TV Themes, earworms and nostalgia

jellodog

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I have so much love for old TV themes.

Most of them were composed by extremely talented and experienced composers and musicians. Many of them were able to experiment and weave together various musical elements that may not have traditionally been used together. But if it weren't for TV, we may never have been able to hear compositions like this.


I'm not sure how much of this is pure nostalgia from growing up in the UK in the late 70s and 80s, and how much is down to the sheer musical inventiveness and joy to be found in them; so perhaps you won't dig them as much as I do. I am convinced that some of them are total earworms. Regardless, I will start off with my absolute favourite.



Space: 1999 (Season 1)

Could this be the best one ever?

How the hell did they do come up with this? It's got everything - full orchestral strings, brass, funky 70's bass and drums + 70s rock guitar - all perfectly blended together and super exciting.





And then...

Space: 1999 (Season 2)

A completely new theme! They broke out the synthesizer and even more orchestration and brass. The must have been thinking that synths are clearly from the future and totally all about space stuff, so they had to have more of that. But kept the full orchestra because Gerry Anderson, obviously. Amazing. Just amazing.




I don't think the Space: 1999 themes are really earworms. They are just pure entertainment from beginning to end.

By the way, not all my favourite TV themes are British. I've got lots of love for North American TV themes too, and we watched many NA TV shows in the UK. I will post some of those.
 
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Now this one... this one is a total EARWORM.

Viva La Felicita (Theme to Mr Rossi)

It was an Italian kids TV series, but I think that this may have been seen in North America too? Has a Brasilian vibe.

 
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The Persuaders - John Barry

Okay, so he may have had something to do with that James Bond thing, so not an unknown. But hey, it's TV, and it's awesome.

 
Trying to watch a couple episodes recently on Netflix was painful, but that 16th note intro hooks me every time!

Yeah, just listening to it again. Knight Rider, although it sounds _very 80s_ now, it was a totally fresh new sound at the time and utterly unlike any TV theme from just a few years before.

Also has total earworm status, I think?
 
I might get flamed for this one, but I don't care.. it's a beautiful song:sofa



Wow. I've never heard that before. So lush. So silky. And yeah... beautiful. Fantastic recording.

How can you get flamed for this? It's a thread about TV themes!
 
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The Avengers (1965)




The New Avengers

I liked the late 1970s theme too. People don't talk about that one as much. Just great.

REALLY funky bass and the drums are bringing it. Tight AF.

 
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