. Rachel Burke for the fourth and final season. Now, because the opening video sequence is lead character-centric, it made sense to create a new one when Jamie Luner took over. As with the new intro, a new theme song was also put in place.
Alright, so now were know there were two themes and two sequences. First, I give you the Ally Walker, season 1 to 3 version. Watch below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Isf9iKMn8
The tune above was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, whose best and most-recognized work is probably for Twin Peaks.
Then came the Jamie Luner, season 4 version. Watch below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olPC3-S1-gw
Better? It should. Composer Danny Lux was nominated for an Emmy—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music—on this one. However, it lost to the titles from Trinity—a short-lived and another NBC series (Profiler was NBC as well).
Both composers are well known, you can click on their names in the “Tags” are below to see what other work they’ve done.
Alright, so that’s it for this one. As far as this song is concerned, no soundtracks or other official releases are available, so you only have YouTube (or the DVDs).
Anisha Nagarajan should be given more credit as a hottie.
Alright, I wanted to wait for this one as there is not much useful information out there regarding this theme, but what the heck, the series is nearing the end of its maiden season and there is no word yet of an order (for a 2nd). But, this show rocks and I think things are looking good.
First, let’s listen to the tune (and watch the credits) in the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pj7pAaayi8
The song is not “Beware of the Boys” by Panjabi MC—that we are sure of—as many have suggested. Chances are, the song is an original made especially for the show. IMDb credits the Transcenders as sole music providers for most of the episodes. We recently discussed them—from the Harry’s Law post—and know that they are a music production team formed by the founding members of The Black Eyed Peas.
They, however, did not compose the main title music (makes me wonder why I even bothered). In the same IMDb page, you’ll read that Michael A. Levine and Satnam Ramgotra are credited with “composer: theme music” beside their names. So, there you have it. Both of them have very colorful resumes in the film and television-scoring world, but I dug deeper and am positive this is their first shot at a theme song. Good job, though.
Chances are, we’ll only find a full version of this song (and that’s not even the case sometimes) if they decide to release an official soundtrack.
Well, that is as much information I can give you on this tune. Hit the comments for anything useful.
Oh and also, if anyone can figure out what they are saying/chanting during the song, that would be great.
Now we can make a detailed and finished post for Scrubs, now that it’s over.
The theme song that we have all come to love, as most probably already know, is officially entitled “Superman.” It is by Lazlo Bane, a band based in Santa Monica, California. Credited for writing the tune are the members of the band plus a certain Pondy Doorcan (person or band, I do not know). The song is part of their second studio album, All the Time in the World, released in September 2002.
It is also widely known that actor Zach Braff, who stars as John Michael “J.D.” Dorian, suggested the song to creator and producer Bill Lawrence as the theme. In line with that (and I guess the band owes it to him), Zach ended up directing the music video for “Superman.” The video shows footage from Scrubs. Watch below and notice how slow the real version is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pu_bpqLZKI
The song was also included in the first of three official soundtracks released by the franchise.
We all know there were some major changes in the theme and title sequence in season nine, when the show moved to ABC. The song is obviously still “Superman” but this time it is a cover version by the solo artist WAZ. I still don’t know where (album) he included this version but anyway, below is the complete version.
As for the title sequence, well, a lot of interesting things also happened in the nine-season run. Hardcore fans would know about how the chest X-ray has always been backwards, which was unintentional, but went on to signify how the interns were inexperienced. In one episode, the character Dr. Kim Briggs makes an appearance in the title sequence and says, “That’s backwards; it’s been bugging me for years.” Anyway, you can read everything about the sequence on Wikipedia.
Even cooler is how some YouTube fella combined all the unique titles in one video (you can also see the backwards skit in it). Watch below.
By the way, here’s the part of the lyrics used in the opening.
Scrubs theme song lyrics
I can’t do this all on my own
(I know, that I’m no Superman)
[No I know, I’m no Superman]
I’m no Superman(long version)
[short version]
Finally, as all of the videos above are of poor quality, let’s end with an HD version of the classic title.
I can’t believe the first season of this show is still not yet finished. Anyway, no word yet on a second season.
This show is not really known for its theme song and opening, but let us archive it anyway. It has one of those ten-second titles—which should really, really be phased out—that lacks any “eventful” thing worth mentioning. Either way, music for the The Event is handled by a relatively new player in the film and television-scoring world by the name of Scott Starrett. Also credited to his name is the theme from the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva.
Back to The Event. Below is its boring opening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNq_Hg-a8Dc
2011
Some interesting tidbits of information here.
First, the opening theme song.
Sounds cool, right? But it is way too short—especially considering this is a David E. Kelley creation.
Now, original music for Harry’s Law is credited to the Transcenders. We encountered them earlier from the Gossip Girl theme, so just to recap, they are a music production team based in Los Angeles. It is not yet officially written—that they created the main title—not even on their official site, but I would not bet on anyone else.
Back then I knew they made great music—I mentioned they co-wrote “Let’s Get It Started” by The Black Eyed Peas—but I didn’t know they were the founding members of The Black Eyed Peas! Yes, Terence Yoshiaki, Brian Lapin and Mike Fratantuno (collaboratively the Transcenders), could have been will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo. And these faces would have been the ones on album sleeves (and everywhere).
