No, they did not make The Top 50 ...
But they DID make The Top 100 ...
And how can you overlook THESE themes???
THE GOOD GUYS:
Ooo - Ooo ... You can't leave THIS one off the list!
(CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU finished up at #66 ...
after coming in at #48 in 2013)
GET SMART (this one did not make the list in 2013)
Secret Agent Spies were all the rage during the mid-to-late ‘60’s, thanks to movies like the James Bond franchise and TV shows like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Heck, you’ll find the songs “Secret Agent Man” by Johnny Rivers and the theme to "Mission Impossible" right near the top of this list!!!)
So when Mel Brooks and Buck Henry (two comedy geniuses of our time) decided to spoof the whole genre, “Get Smart” was created … and the duo of Don Adams and Barbara Feldon (Agents 86 and 99) immediately became weekly visitors to our living rooms.
(Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone seemed preposterous in the ‘60’s … as did many of his special gadgets … yet so much of that technology exists today and seems commonplace and even passe’. And Barbara’s purring during all those “Top Brass” commercials added to her overall sex appeal. She was already one of the sexiest women on television!)
BARNEY MILLER (this was an “Extra” in 2013)
This was always one of MY favorite tv themes …
I always thought it had a GREAT funky beat … and thought it would be a great song to do on stage to open or end a set … play this with the usual “Hey gang, we’re going to take a short break and then be back up here to do it again!" ... making for a COMPLETELY unexpected break song for the audience.
The TV show was pretty good, too!
And it really set the stage for the “Fish” spin-off a few years later …
MIAMI VICE (#36 in 2013)
Here’s a TV theme that went all the way to #1 on the pop charts in 1985. (It even won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental!)
This is yet another show I never watched … (I saw exactly ONE episode … because Glenn Frey was making his acting debut on it!) … but it was VERY popular with this generation of TV fans. (Star Don Johnson even attempted a singing career … he had a Top Five Hit with “Heartbeat” the following year … and hooked up with singer / actress Barbra Streisand for awhile.)
Thankfully, the idea of pet alligators never really caught on! (But it IS cool that Sonny Crockett named his "Elvis!")
77 SUNSET STRIP (this was an “Extra” in 2013)
Starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (who went on to work for The F.B.I.), Roger Smith (who went on to marry Ann-Margret!) and Edd “Kookie” Byrnes (who had a Top Five Hit with “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb,” a duet with Connie Stevens … and then had a key part in the movie “Grease”), this was an early TV hit (1958 – 1963).
Working for a private investigating firm located at (you guessed it!) 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles (Kookie actually worked as a valet at the restaurant next door), this was a “hip” (in a beatnik sort of way) series that inspired ABC to develop other shows in the same vein. (“Hawaiian Eye,” starring Byrnes’ vocal partner Connie Stevens, was probably the most successful and familiar … but “Surfside Six” and “Bourbon Street Beat” also fit the same mold.)
This catchy theme charted as an “extra” in 2013 … the finger-snapping, beatnik beat crossed over to the pop chart, too, peaking at #38 in 1959. (There’s another HUGE chart discrepancy on this one … it reached #38 in Cash Box Magazine … but only hit #69 … a full thirty places lower … in Billboard.)
And, since I mentioned it a couple of times now, how can I NOT run this clip???
And is there a BETTER "Good Guy" than THIS one???
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (did not make our 2013 list)
I was too young to see The Adventures Of Superman when it first aired (incredible to think that some of these episodes were filmed in color way back then!!!), but I sure remember watching it every afternoon when I got home from school … or on the weekends where it aired in syndication forever. (It’s STILL on in many places … and perhaps even more, thanks to cable!)
The story of George Reeves is a sad one … and could run for several chapters on its own. (I really should do that someday) But I was a MAJOR fan … and still am …
To this day, George Reeves is the ONLY Superman for me.
Remember when he appeared on I Love Lucy?!?!? (No, it was NOT in color … but when I saw this, I just HAD to share!)
