Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Music in Media Week!


This entire week, I'll be creating posts pertaining to the wonderful world of music in mediums such as movies, television and also... um.... well basically just movies and TV.

Music inspires us! It makes us sing and dance, laugh and scream, and sometimes, it brings out the silliest in us. The tone provided by music, sets the pace and ambiance for the viewers. Bottom line, music can make or break movies and television.
So, without further adieu, here's my first post for what I'm declaring is music week!

My Top Ten Favorite Opening Theme Songs:

10. Mash:



Unfortunately I couldn't find the actual opening credits, so this will have to do. Isn't it simply an uplifting song?

9. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air:

 

It was funny the first time, and it's still funny the hundredth time.

8. Spongebob:

 

I couldn't help but put our spongy, aquatic friend onto the list, after all, his theme song is pretty much known by children and adults alike. Or maybe it's just the children's parents who heard it every waking day of their lives?

7. Futurama:

 

Another cartoon, I know I know, but this one's different. It has Zoidberg in it!

6. Star Trek: The Next Generation:

Though the middle three Star Trek series all sported fantastic opening themes, The Next Generation's was the finest by far.

5. All in the Family:

 

"And you knew where you were then!"

4. Malcolm in the Middle:

 

The theme showed just how dysfunctional the family was in a manner of 30 seconds.

3. Chuck:



One of the catchiest theme songs, ever!

2. Firefly:

 

Should I be embarrassed to say that I can quote the lyrics off the top of my head? Nah!!!

1. Band of Brothers:

 

To this day, it still makes me want to cry.


Honorable Mentions:

The Pacific:



Riveting, but Band of Brothers' opening takes the cake.

That 70's Show:

 

You knew laughs were going to ensue whenever you heard this theme song.

Star Trek: Voyager:



As much as I loved the Voyager theme, The Next Generation's is a classic.

Feel free to jump on in and create your own music inspired posts, and leave a link to it in the comments section!

7 comments:

  1. Can't wait to read the rest of the posts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK, I have lots of things to say
    1- 70's show belongs way higher on the list. Cheap Trick revamping an old hit? How can you go wrong?
    2- Have you ever seen/ heard the lyrics to the MASH song? It's terribly depressing "suicide is painless..." Beautiful, and totally evocative of the series, but depressing nonetheless.
    3- Fresh Prince. Heck yes.
    4- Maybe you're just younger than me, but I think we have to acknowledge the fact that the nineties were, in fact, the pinnacle of the theme-song days: Charles in Charge, Saved by the Bell, Friends, Married with Children, 90210, Melrose Place and on and on. Theme songs today don't hold a candle to the myriad of top 40 hits that came from TV theme songs in the 90s.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Amaranthine-Thanks! I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I've enjoyed making them!

    @Gina-Well, let me just point out that the name of the post was 'My' Top Ten Favorite Theme Songs, not 'The Top Ten Best Theme Songs'.

    It's simply a list of my favorite themes. Of course readers will have their own opinions on what they perceived as their favorite theme songs, but I made sure to stay clear of any definitive words like 'Best' so as not to upset anyone.

    As for the Mash song; I was being sarcastic. Considering that the name of the song itself is 'Suicide is Painless', I thought that my sarcasm would be pretty self evident.

    Thanks for the input.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey there Mr. Johnson,

    You have some mighty good songs here. I always love good, emotional orchestral music so Band of Brothers is definitely high on my list. Listening to the song without the visuals it isn't as powerful. The song sounds inspiring and hopeful. The visuals seem hopeless. Together I think they are as close as one can get to making a portable emotion. Complex.

    Toodles! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Some good choices... I think the best part of the Firefly theme song is that Josh Whedon wrote it. He writes great tv...and great music!

    ReplyDelete
  6. MASH is an amazing theme. They converted it to instrumental only I think when it went from movie to small screen for fear of censors/ standards & practices dept as well as fear of advertiser concerns.

    Band of Brothers is always so operatic and haunting to me.

    You missed Peter Gunn though- if you see any of the way old episodes, the Henry Mancini music is awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Waiting for your next post, though you are an avid commenter.

    ReplyDelete

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