So, there you go. Just to recap, rockin’ theme song for Harry’s Law but we want more (or just maybe an album/full version). And, still untitled and unreleased (commercially) for now.
2010–present; also “Law & Order: LA theme song”
The faith of this series hangs in the balance.
This post may well be about our disgust in the lack thereof—a proper theme song and opening for Law & Order: Los Angeles. The series actually started with one of those ten-second titles, which still stands as an appalling trend for new shows.
Below is the disappointing ten-second stint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iy6XERTjhw
It does have a short background tune and all series original music is credited to Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson. However, Wikipedia credits Mike Post for the “theme,” which kind of makes sense because it does resemble the melody of the original theme (which was composed by Mike Post). It does not even matter, really.
Also, I’m not 100% sure but I think this already-short non-theme was even entirely removed after like the sixth episode.
Seriously though, Mr. Dick Wolf, true Law & Order fans expect nothing short of a proper and memorable opening theme and narration. You owe it to the originals.
Check out how this guy even made a video just to vent out his frustration.
2006–present
There’s some confusion regarding this theme song.
First, the facts. The theme is an original by W.G. “Snuffy” Walden, whom we have encountered in the themes for The West Wing and My So-Called Life among others. Some also credit Bennett Salvay (alongside) for the theme, but it is hard to confirm this for sure as there are discrepancies in sources.
The confusion is with regards to the Texas-based instrumental band Explosions in the Sky. Although their music was heavily featured in the film and in the series, and their eight-minute song “Your Hand in Mine” sounds awfully a lot like the theme, they had nothing to do with the opening tune (except maybe inspire). Even so, it is said that Mr. Walden took inspiration from Billy Joel’s music while he was still with the band Attila.
The theme song was released in the second official soundtrack of the show. It lasts 46 seconds (same as with opening sequence), and is officially titled as “Friday Night Lights Theme”.
Below is the official opening sequence for Friday Night Lights featuring the theme song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2dtWS5Azbc
Below is Explosions in the Sky’s “Your Hand in Mine”. See how the uploader even credited it as the “FNL theme song.”
1986–1990
Now that I have a little more time, I’ll write about a really cool theme song.
ALF lasted four seasons, between 1986 and 1990, and it had two distinct opening theme songs. However, in reality, the second song is just a “toned down” version of the first. The first version was used in seasons 1 and 2, and seasons 3 and 4 for the second. Let us first relive the opening and tunes before going through some information.
ALF theme song seasons 1 & 2
ALF theme song seasons 3 & 4
(Yes, I know the videos are un-embeddable—that’s how it is with NBC—so just please click on the “Watch on YouTube” links.)
Below is the embeddable, but non-opening credits version of the first theme.
Now for some information. The only irrefutable information we have for the theme is for the composer—or rather, composers. Alf Clausen (yes, “Alf”) and Tom Kramer are both listed for theme music composer for all episodes in IMDb. See here and here for proof. Alf Clausen worked on The Simpsons and Tom Kramer on Mulan (both among others).
As far as the official title of the song is concerned, nothing can be found. So informally, it can be called “Theme from ALF” or the like, or even simply “ALF”.
As we all know, the playing (instruments) on the songs are just exquisite and world-class. This YouTube video opened up a discussion on the first theme, naming legendary jazz musicians Vinnie Colaiuta (on drums) and Abraham Laboriel (Sr., on bass) as part of the performers. If this were true, then this easily makes it to the best themes of all time list.
1992–1999
Old school once again.
Alright, here we go. For the television series Mad About You, the iconic theme song is officially entitled “Final Frontier.” The song was made especially for the show; it was composed by Paul Reiser and American record producer Don Was. As we all know, Paul Reiser was half of the lead characters of the show—he played Paul Buchman, husband of Helen Hunt’s character Jamie Stemple Buchman.
Paul Reiser’s involvement with the show and the theme song does not end there. He also happened to co-create the show and played piano for the recording of the theme song. Talk about multi-talented.
Now, we know that the theme song has two versions. The first is a version by legendary singer Andrew Gold. Mr. Gold is best known for his song “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which I’m pretty sure you know. The second version is by another legendary artist, Anita Baker. The second version debuted in the middle of the 1997 season (series aired for seven seasons between 1992 and 1999).
Both versions are included in the official and only soundtrack, released in 1997 via Atlantic Records. Mr. Gold also included it in his album Thank You For Being A Friend: The Best Of Andrew Gold.
But wait, possibly the most important accolade of the song is this: Andrew Gold has the distinction of being the first human voice “heard” on Mars because “Final Frontier” was used as the wake-up call for the Mars Pathfinder space probe in 1996. So, if Mars is really a no-alien zone, “Final Frontier” is the first song ever played in Mars. Way too cool.
Below is the complete Andrew Gold version.
Below is an Anita Baker version, but a live one (can’t find an album version).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIKpzsBVgE
Below is the intro.
And finally, the lyrics.
Mad About You theme song lyrics
Tell me why, I love you like I do
Tell me who, Can stop my heart as much as you
Tell me all your secrets and I’ll tell you most of mine
They say nobody’s perfect but it is really true this time
I don’t have the answers
And I don’t have a plan
All I have is you
So darling help me understand
What we do
You can whisper in my ear
Where we go
who knows what happens after here
Let’s take each other’s hands
As we jump into the final frontier
I’m mad about you
I’m mad about you
So mad about you