MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #38

Number 38: Danger Man
"Every government has its secret service branch. America, CIA; France, Deuxième Bureau; England, MI5. NATO also has its own. A messy job? Well that's when they usually call on me or someone like me. Oh yes, my name is Drake, John Drake."
This is the theme from the first series. It changed from the second series and they used another in the US, I gather. It was written by Ted Astley, who also wrote the theme tune for ‘The Saint’. He was also, incidentally, Pete Townsend’s father-in-law.
A lot of people think that the 'Bond, James Bond'-esque secret agent character, played by Patrick McGoohan just beforehand in this show, went on to become Number 6 in 'The Prisoner'. One thing that’s certain is the influence of this DM on another DM: Danger Mouse (see TOP TV THEME TUNE Number 44).

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #39

Number 39: Monty Python’s Flying Circus
This demented Grande Dame of British comedy was once outrageously new and radical! And the opening titles with John Cleese on the beach announcing “And now for something completely different” would pop up almost randomly during the show to betoken that. We would all discuss it avidly in the playground and in the bike sheds at High School the next day, re-enacting highlights, mangling the pronunciation of their name as they did. And only a few bars of John Philip Sousa's military march 'The Liberty Bell' (1893) is enough to take me right back there.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #40

Number 40: Skippy
One of the most infectious theme tunes ever! Most recently in my mind when Ryan Styles beautifully recreated Regina Fong’s use of the song for a thumping singalong at the wonderful Readers Wifes Fan Club nights last year at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
I am also very fond of it because, ever since our geriatric cats were kittens, Stu has pretended regularly that the boy cat is a kangaroo and interrogated him about kids trapped in the old mineshaft. The real kangaroos apparently had a shit time, with animal-handling practices that wouldn’t be countenanced these days. One story I read says they got an emu drunk in order to make it more malleable when filmed.
And then there was always the impression Tony Bonner made (helicopter pilot Jerry), in those tiny shorts that were spray-painted on.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #41

Number 41: (Bill and Ben) The Flowerpot Men
Flubadup! Wee-ee-eed… I think I remember this fondly from the late 50s, although I’m not sure we had a TV till the early 60s. Whatever, somebody at the BBC was having a great time creating trippy psychedelia for kids in black and white. I still think of this every time I stack flowerpots in our little conservatory.
There’s the “Watch With Mother” theme first here and then the unfolding flower logo, which you got every day after the One O’Clock Gang Show, iirc. Then there was a different puppet show every day. I think it was Rag Tag and Bobtail on Monday, Tuesday was Andy Pandy, and the Woodentops were on Friday. Bill and Ben must have been Wednesday or Thursday then. But I may be misremembering totally. Great to hear the tunes again though, evoking childlike wonder.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #42

Number 42: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Illya Kuryakin! Napoleon Solo! Back in the 60s, I had a Man From U.N.C.L.E. suitcase (full of spy gadgets) and even bought several of the tie-in books. All because I fell in love with Scottish actor David McCallum (Kuryakin). Of course, I never saw it in colour. Here’s a thrilling snatch of what captivated me as a youngster.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #43

Number 43: The High Chaparral
Written by David Rose, an incredibly prolific TV theme composer, born in London, and also Judy Garland’s first husband (from 1941 to 1945). His most famous composition was perhaps The Stripper.
They used music well on the show and I watched it avidly as a youngster because it was all very homosocial, all about the men in the Cannon and Montoya families: Big John, Uncle Buck, Blue Boy, and Manolito. Only years later did I find out that “Chaparral” is a woody shrub that grows in those desert lands. I had thought it was Spanish for Chapel.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #44

Number 44: Danger Mouse
Myfanwy Talog sang this and it was her partner, David Jason’s most memorable role, giving the voice to Danger Mouse. I don’t much like Jason, frankly, so I pretend not to know it’s his voice.
I was in my twenties when this was on, so it’s probably quite shameful that I was such a fan. It was a triumph of surreal humour masquerading as a kids’ cartoon show and I loved the braggadocio of the theme tune, written by comedian Mike Harding.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #45

Number 45: Wagon Train
I chose this theme tune because it was the first and, to this day, only thing I ever learned to play on the piano. Taught myself, all on the black keys. It’s the first season theme (there were several others) and was written by Henri René and Bob Russell. I don’t remember much about the series and I don’t know much about René and Russell, although Wikipedia tells me the former made an album called “Music for Bachelors” and the latter later wrote the lyric to “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” for The Hollies (a song I have never liked).

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #46

Number 46: The Monkees
I was a little Monkee fanboy and the first albums I owned were the Monkees’ “The Monkees” and “More of the Monkees”. I was still at Primary School and had no idea and couldn't have cared less that none of the boys was actually playing their instruments. I saw Davey Jones once on Princes Street, nearly three decades later. He was tiny. I still felt the tug of puppy love though!
Written by professional songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, as was Last Train to Clarksville. They also performed all of the backing tracks and vocals for the songs on the first few albums, with the Monkees adding lead vocals. In the 70s, Boyce and Hart teamed up with Davey Jones and Mickey Dolenz and toured a 'Golden Greats of the Monkees' show. Boyce moved to England for a while before returning to the US, where he killed himself in 1994.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #47

Number 47: Flintstones
"When you're with the Flintstones
Have a yabba dabba doo time
A dabba doo time
We'll have a gay old time..."
Thanks to this Flintstones FAQ, I now know that Hoyt S. Curtin wrote the music and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera wrote the lyrics. When I was a little boy, I thought a woman called Hanna Barbera made the cartoon. And that she couldn't spell her own name correctly.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #48

Number 48: Crossroads
Meg Richardson, Sandy, Jill, Miss Diane, Benny, Amy Turtle, the shadow of the Droitwich...
For so many years, ‘Crossroads’ and this tune accompanied our dinner, always served at 5.15, just as Dad got home from work. Macca reworked it with Wings but I liked this version best.
Written by Tony Hatch, a man with his finger in many musical pies. He wrote for and produced Petula Clark and even worked on Bowie’s juvenilia. With his wife, Jackie Trent, he wrote lots of other TV theme tunes, including ‘Neighbours’.
Hatch’s zenith, however, imo was when he composed Downtown and gave it to Pet Clark. How do I love that song! Forever associated now in my mind with the Police Raid at Gross Indecency last year.

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #49

Number 49: Tomorrow's World
This programme ran for an eternity and there were other theme tunes in different epochs but this was the best, by the late Johnny Dankworth who produced several other classic tv theme tunes too (that may yet appear in this list).

MY 50 TOP TV THEME TUNES! #50

Going to resurrect my blog. This is a list of my top fifty favourite TV theme tunes that I created to amuse my Facebook friends. Not the best shows, nor necessarily the best music on TV, but they are my favourite TV theme tunes.



Number 50: The Persuaders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99QQIXez4M
John Barry's theme to The Persuaders. Never much liked the show but I liked the tune and I love the late, very great John Barry's work. I have come to like Roger Moore over the years but, for some reason, I couldn't abide him when I was younger. Always thought Tony Curtis was a shag though. Particularly when he played Houdini. And, obviously, when he wore a frock.