The best theme songs/music in tv/movies
[Work in progress]
My pick of the best songs/instrumentals etc. used in tv shows or movies. Might try and rank them according to original instrumental (tv)/original song (tv)/etc.
My pick of the best songs/instrumentals etc. used in tv shows or movies. Might try and rank them according to original instrumental (tv)/original song (tv)/etc.
List activity
2.5K views
• 5 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 47 titles
- StarsJohn WatersMax MeldrumAlain DouteyStories of the lives of people living in and around the goldfields in the Australian bush during the 1850's.#1 Original instrumental (tv)
Composed by George Dreyfus, played by...
Brian May and the A.B.C. Showband - Rush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uJMF93Zatw
Extract from Brian May's Wikipedia page:
"The theme was composed by Australian George Dreyfus, but May's arrangement of the theme was recorded by the Show Band and quickly reached the top of the Australian charts, selling more than 100,000 copies. This type of success was usually reserved for pop groups such as Sherbert and Skyhooks." - CreatorNicolas FreelingStarsBarry FosterMichael LatimerJoanna DunhamCynical Dutch Detective Commissaris and his colleagues investigate murders, kidnappings, and political corruption.#2 Original instrumental (tv)
Composed by Jan Stoeckart (using the pseudonym Jan Trombey) accourding to Wikipedia. Peformed by...
The Simon Park Orchestra - Eye level
Hopefully this entry is valid as Wikipedia mentions that the original music was created in 1971 by De Wolfe Music, which made music for use in tv shows etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0O-2oAvNTo
An excerpt from the Wikipedia page for the composer:
"ITV had picked the tune, which Stoeckart had written a few years earlier, from the De Wolfe catalogue. The tune, loosely based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme from the 18th century, became an instant hit with viewers and record buyers, as the recording - made by the Simon Park Orchestra - climbed to number one on the UK singles chart in 1973." - CreatorLeonard FreemanStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongFollows the investigations of Hawaii Five-0; an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police, and answerable only to the governor, and headed by the stalwart, Steve McGarrett.
- CreatorMichael J. BirdStarsJack HedleyBetty ArvanitiTakis EmmanuelAlan Haldane, footloose after selling his boatbuilding business, returns to Crete where he fought in the Second World War - only to find out that his former girlfriend died, but had a daughter. He decides to stay.
- CreatorDonald WilsonSydney NewmanStarsWilliam HartnellPatrick TroughtonJon PertweeThe adventures in time and space of the Doctor, a Time Lord who changes appearance and personality by regenerating when near death, and is joined by companions in battles against aliens and other megalomaniacs.#5 Original instrumental (tv)
Composed by Australian Ron Grainer, performed by...
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HHQbGI92MY
This has the great middle eighth of the theme which you'd sometimes here during the end credits (here it starts at 0:34 seconds).
An extract from the Wikipedia entry for the theme tune states:
"On hearing the finished result, Grainer was amazed, and famously asked, "Did I write that?"."
and
"The original theme was composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with assistance from Dick Mills. The various parts were built up using musique concrète techniques....It is widely regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music, recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers or multitrack mixers." - CreatorStephen J. CannellRoy HugginsStarsJames GarnerNoah Beery Jr.Joe SantosThe cases of an easy-going ex-convict turned private investigator.
- CreatorRichard CarpenterStarsGeoffrey BayldonRobin DaviesGary WarrenA medieval wizard (though not a very good one) is transported to the modern age.
- CreatorBrian CookeJohnnie MortimerStarsRichard O'SullivanPaula WilcoxSally ThomsettSitcom exploring the trials and tribulations created by one man and two women flat-sharing in the 70s.#8 Original instrumental (tv)
Johnny Hawksworth - Up to date *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mroyWhvpL-8
* Wikipedia states something similar for this as for "Van der Valk":
"it was not specially commissioned for the show, rather provided via the Production music company De Wolfe Music and most recently, made available in 1996 by independent record company Studio2Stereo on their CD "The sound gallery – Volume two". (Matrix number 7243 8 52990 2 5)." - CreatorJoss WhedonStarsSarah Michelle GellarNicholas BrendonAlyson HanniganA young woman, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.#9 Original instrumental (tv)
Nerf Herder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYS-7mqpc7w
Wikipedia notes that:
"The song sounds similar to a section of a German pop song from the Eighties called "Codo" by "Deutsch-Österreichisches Feingefühl" (DÖF), but in 2006 Nerf Herder said that they had "never heard of DÖF," and the similarity was coincidental."
