'The Streets of San Francisco' had a great theme

boing
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Definitely one of the very best ever, I agree. Too bad the second season was so dull in comparison, especially theme & intro-wise.

Also great was the opening from Space:1999’s “predecessor” show from the Andersons, UFO, made in 1970 and set in the amazing futuristic world of 1980, as the opening mentions several times:

Also, Space:1999’s s1 theme had a great bassline and to go back to Quinn-Martin for a second, one of the best basslines from one of their shows was the one from Barnaby Jones:

(As you can tell, features the classic Q-M voiceover, and hey, the first one I searched for just happened to feature a guest appearance by William Shatner!)

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22

All about that bass.

Bonus mellow closing theme. :smiley:

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23

Imma let you finish your Streets of San Francisco theme post, but SWAT had the greatest 70s theme of all time:

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24

Omg… I’ve got sideburns growing fast while I’m listening to this theme !

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25

Yes he was! But a knee injury ended his career with the Bulls. Then he went to coach at Carver High.

True Story®: Ken Howard asked to use the “john” in my dorm room once.

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One awesome bass (and an award for exceptional use of the wah-wah!).

Still, gotta love the Barney Miller theme…Jack Elliott

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27

It’s good, but it’s no “S.W.A.T.” (I’m old enough that my junior high school band actually played the theme from S.W.A.T.)

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28

That final “A Trout in the Milk” really takes it into Police Squad! territory.

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Thanks. This thread had me hearing that SWAT theme but I couldn’t recall the show for the life of me.

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70s themes are best themes.

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31

Yup. Played the crap outta that one in high school pep band. Also, we played this forgotten gem. Couldn’t find the original, so here’s The Ventures’ version. The original was all brass on the melody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XgR3KHxHek

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32

Also the Sunday Mystery Movie theme…

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33

I think The Rockford Files may give it a run for the money:

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34

Hec Ramsey still holds up today!

35

It was the Blakes 7 theme which I waited for each week.

edit: and then there is the National Anthem of the United States of America:

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36

The theme from Dutch detective drama Van Der Valk made it all the way to the top in 1973.


So, errm, everyone else has got a huge folder of TV themes on regular play?

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37

Not sure why they’ve got 2 percussionists on tambourine duty, but the one right of the vibraphone seems genuinely grateful the tympani player passed him a spare. o_0.

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That french horn lick in the bridge is kind of crazy, though. cf. 0:36.

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On the other end of the spectrum, I consider the theme for Inspector Lewis the most boring, sleep-inducing I’ve ever heard.

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Ah. Gabrielle Drake in the shiny purple wig. Oof.

[OK, so it’s off topic]

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