Quincy Jones was responsible for this gem, but to me it will always belong to Eddie Griffin, who riffed it on the pilot episode of Malcolm and Eddie (an underrated TV show) . . . Go here to see it, and go about 4:40 into the clip. It’s worth your time, readers. Trust me. But youtube disallowed embedding.
URAQT (Sanford and Son Diplo mix)-M.I.A.
Tags: Television
A piano-driven, serious-but-somewhat-melancholy theme that fit well with the program’s overall mood, setting you up for something unlike everything else on the air at the time. Saigon did a great job with the Hill Street Blues theme on “Shok TV.” He just uses it as a loop for one of his better rhymes.
Tags: Television
Go for . . . What?
Yeah, the theme song is goofy, and the title of the show–with it’s bad grammar–was basically racist. But you have to love this song. If you don’t, I’m just gonna have to ask you watchutalkinabout.
Diff’rent Strokes-Natural Breakdown
Diff’rent Strokes-Virginia Coalition (awesome version)
Whatchu talkin’ about . . . ?
Tags: Television
This theme was so cool! Fingersnaps, made up words, out-of-the-ordinary rhyme scheme . . . It’s like a Kanye West song! So good, my son’s second-grade chorus actually performed it. But don’t worry, I’m not posting a recording of that.
Tags: Television
The theme song that sounds exactly like William Shatner’s acting. How the heck did they do that? And I’m not talking about Bill’s introductory voiceover, I’m talking about the instrumental itself–dum da da dum da da dum. That’s basically Shatner’s cadence, innit?
Star Trek Theme (with lyrics)-Tenacious D
Original opener:
Tags: Television
NEED MP3S
I really didn’t like this show that much, but I tuned in every week just to hear the theme and see that outrageously awesome vehicle make ridiculous jumps. Oh, and to see her . . . The only T.V. show to have a pair of shorts named after it.
Duke of Hazzard-Blockhead (a tribute, not a straight cover)
Just the Good Ol’ Boys-Umphrey’s McGee (direct link)
Tags: Television
Another mediocre show with a fantastic theme, this one was complete with funk submachine gun bursts. A brilliant song and a bona fide #1 hit on the billboard hot 100. Kurtis Blow paid tribute to it on his History of Rap collection. I highly recommend this album, which you can find here.
Youtube won’t let me embed the opener, but it’s worth a gander and you can find it here.
Tags: Television
This was, sadly, the best part of the show. It’s true–go watch a rerun. Show doesn’t hold up. But I watched it religiously just to hear that “womp womp womp womp” at the beginning.
Barney Miller Theme-Diesel Dog
Tags: Television
Because there was a law against more than ten black people working on TV in 1972, “Movin’ On Up” was perfomed by Ja’net Dubois, who played Willona on Good Times (see #25 on this list). It’s clearly the inspiration for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (and careful viewers will remember that George and Weezy appeared on the final ep of Fresh Prince as the cuple who purchased the family’s mansion). And it and/or the show have been referenced in songs by countless rappers and covered by everybody.
And I do mean everybody. Check it:
Tags: Television
A3′s “Got Yourself a Gun” was so unlike the show, but so threatening, so cutting edge, so hip, that it managed to work perfectly. It would have been ultra-cheesy if David Chase had gone with some old Frank Sinatra tune, anyway.
Super Ugly (Nas Diss)-Jay Z on Hot 97, over Got Ya Self a Gun.
Tags: Television
