Welcome
back, culture lovers, for the second installment of Comfort TV’s ranking of 100
memorable moments when music and television came together.
You’ll
notice that most of the entries on the list come from the 1960s and 1970s. That’s
not just my generational bias – it’s a reflection of the fact that in the 1950s
creators were still figuring the new medium out, including how best to use
original music. And by the 1980s series themes reverted back to being dominated
by instrumentals, as the reputation of the opening theme began to take on a
cheesy perception. Thus, the decades in between were the Golden Age for
television music.
Now,
let’s get back to the list.
#79
“Castles in the Air”
The
Bugaloos
The
Bugaloos were the second best band created by Sid & Marty Krofft, and this
is their second best song. We’ll get to the top-ranked band and song a bit
later.
#78
“It Could Be Magic”
Tabitha
My
affection for Lisa Hartman may have bumped this one a few spots higher than it
deserves. But it’s still a good song.
#77
“Pfft! You Were Gone”
Hee
Haw
A
staple on Hee Haw for three decades,
this skit was one of TV’s best running jokes, especially when it featured some
of the greatest singers in country music.
#76
“I Believe in Santa Claus”
The
Year Without a Santa Claus
In
which Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney) takes a trip to a small hamlet to find a
lost reindeer, and encounters a child who no longer believes in him. Joined by
the boy’s father, they let him know in song that some beliefs require a little
faith, but they’re worth it: “Look at me and tell me, son, what is real to
you?”
#75
“Trippin’ To the Mornin’”
Charlie’s
Angels
Ed
Lakso wrote more than 30 Charlie’s Angels
scripts, but he was also a frustrated songwriter who added original
compositions to his episodes anywhere he could. Most were not very good. This
one, from “Angel Blues,” is the exception. It’s a melancholy country ballad
that fits this somber story of the Angels investigating a troubled young
singer’s murder.
#74
“Feels So Good”
The
Hardy Boys
No,
this is not the 1970s series featuring Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy. It’s
from the 1969 Filmation animated series that tried to recreate the chart
success of The Archies. That didn’t happen, but “Feels So Good” is first-rate
bubblegum pop, reminiscent of Herman’s Hermits.
#73
“Pump Your Blood”
Happy
Days
Schoolhouse Rock wasn’t the only place where music was used to help
viewers in the classroom. In this rare, memorable moment from the series’
post-shark jump era, Potsie delivers a musical lesson on the human cardiovascular
system – we can only guess how many high school (and maybe college) students
earned higher grades as a result.
#72
“Friends”
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
Granted, the song is better
than the singer – in this case Johnny Whitaker.
#71
Theme
Spider-Man
Most
cartoons have cartoonish theme songs. The original animated Spider-Man series
announced itself with a bold blast of brass and percussion. It was pretty cool
in 1967, and is now iconic enough to hold its own alongside The Ramones in this
year’s trailer for Spiderman: Far From
Home.
#70
“Room Enough For Two”
My
Sister Sam
This
should be everyone’s second favorite Kim Carnes song after “Bette Davis Eyes.”
#69
“We Never Really Say Goodbye”
Captain
& Tennille
Most
of the 1970s variety series had closing themes, and with the exception of one
other example higher up this list, I’ve always thought this was one of the
best. Thankfully there’s a full-length version for even more Captain &
Tennille goodness.
#68
“Let the Sunshine In”
The
Flintstones
As
with “Friends,” this is a better song than the version heard on the series. The
“performance” by Pebbles and Bamm Bamm sounds like something off a Chipmunks
album. The lyrics, about saying your prayers to keep the devil away, probably
seem more provocative now than they did back then. Here’s a better version, by
the band Frente!
#67
“The Lumberjack Song”
Monty
Python’s Flying Circus
I’ll
resist the temptation to discuss how lumberjack Michael Palin’s life choices
would be viewed very differently now than they were about 50 years ago, and
just comment that this is probably the funniest song to make the list.
#66
“Punctuation”
The
Electric Company
“They are the little marks
that use their influence…to help a sentence make more sense.” I can’t think of
a cooler way to learn about periods, commas, question marks and exclamation
points than this song, performed with Latin flair by Rita Moreno and in calypso
style by Lee Chamberlin.
#65
Theme
Moonlighting
This smooth jazz theme with
vocals by Al Jarreau offers an appropriately cool and sophisticated
introduction to one of the TV gems of the 1980s: “Moonlighting strangers…who
just met on the way.”
#64
Theme
Eight
is Enough
To
some, it’s a lovely reminder of a time when there was no such thing as a TV-MA
rating, and Grant Goodeve could sing a snark-free ode to the happiness of
growing up in a close, loving family. To others, lyrics about a plate of
homemade wishes on the kitchen windowsill are as cornball as it gets. I’m with
the first group.
#63
“Big Red Car”
The Wiggles
Yes, we’re just slightly
out of the bounds of the Comfort TV era, but no one planted earworms as deep
into the brains of kids and their parents as this Australian quartet. Simple
songs this catchy can be as tough to write as any type of music. Everybody:
“Toot Toot Chugga Chugga…”
#62
“Time to Change”
The Brady Bunch
Greg wrote it (not really),
Peter’s voice cracked all the way though it, and with this episode was launched
a half-hearted attempt to turn the Brady Kids into America’s favorite fake
family band. It didn’t take, but the song is still fun.
#61
“And I Never Dreamed”
The Krofft Supershow
I don’t care how much
criticism I take for this – Kaptain Kool and the Kongs rocked. And you haven’t
seen the last of them here.
#60
“My Dad”
The
Donna Reed Show
Earlier
we had a couple of songs that sounded better away from the episodes in which
they were introduced. Here we have the inverse. On the radio it’s a sweet
little song performed by Paul Petersen. In the context of the series, it has reduced
more than a few grown men to tears.
Next Week: #59 through 40
"Pump Your Blood" was used in a St. Joseph's Aspirin ad a few years ago.
ReplyDelete"My Dad" has brought tears to my eyes a few times, including when I watched it here, not on the radio, but in the context of that Donna Reed episode. I've only seen the full episode once on Me-TV a few years ago.