Television Theme Songs, Vol. II
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
In 2019 I wrote an article about 1980s television sitcom theme songs. The focus was on theme songs written for sitcoms that stood as full songs and were not merely 30 second jingles used to introduce an episode or series. Over the years I’ve observed that many television themes are either wholly instrumental or short jingles that don’t develop into full songs containing verses, choruses, bridges etc…elements evident in most full-length songs. It makes sense as most of this music is commissioned by television production companies who don’t require more than 1 minute, or so, worth of music to display credits and introduce a show or episode. Anything longer would be unnecessary and a waste.
It, therefore, goes without saying that many television theme songs are not full length, but merely catchy hooks that will grab the attention of the audience. It’s unlike themes written for motion pictures, which are usually positioned at the end of a movie, over the final credit crawl. As these crawls are long in duration, the length of a motion picture theme song is justified. In my 2019 article I highlighted my favourite full length songs included in 1980s television sitcoms, some of these even charted on mainstream pop single’s charts.
For this article I have decided to take the premise of my previous article one step further and interrogate theme songs used in any genre of television show (drama, crime or sitcom) from any era. All the songs selected for this article are, however, featured in television programmes aired between the 1970s-1990s and include 3 sitcoms, 1 drama and 1 drama/comedy series. These songs are some of my favorites from television shows and stand alone as full-length songs and not merely intro jingles.
WKRP In Cincinnati (1978–1982)
This was a sitcom that ran between 1978–1982 about a fictional radio station based on Cincinatti, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based on his experiences working in sales and advertising at a radio station in Atlanta. The show follows the story of a radio station manager who is trying to reverse the fortunes of an ailing broadcaster by changing its format from Easy Listening to Rock, but his incompetent staff keep on throwing spanners in the works. The sitcom had moderate success for its first two seasons, at which point it got moved to a different time slot, resulting in lower ratings and its eventual cancellation. When the show went into syndication it became an unexpected success and ran for an additional 10 years, resulting in a spin-off series in the 1990s: “The New WKRP In Cincinnati”. The show was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards and won one in 1981 and Loni Anderson (my favorite) was nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the ditsy station receptionist, Jennifer Marlowe.
Some music commentators articulate that the show played a part in the demise of Disco music. Negative comments made about Disco music by one of the show’s characters, “Dr Johnny Fever” (who despised Disco) contributed to rising negative sentiment about the genre. This along with other mitigating circumstances culminated in the Disco Demolition Night in 1979, which resulted in the end of the genre. The television show had two theme songs, one for the opening and another for the closing of the show. The opening theme was the more famous of the two. The Soft Rock opening theme, “WKRP In Cincinnati”, was written by Tom Well and Hugh Wilson (the creator of the show) and performed by Steve Carlisle. A longer version of the opening theme was released in 1979 on MCA and had moderate success on the US single’s chart, peaking at No65 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. It also peaked at No29 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart in 1982.
Friends (1994–2004)
“Friends” was, and still is, a cult favorite. The sitcom is probably one of the most successful in its genre and lasted a total of 10 seasons. The premise of the show is the relationship between 6 friends living Manhattan, in New York City. “Friends” was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and was originally titled “Insomnia Café”. The show was an immense critical success and finally reached No1 in the ratings in its 8th season. The final episode of the series was watched by over 50million people, which is the 5th most watched finale in US television history and the most watched television episode of the 2000s. In its 10 season run it accumulated over 60 awards including 6 Emmy (off 67 nominations), 11 People’s Choice Awards and 1 Golden Globe. “Joey” was a spin-off series that aired for another two seasons between 2004–2006. Poor ratings, however, resulted in its ultimate cancellation. The Reunion Special released in 2021, almost 20 years after the last episode, went on to win a People’s Choice Award.
The show’s theme is titled “I’ll Be There For You” and is performed by The Rembrandts. The show’s creators originally wanted to use REM’s “Shiny Happy People” as the theme, but the Rock band refused to give the producers the rights to the song. The refusal forced David Crane and Marta Kauffman (the show’s creators) to write a show jingle with the help of composer Michael Skloff (Kauffman’s husband) and songwriter Allee Willis. It originally only consisted of a verse the length required for the series’ opening credits (under 1 minute). Warner Bros. searched for a band to perform the song and replicate the REM Alternative Rock sound, but their only available band were The Rembrandts. The band did not want to perform the song, but eventually relented. The Rembrandt’s members Danny Wilde and Phil Sōlem later added a second verse and bridge, converting the original theme into a 3 minute radio-friendly song. “I’ll Be There For You” is probably the biggest mainstream single’s success represented in this article. It peaked at No17 on the Billboard Hot 100, No3 U.K. and No1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Top 40 charts. It was also No1 in Canada and Sweden and shipped over 1million units.
Moonlighting (1985–1989)
The detective series revolved around cases investigated by the Blue Moon Detective Agency, run by two partners, Madolyn Hayes (Cybil Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis). Besides a focus on the cases investigated, the series also explored the sexual tension between the two leads. “Moonlighting” was a combination of drama, mystery and comedy and was a vehicle that launched Bruce Willis’ career and revived Cybil Shepherd’s stalled career. It is considered one of the first successes in the comedy drama genre. After Bruce Willis’ runaway movie hit “Die Hard” and the birth of Cybil Shepherd’s twins, things were never the same and the series was eventually cancelled after its 5th season. “Moonlighting” was nominated for 40 Emmy and 10 Golden Globe Awards, winning 6 and 3 respectively. It also won 5 People’s Choice and 2 Director’s Guild of America Awards. The series was created by Glenn Gordon Caron, who previously served as a producer on a similarly themed series titled “Remington Steele”.
