Title names hidden in instrumental theme tunes

[Mel O'Drama]

For a couple of weeks I've been stuck in a very enjoyable wormhole of videos on language, pronunciation and accents - mostly from Dr. Geoff Lindsay whose relaxed musings I find very enjoyable.

Imagine my delight when stumbling upon a video discussing theme tunes that appealed to my Telly Talking heart:

It covers film as well, but there's an awful lot of TV nostalgia in there, and discussion of themes to series that will be very familiar to most of us. Enjoy.

There'll be many more examples as well, so feel free to drop/discuss them below.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

This has reminded me of a related mystery.

Some years back, while looking for versions of The Gentle Touch theme, I stumbled upon this song:

With that melody and title it's very clearly based on the series' theme, but what I've never been able to establish for certain is if the lyric version came later using Roger Webb's music as its inspiration, or if the tune was originally written with lyrics (or even based on an old song). Since I'm reasonably certain Roger Webb wrote the theme as an original piece, I've assumed the song/lyric version came later.

I've only ever found that one rendition, from a 2008 album, and I'd love to know the story behind it. Perhaps someone was filling in the gaps, as described in the "hidden words in theme tunes" video.

Here's Exhibit B - the original theme (the only version I could find was attached to an episode):

 

[Willie Oleson]

I love music wormholes and detective work.

Turns out that a vocal version of The Gentle Touch had already been recorded in 1983 and released as a single in the UK.

p.s. I'm sure the video has nothing to do with the single.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Turns out that a vocal version of The Gentle Touch had already been recorded in 1983 and released as a single in the UK.

Oh my. I feel like I must have known this but cannot find it anywhere in my memory banks.

Of course, it's not on iTunes. Nor does it seem to be on any of her CDs on Amazon. Ah well.

I was intrigued by Iris's name and had to look to see if she was any relation to Danny who sang the more recent version (who I don't think is the better-known-singer-of-the-same-name, even though there are physical similarities). I couldn't find any connection, but Iris appears to have had quite an interesting life, being raised in a children's home in the Welsh valleys before winning a scholarship to a prestigious music college, going on to win the Song For Wales contest and going on to record the vocal version of another well-known instrumental theme: Cavatina from The Deer Hunter.

p.s. I'm sure the video has nothing to do with the single.

It's great fun. And not a little stalker-ish. It's a stretch, but I could imagine some of it being integrated into a storyline in the series somehow.






By the way, while I couldn't remember the earlier vocal version of The Gentle Touch, I was aware of the vocal version of TGT's sequel series C.A.T.S. Eyes, recorded as the B-side of that theme's release on 7" single.

 

[Angela Channing]

When I was young, I used to sing "Randall and Hopkirk" along with the first 5 notes of the theme tune and at various points throughout when those notes are repeated.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Theeeere is a house on the prai-ai-rie
(it doesn't work with "little" in it).
Liiiittle but great in its loooove
lala la lala

Oh never mind.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

When I was young, I used to sing "Randall and Hopkirk" along with the first 5 notes of the theme tune

Theeeere is a house on the prai-ai-rie

Which reminds me: many years ago I watched a comedy skit in which someone* sang lyrical versions of the themes to various TV series. The only one I dimly remember was Coronation Street, which involved them caterwauling the name along with the tune: "Cooooo-ooooo-Ro--NationStreet...".


* I want to say it was Les Dennis, but I'm possibly misremembering based on his own Corrie connections.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Similarly:

In one of Tom Hanks's early appearances as guest host on Saturday Night Live, they had him in a sketch spoofing Entertainment Tonight. At that time ET had a co-host named Robb Weller, whom Hanks resembled. Only Hanks's impersonation was more like "Robb Weller if he was high as a kite". The familiar theme music for ET features a six-note intro (even now), and Hanks decided to sing along with "En-ter-tain-ment To-NIGHHHHT...." in a lounge singer style that cracked everyone up. To this day, I still remember his spoofing the theme every time I hear it, especially since the ET anchors take themselves waaay too seriously and practically demand to be demeaned.

 

[bmasters9]

especially since the ET anchors take themselves waaay too seriously and practically demand to be demeaned.

How do you mean by that?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Similarly:

In one of Tom Hanks's early appearances as guest host on Saturday Night Live, they had him in a sketch spoofing Entertainment Tonight. At that time ET had a co-host named Robb Weller, whom Hanks resembled. Only Hanks's impersonation was more like "Robb Weller if he was high as a kite". The familiar theme music for ET features a six-note intro (even now), and Hanks decided to sing along with "En-ter-tain-ment To-NIGHHHHT...." in a lounge singer style that cracked everyone up. To this day, I still remember his spoofing the theme every time I hear it, especially since the ET anchors take themselves waaay too seriously and practically demand to be demeaned.

How do you mean by that?

ENETERTAINMENT TONIGHT has been around for 43 and has changed a lot. During its first five seasons (1981 thru 1986) it was as "serious" as an entertainment news show could be. In fact, in 1984, American news icon Walter Cronkite called it the best news show on television -- a quote ET still flaunts even today. But in 1986, a brand-new producer took over and announced the show was going to go "lighter" (the last thing an entertainment news show needs to do is get "lighter").

