Awesome Theme Songs

It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights. Did you know that The Muppet Show had a German version of its famous theme song? Nope? Neither did we. Until today, that is. RoadRunnerCoyote2015 compiled this collection of intros from the German version, Die Muppet Show, for our enjoyment. (Thanks, Rusty!)

Jonathan Wolff’s improvised bass riffs from Seinfeld are some of the most memorable in TV history. Bassist Paul Thompson says growing up on that and other TV theme songs inspired his music career. He performed his ten favorite bass lines from classic TV shows, including Northern Exposure, The White Shadow, The Wire, Barney Miller, and Night Court.

The theme song from DuckTales is one of the most memorable in the history of TV shows. While the misadventures of Huey, Dewey, Louie, and the gang were the main point of the series, it would be nothing if they weren’t ducks. So GreyWalf edited the theme song, removing the “Tales” and leaving us only with the “Duck.”

Take a few minutes out of your day and tune into Rob Landes‘ mega-medley, in which the violinist compiles 100 great pieces of music that chronicle the history of video game soundtracks. See how many you remember. That Crash Bandicoot theme gets us every time.

We love it when a musician manages to replicate the sound of a classic TV theme. One we haven’t heard in ages is the theme from CHiPs. KOSmusic knocked it out of the park with his cover of the season 2 version of the theme, which captures the disco spirit of the 1977 primetime cop drama. His Knight Rider is equally impressive.

The musicians who created the smooth and soothing sounds of Animal Crossing: New Horizons got together for a virtual performance of the theme music from the wildly popular Nintendo Switch game which has occupied countless hours for kids and adults while sheltering in place.

The theme music from the cartoon series Inspector Gadget is etched indelibly into the brains of all 1980s kids. We particularly enjoyed listening to Samara Ginsberg’s version of the tune, arranged for performance on eight cellos. Go Go Gadget Symphony!

Musician Niall Stenson presents an epic 20-minute medley of movie theme songs. While we’re not familiar with every piece of music, they all sound great with Niall’s rock and roll edge, especially the Disney, Pixar, and Batman tunes.

Musician Marcos Kaiser likes to arrange versions of classic movie, cartoon, and video game theme songs to play using fingerstyle guitar technique. The Spongebob theme is awesome, but we also enjoyed his Terminator, Star Trek, and Flintstones themes too.

Musician Dave Rucci’s wife really likes Law & Order: SVU, so he decided to record something special for her. Listen and enjoy as Dave plays composer Mike Post’s familiar theme song entirely on acoustic guitars. We actually think it sounds better than the original. What do you think?

Violinist Rob Landes looks back the history of film scores, performing 60 themes from 1938’s Snow White, all they way up through 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, while dressed up in a series of silly costumes. It’s interesting how the newer themes aren’t nearly as memorable.

While it’s in no way a comprehensive collection, musician Marcos Kaiser’s compilation of 12 classic movie themes performed on his acoustic guitar will bring back lots of memories, and occasionally tug at your heartstrings.

From Flash Gordon to Spider-Man to Ghostbusters, beatboxer Tom Thum turned in a fantastic, but all too short medley of themes from popular movies and TV series. They’re all great, but that Knight Rider one was epic.