The theme song for the show was performed by the legendary Jazz musician, Al Jarreau, probably the biggest name in the recording industry featured in this article. The music for “Moonlighting” had already been written by Lee Holdridge when Al Jarreau was approached to add lyrics. Lee Holdridge also wrote music for other movies and television shows such as “Splash” and “Mr. Mom”. The song was produced by the legendary Disco giant and former member of Chic, Nile Rodgers. The “Moonlighting” theme was originally only a 57 second piece of music, but in 1987 it was completed and released as a single. It was eventually included in a “Moonlighting” television series soundtrack, which also included songs performed by Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis. “Moonlighting” would eventually peak at No23 on the Billboard Hot 100, No1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and No8 on the British mainstream single’s chart. In 1988 “Moonlighting” was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards: “Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male” and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television”.
The Littlest Hobo (1979–1985)
The Canadian television series was based on a movie released in 1958. The original series ran between 1963–1965 and was later revived for another 6 seasons (1979–1985). The plot revolves around an ownerless German Shepherd called Hobo who travels between people and resolves different cases. With every new case, the people with whom Hobo comes in contact try to adopt him, but he always walks away, preferring to be alone and live to see another day and assist another group of people. Hobo’s origins or ultimate destination are never overtly explored in the series. Various famous Canadian and US actors made cameo appearances on the show, including Mike Myers, Leslie Nielsen and John Carradine. Over 100 dogs, trained and bred by Chuck Eisenmann, played Hobo between 1963-1985, with different dogs being used for their area of expertise. “The Littlest Hobo” followed the success of other dog series, like “Lassie” (1954) and “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” (1954).
The theme song from “The Littlest Hobo”, “Maybe Tomorrow”, is one of my all time favorite songs. I used to get so happy whenever I heard the song played on our television set. “Maybe Tomorrow” was composed by Terry Bush and John Crossen and was performed by Terry Bush. The song was used as the theme for the second version of “Hobo” (1979–1985). Terry Bush is a famous Canadian songwriter and composer who wrote music for various television shows, movies and jingles for advertisements. In 2005 Bush completed the song and included it on his debut album, “Maybe Tomorrow”. The song has been featured on various adverts including Dulux in 2011 and Co-Op in 2017. “Maybe Tomorrow” has a Country/Folk sound, similar to artists like John Denver and James Taylor, who were popular at the time. The simple melody and orchestration, make the listener focus on the lyrics, whilst the “oompah” groove illicit nostalgia.
The Love Boat (1977–1986)
The Romantic Comedy/Drama series was set on the MS Pacific Princess, with the story revolving around the ship’s captain, crew and passengers, who were played weekly by different famous actors. Some of the cameo appearances included performances by Kirstie Alley, Debbie Allen, Tom Hanks, Ursula Andress, Betty White, Michael J Fox, Kathy Bates, Dirk Benedict, Sonny Bono, Delta Burke and Diahann Carroll. The show was developed by Wilford Lloyd Baumes and was based on a made-for-TV-movie released in 1976, which was based on a book by Jeraldine Saunders titled “The Love Boats”. The first movie was followed by two movies before the series aired for the first time: “The Love Boat II” (1977) and “The New Love Boat” (1977). Jeraldine was a real-life cruise director on a cruise line. The executive producer of the show was the legendary Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling who was also responsible for “Twin Peaks”, Dynasty”, “Charmed”, “Beverley Hill 90210”, “Melrose Place”, “Charlie’s Angeles” and “7th Heaven”.
The “Love Boat” movies and television series rose to prominence in the midst of the Disco revolution. It, therefore, goes without saying that in order to cater to the Disco generation the theme would need to fit the genre’s mould. The song was composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Paul Williams and production by Ken Barnes. The original version of the song was recorded in 1977 by the actor Jack Jones, who made a few cameo appearances on “The Love Boat”. His version of the song was used on the first 8 seasons of the series. A recording by Dionne Warwick was used as the 9th season’s theme. Jack Jones released the song as a single titled “The Love Boat Theme” in 1979, with Barry Manilow’s single “Ready To Take A Chance Again” featured on the B-side. It also appeared on Jack Jones’ 47th solo studio album “Nobody Does It Better”. The song peaked at No37 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and has been covered by various artists including Kylie Minogue, Olivia Newton-John, Amanda Lear and Charo.
It is interesting to note that the majority of the songs in this article started off as 50second to 1 minute long jingles and later were converted into full songs, with some released as commercial singles. These songs are time capsules, reflecting the genres and mood of the era in which the television series was released. From the Country/Folk tinged “Maybe Tomorrow” from “The Littlest Hobo” to the Alternative Rock inspired “’II Be There For You” from “Friends”, the songs followed the musical trends of the era. I also found it interesting that some of the people who created the shows were individuals who functioned within the specific work environment detailed in the series they created, as in “The Love Boat” or “WKRP In Cincinnati”.
My reasoning for exploring television themes is because I feel the songs are just as good as anything written for a motion picture, but they just don’t get as much exposure. So here I am to explore some of these pearls and hopefully help others travel down memory lane, as I have in researching and compiling this article. The ability to tell a story in 3–5 minutes is an art, and when one considers that the songwriters and lyricists in this instance need to be able to distill the essence of a show in mere seconds highlights their immense skill. For now this is it and hopefully I will be able to find more gems that will popular a future edition of “Television Theme Songs”.