From memory, that German song's similarity seemed hard to view as merely 'coincidental' on the part of this tv show. - StarsDave AllenMichael Sharvell-MartinJacqueline ClarkeComedy show by Irish comedian#10 Original instrumental (tv)
Alan Hawkshaw - Blarney Stoned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZF6aBtGMZY - DirectorRichard PearceStarsJessica LangeSam ShepardWilford BrimleyGilbert Ivy and his wife Jewell are farmers. They seem to be working against the odds, producing no financial surplus. Gilbert has lost hope of ever becoming prosperous, but his wife decides to fight for her family.There is no entry at this site for the rural affairs programme "Countrywide" on ABC TV Australia...so this will have to make do.
#11 Original instrumental (tv)
Tommy Emmanuel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlazrogEq5o - CreatorDavid SaleStarsPat McDonaldJeff KevinJoe HashamFollows the lives and relationships of residents in a Sydney apartment building, exploring adult themes and featuring risky content like sex scenes.
- CreatorIan Kennedy MartinStarsJohn ThawDennis WatermanGarfield MorganJack Regan and George Carter are hard-edged detectives in the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police. They pursue villains by methods which are underhanded and often illegal, frequently violent and - more often than not - successful.#13 Original instrumental (tv)
Harry South
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmUOee7fRRQ
Closing theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mZE7BVlWO0 - CreatorHarry DriverVince PowellStarsSidney JamesDiana CouplandRobin StewartSid and Jean Abbott struggle to understand their teenage children's progressive ways. The couple live in London with protest-loving son Mike and trendy daughter Sally.
- StarsLeonard TealeGeorge MallabyJohn FeganThe cases and crimes actioned by the Victoria (Australia) homicide squad, with many cases based of true events.
- CreatorJean HollowayStarsHope LangeEdward MulhareReta ShawDerived from the 1947 movie with the same name, a house is haunted by a deceased sea captain who wreaks havoc with the new tenants who were not advised of his existence.
- CreatorTed WillisStarsWilliam LucasCharlotte MitchellRoderick ShawA thoroughbred horse in 19th century England is adopted by a widowed doctor and befriended by his children. The horse helps the children as they have weekly adventures and encounters with various characters.#17 Original instrumental (tv)
Denis King - Galloping home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flvxbw8YYM8 - CreatorMel BrooksBuck HenryStarsDon AdamsBarbara FeldonEdward PlattMaxwell Smart, a highly intellectual but bumbling spy working for the CONTROL agency, battles the evil forces of rival spy agency KAOS with the help of his competent partner Agent 99.
- CreatorBlake EdwardsStarsCraig StevensHerschel BernardiLola AlbrightPeter Gunn is a private detective with a knack for finding trouble. His cases often mean he runs into the shadiest characters, most vicious thugs and the most powerful crime bosses. Cool and resourceful, he always gets the guilty party.
- StarsKerry O'BrienSarah FergusonQuentin McDermottAn Australian current affairs documentary television programme, the longest running of its kind nationally, produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).#xx Use of pre-existing or adapted music for instrumental theme (tv)
This isn't the version that I remember...edit in...found the original tune...details here:
John Keating and The Z Men - Lost patrol *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6P18LujuTo
* The tune is the B side to the theme from the British drama "Z-cars".
Someone comments on the link above that the track is an adaptation of a melody in:
"Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italienne".
Due to this new info, I'll have to put this track in a category for non-original themes. - StarsMary LarkinKerry McGuireJon EnglishEighteen-year-old Mary Mulvane gets convicted for trying to get back her father's cow. She has to endure the travel in a prison ship from Ireland and living the life of a convict in Australia.
- CreatorGabe KaplanAlan SacksPeter MeyersonStarsGabe KaplanRon PalilloJohn TravoltaA compassionate teacher returns to his inner city high school of his youth to teach a new generation of troublemaking kids.
- CreatorJames L. BrooksAllan BurnsStarsMary Tyler MooreEdward AsnerGavin MacLeodThe lives and trials of a young single woman and her friends, both at work and at home.#3 Original song (tv)
Sonny Curtis - Love is all around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1GC6yXZ4e4
Alternative version from 1st series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuuYvQsN-ak - StarsJames MacDonaldThe Krofft PuppetsFrank AletterA pop group consisting of four anthropomorphic animals host a variety of cartoons, songs, and skits.#4 Original song (tv)
Mark Barkan and Ritchie Adams - The tra la la song (one banana, two banana)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juJpyUkHPCA
Wikipedia lists this song as reaching #96 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1969. - CreatorDon BarkhamMichael CraigStarsAndrew KeirSascha HehnHerbert TiedeCharlie Cole and his grandson Pete Jarrett travel around outback Australia in a beaten-up ute, finding itinerant work along the way. In each place they befriend locals and become involved in an adventure, culminating in their solving a mystery, crime or local conflict.#5 Original song (tv)
Hopefully this is the right link...it's the Australian ABC TV series...a very good one too...eerie, outback road movie vibe...
sung by...
Doug Parkinson - The outsiders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saSe6JyEqZs
