TV show theme music

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 Tom Valentine 20 Aug 2019

Just started watching S2 of "Succession" and while I quite enjoy the series I am absolutely hooked on the theme tune. Got me playing a few others on You Tube: favourites from recent shows are Westworld and The Leftovers, and from earlier, Band of Brothers. 

I'm sure I've missed some good ones so..........?

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Strangely enough I'm bingeing on the Gladiator soundtrack this morning. It's great but I thought there might be some techno mixes of it on YouTube and there are! They are dross though.

As an aside - the greatest TV to Techno remix around is surely Doctor Who by Orbital

youtube.com/watch?v=-H_o6ncUz3g&

Post edited at 09:52
 Hat Dude 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Probably my favourite ever is for "Arena" on BBC2

youtube.com/watch?v=36B225lLvY4&

 Blue Straggler 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

For some reason the original 1980s MacGyver is insanely popular with YouTube acoustic guitar bedroom noodlers!

 Blue Straggler 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks is a thing of sublime beauty. The whole soundtrack is, actually, but you are asking only about main themes and I think it still stands up against most things. It's evocative and atmospheric but also melodious and works in isolation. 

 Iamgregp 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Some classics..

M.A.S.H

Taxi (The American one with Danny DeVito, which is Bob James' tune Angela)

Littlest Hobo (crap show great theme)

Rigid Raider 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

There have been two pieces of music, which I've loved and never been able to get. One was the on-ground cabin music on Pakistan International Airways domestic flights when I used to use them a lot in the early 90s; the music was traditional, very wistful and atmospheric and fitted perfectly with my feelings of poignancy and loneliness when I was on multi-week business trips, missing home but constantly inspired and astonished by what I was encountering in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.  I asked colleagues there if I could get the music and ended up with a collection of cassettes of "PIA cabin favourites" which were just a hash-up of the stuff you could hear if you plugged into the very rudimentary in-flight entertainment system.

The second was, unbelievably, the music to the Disney Cars video game, which my son used to play. It was a rolling C&W tune designed to be endlessly repeatable but it touched a nerve and although I got something similar by the same band (after a lot of searching) I never managed to download the original from the game.

There's a huge industry out there writing music for films, TV and games. BBC R3 even ran a short series recently where they played pieces written for computer games. 

 malk 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine: golden oldies:

Out of Town

Sky at Night

Weekend World

World in Action

Post edited at 10:55
 deepsoup 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Barry Gray gets my vote, the man was a genius back in the day when TV producers could afford to use a proper orchestra for incidental music as well as the main theme.  All those daft Gerry Anderson shows.
If I'm going to pick one of his, I think I'll skip the puppety ones and go with UFO. Fabulous bit of 1960's futuristic surf music. 
youtube.com/watch?v=slYW7kkHyI4&

More recent telly (and film) but sticking with the '60s musically - best old song dug up, dusted off and put back to work as a theme tune: Norma Tanega's "You're Dead"
youtube.com/watch?v=ImAlx0amAIc&

 Blue Straggler 20 Aug 2019
In reply to malk:

> World in Action

I am sure the spoof over the top music for The Day Today was inspired by the hectic drama of World in Action

 

 graeme jackson 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Iamgregp:

> Some classics..

> M.A.S.H

> Taxi (The American one with Danny DeVito, which is Bob James' tune Angela)

> Littlest Hobo (crap show great theme)

I'll throw barney Miller into the mix.  required learning for Bass players of a certain age.

 malk 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Blue Straggler:

hehe. unfortunately the 'jam for a world in action'  ended in acrimony- see top comment here: youtube.com/watch?v=95qLDc7zwYY&

 aln 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Phantom Disliker:

> As an aside - the greatest TV to Techno remix around is surely Doctor Who by Orbital

They also did an excellent version of The Saint.

 Rampart 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Ski Sunday?

 Welsh Kate 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I'm with you on Band of Brothers, though you can hear some of the themes coming out in his earlier film scores, esp. Robin Hood.

When I was a student I rented a room in the house of a composer Patrick Gowers and his family. He'd just got a BAFTA for the score for Smiley's People and was starting work on scoring the Jeremy Brett ITV Sherlock Holmes series. My room was next to Patrick's study and the whole time I was was a student (a very long time!) my studies were accompanied by music being created. I once watched a whole Sherlock Holmes episode when it arrived, fully edited but with no music, and it made me realise just how much even a basic score adds to a tv or film watching experience!

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Game of Thrones!

1
 Tringa 20 Aug 2019
In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

Agree about World in Action.

