Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/02/dallas-theme-tune-had-french-l.html
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As a French, I find it weird that you all… find it weird.
We also translated/rewrote French theme for the A-Team (“Agence Tous Risques”), Diff’rent Strokes (“Arnold &Willy”), Starsky & Hutch (called the same…), or the Dukes of Hazzard:
There are probably dozens more.
Edit: I should probably note that this was done for Japanese mangas and these songs were sung by somewhat “famous” French television personalities of the time. Huge impact on my generation!
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What’s “yee-haw” in French?
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I remember this… Instant nostalgia to spending summer vacations with my grandparents in France in the 80s.
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Oh no, you found it.
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Bof.
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I thought from Rob’s description that they would have added lyrics to the tune from the original, and was very excited to hear how the rhythms of French could work with the theme the English-speaking world knows… but they just wrote a totally different tune (it just shares the opening interval, an ascending perfect fifth).
[edit: by “opening interval” I mean between the two long notes, which are technically the 2nd and 4th notes when you include the short pick-ups]
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Perhaps this is an opportunity to do so, oui?
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It’s worth noting that most TV show theme songs actually have lyrics even if they were not sung in the show opening. This was simply because the songwriters weren’t paid all that much, but could still get residuals when the song was sung in lounges; the Borst Belt and such. Dick Van Dyke once sang his theme song on some late show.
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From what I understand via my fav music podcast the French for some reason want lyrics for all TV show themes.
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In the playground of my primary school the original theme was well known to have lyrics. I believe it went something like “he’s mean / he’s rich / his wife is a bitch / he drives a big white car / he lives in a palace / in the middle of Dallas* / and his nickname is JR”. But then Wales is the land of song.
* yes, I know it isn’t
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1991? really? I don’t remember it being that long-lived, but I admit it wasn’t watched in my household
Beginning in fall 1984, Dallas was packaged for off-network syndication by Lorimar to local stations
– Wikipedia
I figured it was something like that. not sure it was syndicated at all where I lived, I figure I would have found it flipping channels when there were only like 6 channels in my area.
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My father was a CBS network executive during the rise and fall of Dallas. He told me one time about how well the cast had renegotiated their salaries during the high, and how much money the network was losing a few short years afterward after the ratings dropped. IIRC he prepared a presentation that showed how much money CBS could save by going to a black screen during Friday in prime time. Fell on deaf ears for some reason.
The slide show for that disco version was an absolute treat; thank you Beschizza. It brought back memories of literally dozens of side characters.
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You mean to make your horse go faster ? It’s « Hue ! » like the letter « u » in French that English speaking have trouble to master 
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This was sooooooo popular, and I remember running around in the school yard singing « starsky et hutch nin nin nin nininin les chevaliers au grand coeur qui n’ont jamais peuuuuur de rieeeen » and making police sirens noises with my friends … luckily we didn’t add lyrics to the avenger theme, or the prisoner, that would have ruined those shows !
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It slid in the ratings in 1985/6 and the device they used to try and get back on top – the whole season was a dream! – sank it for good. The ratings never recovered but it took years to die out, living in that curious pre-internet TV space of syndication, reruns, specials and contractual obligations.
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Infamously Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme from Star Trek so the composer would have to split the royalties.
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Boing Boing, land of the earworm.
Goddamnit, @beschizza, every time…
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