The shift, tonally and substantively, was readily apparent but you could still watch it. For a while.

But by the end of the '90s, and certainly by the 2000s, ET had transitioned into something so incorrigible that it had become even sleazier than its smarmy imitators it had once towered above. I've barely ever seen it in years, but on the occasion I run across it by accident, I'm quickly reminded -- within seconds -- why I stopped watching: it's just slimy garbage, intended for such a lowbrow demographic that it's hard to believe it exists.

The Robb Weller days are almost something to wax nostalgic about.

Anyway, I think more people notice those titles-within-the-theme-tunes than some may realize.

 

[bmasters9]

Anyway, I think more people notice those titles-within-the-theme-tunes than some may realize.

I certainly do-- at least one local news show has had a recognizable title riff, that one from the Twin Cities of Minnesota (St. Paul/Minneapolis) way back when-- KSTP Eyewitness News (both "K-S-T-P" and "Eye-wit-ness News" can be heard twice [each with four notes], and then the last two beats have the daypart portion of the title [either "At Six" or "Up-date"]).

Here's an example from 1985 (you'll have to click on the "Watch on YouTube" link here to see it):

And here's a whole bunch of openings from that Twin Cities ABC station, with more examples:

 

[Daniel Avery]

The Mission: Impossible theme is even more "meta," in the sense that the initials (M and I) are reproduced in Morse Code for the theme. In Morse Code. the "M" is represented with a long tap of the telegraph, whereas the "I" is a short tap. Thus the theme of Mission: Impossible is dominated by the "Dumm Dumm DumDum" repetition (M, M, II).

Edit: I think I explained the Morse Code translations incorrectly, or at least poorly....but the main thrust (that the "dums" correspond to the M and I) stands.

 

[Daniel Avery]

But in 1986, a brand-new producer took over and announced the show was going to go "lighter" (the last thing an entertainment news show needs to do is get "lighter").

I think the crowning (or clowning, depending) achievement in this period was when they built a plexi-glass desk for the hosts to sit behind that featured a key light on Mary Hart's legs. The male co-hosts may have been interchangeable, but Mary Hart and her legs were seemingly the focus of the show.

 

[bmasters9]

I think the crowning (or clowning, depending) achievement in this period was when they built a plexi-glass desk for the hosts to sit behind that featured a key light on Mary Hart's legs. The male co-hosts may have been interchangeable, but Mary Hart and her legs were seemingly the focus of the show.

And IIRC, one Seinfeld episode from 1992 had Kramer getting seizures from Mary Hart, but not by her legs, but her voice (that was "The Good Samaritan," OAD Wednesday, March 4, 1992 on NBC)...

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And IIRC, one Seinfeld episode from 1992 had Kramer getting seizures from Mary Hart, but not by her legs, but her voice (that was "The Good Samaritan," OAD Wednesday, March 4, 1992 on NBC)...

Oh, yes, there was a real-life event where someone, an E.T. viewer, was given seizures -- literally -- by Mary Hart's voice. It made the news. They even mentioned it on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT itself; Mary seemed unamused yet professional about the story.

Something about the pitch or frequency Hart's voice tapped into.

 

[bmasters9]

Oh, yes, there was a real-life event where someone, an E.T. viewer, was given seizures -- literally -- by Mary Hart's voice. It made the news. They even mentioned it on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT itself; Mary seemed unamused yet professional about the story.

Something about the pitch or frequency Hart's voice tapped into.

New York Times article from 1991 so concerning:

Doctor Says Voice on TV Caused Seizures (Published 1991)

www.nytimes.com

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

New York Times article from 1991 so concerning:

Doctor Says Voice on TV Caused Seizures (Published 1991)

www.nytimes.com

NYT wants money. But, yes, it got press coverage at the time. Fascinating really.

I was watching a podcaster a few weeks ago (interviewing that fool, Troye Sivan, whom Timothy Chalamet impersonated on SNL), who said that a male listener came up to him in public, girlfriend on his arm, and informed him that he ... ummm... pleasured himself to his voice whenever he heard it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Mission: Impossible theme is even more "meta," in the sense that the initials (M and I) are reproduced in Morse Code for the theme. In Morse Code. the "M" is represented with a long tap of the telegraph, whereas the "I" is a short tap. Thus the theme of Mission: Impossible is dominated by the "Dumm Dumm DumDum" repetition (M, M, II).

Coo. I hadn't realised this at all.

Funnily enough I almost mentioned Mission: Impossible earlier in the thread until I played it and realised I'd misremembered the amount of "Dum Dum"s, thinking it was "Dumm Dumm Dumm Dumm DumDum".

The two additional Dumms would have made it a perfect fit for the title, so I suppose my brain had matched it up somewhere along the way (despite me having heard it numerous times and having several versions in my music collection) to make it fit.

If the title won't fit the music, my brain apparently needs to change the music in some cases. I like to think I'm not alone and there's a whole Mandela Effect that's convinced half the world there are two extra Dumms.