I also liked Crockett's Theme from Miami Vice - youtube.com/watch?v=_UmOY6ek_Y4&

Dave

In reply to Iamgregp:

> Littlest Hobo (crap show great theme)

Great theme tune! Had it as my first non installed ringtone

 Simon Caldwell 20 Aug 2019
In reply to malk:

> Sky at Night

does that count as TV theme music, given that it was borrowed from Sibelius?

 Iamgregp 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Rampart:

Ooooh that's a good one!

 Iamgregp 20 Aug 2019
In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Yeah love it!

 subtle 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Hawaiian 5 0  - the original and the remake

 Iamgregp 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

A couple more I've though of, largely inspired by other answers...

Snooker theme on BBC (Apparently a tune called "Drag Racer" by Doug Wood Band.  No, I've never heard of them either)

Rhubarb and Custard

The Raccoons (end credits, Run With Us  youtube.com/watch?v=DEkSzcGIfW0&

I'd best stop now otherwise I'm going to go down a deep, deep nostalgia rabbit hole!

 yznrope 20 Aug 2019

FRIENDS THEME SONG IS BEST FOREVER

6
 subtle 20 Aug 2019
In reply to yznrope:

> FRIENDS THEME SONG IS BEST FOREVER

Hmm, although on the radio this morning they played the whole "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" song, it raised a smile

 PaulJepson 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Time Team

Due South

Ski Sunday

Grandstand

 Simon Caldwell 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Showing my age...

Colditz

youtube.com/watch?v=5W7cFJFfLYg&

Z Cars (don't think I ever saw the programme - the music was the signal that it was bed time!)

youtube.com/watch?v=rWflrCrwUSw&

The Persuaders 

youtube.com/watch?v=PIQwzWg7-1E&

and even though it's nicked from Janacek

Crown Court 

youtube.com/watch?v=IniuDc5j6EA&

OP Tom Valentine 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Older stuff:

The Prisoner

Man in A Suitcase

and  Public Eye had a cool jazz theme.

 Hat Dude 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Rampart:

> Ski Sunday?

Another good one from early Sunday evening viewing was "Holiday"

youtube.com/watch?v=7tx8J5nBRck&

Enjoyment was probably enhanced by the opening credits, it's not suprising that Cliff Michelmore was always chuckling!

Post edited at 16:30
In reply to malk:

> Weekend World

Ah yes, an extract from Nantucket Sleigh Ride by a group called Mountain.  I once taped the album it's from; the tape is long since gone and my memory of the album is that Weekend World pinched the best bit of it.

youtube.com/watch?v=qip4aQLc7L0& 

T.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

I always liked the music from an old TV series of Robinson Crusoe.  Fair takes me back to listen to it.

youtube.com/watch?v=NQHB1zd1f5M& 

T.

 Simon Caldwell 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Pursued by a bear:

and on a similar theme

youtube.com/watch?v=jtCNbERKvMs&

 hokkyokusei 20 Aug 2019
In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

> Game of Thrones!

That's awful!

 alan moore 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Was a big fan of the Honk Kong Fooey theme.

Flashing Blade has a good song as did Casey Jones from the same era.

Recently discovered the ballad of Paladin by Johnny Western which is brilliant.

 felt 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The one that really got my blood up, Ski Sunday, already mentioned. But that was when they actually showed lots of skiing, the days of Klammer, Stenmark and Annemarie Moser.

I liked the old C4 Tour de France music, quite melancholic dance music. The new ITV4 TdF tune's OK, but the Giro one is appalling, so Euro kitsch it's almost good. But not quite.

It's hard to beat the Sopranos theme tune, but Narcos managed it, I think. So that's my pick, the perfect mix of desire, sophistication and death

youtube.com/watch?v=senoF0vblek&

 toad 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I was expecting a link to the flashing blade!

 Pefa 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I loved this one a bit more than Dr Who in the 70s Tomorrow's People. 

youtube.com/watch?v=Ei7i7RFvrUM&

Another that stuck with me again from the 70s was The Water Margin Duno why, I think because Chinese culture was en vogue and the Japanese art at the end. 

youtube.com/watch?v=TVVRMBWGBqw&

Waking up as a toddler in the summer and hearing the banana splits was pure joy. 

youtube.com/watch?v=XMl6HnhFFIA&

Post edited at 20:45
 Tom Last 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Twin Peaks - very classic 

 Tom Last 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The recent Years and Years music is good too

Removed User 20 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:pure nostalgia-the first one is just lovely, the second a bit weird

youtube.com/watch?v=jtCNbERKvMs&

youtube.com/watch?v=WcOyrCoeTAc&

 Hat Dude 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Pursued by a bear:

> Ah yes, an extract from Nantucket Sleigh Ride by a group called Mountain.  I once taped the album it's from; t

I'm pretty sure that the section they used for Weekend World was from the version on the live album "The Road goes Ever On".

 planetmarshall 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The best TV theme tune of the 80s was, bar none, from The Equalizer, composed by Stewart Copeland.

https://open.spotify.com/track/41NDVWdAb4YFMAaMB950zu

Post edited at 10:05
 Blue Straggler 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Ski Sunday fans should get on YouTube and find the thing where someone has put it over the ski/motorbike chase from For Your Eyes Only. I don't think any editing has been done, it just HAPPENS to synch up almost perfectly. 

