Popularity
Theme music has been a feature of the majority of television programs since the medium's inception, as it was for the ancestral radio shows that provided their inspiration. Programs have used theme music in a large variety of styles, sometimes adapted from existing tunes, and with some composed specifically for the purpose. A few have been released commercially and become popular hits; examples include the title theme from Rawhide, performed and recorded by popular singer Frankie Laine; the theme to Happy Days (from 1974-84), performed by Pratt & McClain (in Top 5, 1976); the theme to Laverne & Shirley, performed by Cyndi Grecco (#25, 1976); the theme to Friends, "I'll Be There For You", which was a hit for The Rembrandts; the theme from S.W.A.T., which was a hit for Rhythm Heritage; and the theme song from Drake & Josh, which was a hit for Drake Bell. Jan Hammer had a major hit with the theme from Miami Vice in the 1980s. "Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)", recorded by Richard Chamberlain, the star of the television series, was in 1962 a top 10 hit in the U.S. and a top 20 hit in the UK.
Other themes, like the music for The Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives, and Coronation Street have become iconic mostly due to the shows' respective longevities. Unlike others, these serials have not strayed from the original theme mix much, if at all, allowing them to be known by multiple generations of television viewers.
In the United Kingdom, iconic sports shows have such strong associations with their theme music that the sports themselves are synonymous with the theme tunes, such as football (Match of the Day theme), cricket (Booker T. & the M.G.'s, "Soul Limbo"), motor racing (Roger Barsotti's Motor Sport and the bassline from Fleetwood Mac's The Chain), tennis (Keith Mansfield's Light and Tuneful), snooker (Drag Racer by the Doug Wood Band), and skiing (Pop Goes Bach, the theme to Ski Sunday). Themes in the United States that have become associated with a sport include Johnny Pearson's "Heavy Action" (used for many years as an intro to Monday Night Football), "Roundball Rock" (composed by John Tesh as the theme for the NBA on NBC during the 1990s and early 2000s), "Bugler's Dream" (used in ABC and NBC's coverage of the Olympics) and the theme to ESPN's nightly sports highlight show, SportsCenter. A notable theme that was once associated with a sport, but because of its popularity, spread network-wide was the NFL on Fox theme, which is now used for MLB on Fox and NASCAR on Fox broadcasts, and is regarded as the network's single theme by October 2010.
Most television shows have specific, melodic theme music, even if just a few notes (such as the clip of music that fades in and out in the title sequence for Lost, or the pulsing sound of helicopter blades in the theme music for Airwolf). One exception is 60 Minutes, which features only the ticking hand of a Heuer stopwatch.
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Famous quotes containing the word popularity:
“The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an earldom.... He was fixed in the house of lords, that hospital of incurables, and his retreat to popularity was cut off; for the confidence of the public, when once great and once lost, is never to be regained.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly scientific way of affirming the primacy of “spirit” over matter.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Here also was made the novelty ‘Chestnut Bell’ which enjoyed unusual popularity during the gay nineties when every dandy jauntily wore one of the tiny bells on the lapel of his coat, and rang it whenever a story-teller offered a ‘chestnut.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)