 Jon Stewart 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

No one's said The Wire? And I'm not even a fan of the show, yeah I can see it's good drama I just didn't get hooked.

youtube.com/watch?v=jR9_wbTrInI&

 Neil Henson 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Surprised no one has mentioned the Rockford files. I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch it as a kid, but could hear the theme tune from my room. Pretty sure that is what got me into trying to learn to play the harmonica around 30 years later.

The Fall Guy was another great theme tune - best watched with the accompanying stuntman footage.

 KS132 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Howard’s Way? 

 Blue Straggler 21 Aug 2019
In reply to KS132:

> Howard’s Way? 

Have you been listening to too much Radcliffe and Maconie on 6Music?!

OP Tom Valentine 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Neil Henson:

Every time I bring Roquefort cheese to the table my friend starts up with 

"Dah-dah--daddle-ah.......". Pretty cringeworthy.

 felt 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I dug The World About Us and its heavy-duty flute, vibes, cymbals and synth at the time, not to mention that gold spinny thing. Packed one helluva lot in to 20 seconds.

   youtube.com/watch?v=SsTV7eJ2aa8&

 Neil Henson 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

> Every time I bring Roquefort cheese to the table my friend starts up with 

> "Dah-dah--daddle-ah.......". Pretty cringeworthy.

Well it made me laugh anyway.

 Iamgregp 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The Bill  youtube.com/watch?v=8pxOIEMODQg& 

Interesting as musicians to this day argue about the time signature of this tune.  And Golden Brown.

Post edited at 16:51
OP Tom Valentine 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Iamgregp:

> Interesting as musicians to this day argue about the time signature of this tune.  

Having listened to the Troggs Tape several times I 'm pretty sure Reg could have resolved the argument.

 Iamgregp 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I'd never heard of this till now, googled it and it sounds amazing!!!

 yeti 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The south bank show (the early version)

and... True Blood (so good we bought the album)

OP Tom Valentine 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Iamgregp:

Yup! Pretty down to earth stuff.

 Albert Tatlock 21 Aug 2019

White horses by Jackie

Fireball Xl5

 Blue Straggler 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Manimal

 Blue Straggler 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Airwolf

 overdrawnboy 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Thinking back I recall "Belle and Sebastian" had a beautiful theme and "White Horses" was good too.

youtube.com/watch?v=A4f_ETlXGtI&

youtube.com/watch?v=iR6z8GUywyc&

More recently the theme from Detectorists seemed to fit the series perfectly.

 ChrisBrooke 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Iamgregp:

> Interesting as musicians to this day argue about the time signature of this tune.  And Golden Brown.

Seems like a pretty straight forward 7/4 to me, with a 3+4 feel. Pretty rad synth solo in there too. I'd forgotten how they managed to slip some jazz fusion into prime time tv in the 80s!

 Ridge 21 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

I have the "Mr Benn" theme as the alarm on my phone when it's time to leave the office.

 robert-hutton 23 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Area Code 615 - Stone Fox Chase 

youtube.com/watch?v=CX02BDEO4xw&

Post edited at 18:40
 keith hal 23 Aug 2019
In reply to graeme jackson:

Or Cagney and Lacey. One of my bass player pals at College did an arrangement of it!

 Blue Straggler 24 Aug 2019
In reply to keith hal:

Quietly waiting for someone to mention it. It’s really good

 wbo2 24 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine: nationwide ( the one with Hugh Scully). 

 tjdodd 24 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

The Banana Splits

 wercat 24 Aug 2019
In reply to deepsoup:

I still love the Fireball XL5 intro and song at the end and UFO is a classic, the show as well.

As a kid in the Sixties I loved the theme and titles for "This Week" which i think is Sibelius' Karelia Suite.  Magnificent.

youtube.com/watch?v=MpVz5GoysxA&

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through The Glen ...

The Lone Ranger!

What about Dr Who and The Man from Uncle ?

Post edited at 09:22
 wercat 24 Aug 2019
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Of course, as sometimes this is the first time people encounter the music.  Otherwise you'd have to miss out The Onedin Line and The Apprentice!

 keith hal 24 Aug 2019
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Space 1999! Best credit sequence ever! Tomorrows World( uptempo bebop/birth of the school type jazz...nuts!).    And lastly the gallery theme from Vision on.


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