Customer Reviews

Show and Tell: A Stormy Remembrance of TV Theme Tunes

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I heard a few of the tracks on Howard Stern's morning show and figured this was up my alley--and I was right.

If you have a sense of humor about the music you listen to, this is definitely worth your time (The "All in the Family" entry is particularly hilarious). Only a few stinkers of note: Carmen Sandiego, Charles in Charge (who remembers the theme to THAT anyway), and some others I didn't recognize are few and far between. And, the "Different Strokes" theme is sung by Todd Bridges (which is mercifully brief--Keep your day job, Todd).

Keep in mind there are a few songs where the words are changed a bit (Friends, Gilligan's Island and The Monkeys all have the "F" word in them)....and there are two commercial themes thrown in for good measure ("I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" is a standout and "Slinky" isn't bad either).

Actually, it's not as bad as it could be, except that once I figured out I had made the mistake of not realizing these were not the original theme songs I gave it another listen and was disappointed that the language was so foul. You just need to know what you're getting into before you buy this one.

This CD collection consists of thirty five TV theme songs covered by various punk bands.My personal favorites include Green Acres by The Meatmen, Secret Agent Man by The Dickies, Hawaii Five-O by FU, The Munsters by No Use For A Name, COPS by H2O, Baretta by Trick Babys, and Mary Tyler Moore by Clowns For Progress. Other worthwhile covers include Laverne and Shirley, Stingray, The Partridge Family, Cheers, All In The Family, Dukes Of Hazard, and Gilligan's Island. If you like Me First And The Gimme Gimmes then this CD is for you.

A fellow musician said that your audience judges you by your weakest songs, not your best. So I made a deliberate effort not to judge this by its weakest tracks, and some were indeed annoying (esp. "All in the Family"). There are 35 tracks, after all, and I could recompile this on a CDR to avoid the nasties. Some tracks are brilliant and most are enjoyable. I was lured to buy this because I had heard Agent Orange's version of "Get Smart." This is one greatest few instrumental rock-n-roll songs ever recorded. Wow, wowwee, wow. The rest of the album did not match this one. One error in the compilation is that the theme from the TV show "Outer Limits" was not the song "Out of Limits" as included here. Anyway, I prefer "Out of Limits." I was hoping most of the album would be fun instrumentals, but it was mostly vocal. Still most of the vocals were pleasant.

This CD features TV theme songs performed by (mostly) punk bands. The version I have has a different cover and the songs are in a different order. A few of the performances here suck, but most of them are a lot of fun. Where else are you gonna hear Todd Bridges singing a punk version of the Diff'rent Strokes theme song? If you are into TV theme songs, you will probably get a kick out of it. Here is the track listing for the version I have:

1. I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke - Brutal Juice
2. Green Acres - The Meatmen
3. Zoom - Murphy's Law
4. Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? - Tilt
5. Roadrunner - Boris the Sprinkler
6. Friends - The Pink Lincolns
7. Mission:Impossible - The Meatmen
8. Baretta - The Trick Babys
9. Diff'rent Strokes - Todd Bridges and the Whatchu Talking 'Bout Willis Experience
10. Cops - H2O
11. Get Smart - Agent Orange
12. Secret Agent Man - The Dickies
13. Hawaii Five-O - FU
14. Stingray - Hi-Fives
15. Out of Limits - Laika and the Cosmonauts
16. Laverne and Shirley - No Use For a Name
17. Mary Tyler Moore - Clowns For Progress
18. The Monkees - Furious George
19. The Partridge Family - Horace Pinker
20. Welcome Back, Kotter - Squirtgun
21. Saved By the Bell - The Cretins
22. Slinky - Joyride
23. Cheers - Felix Frump
24. WKRP in Cincinnati - Weston
25. It's Garry Shandling's Show - Thirsty
26. Bewitched - Brutal Juice
27. The Munsters - No Use For a Name
28. All in the Family - The Grabbers
29. The Jeffersons - Latex Generation
30. Gilligan's Island - Manic Hispanic
31. Dukes of Hazzard - Hot Water
32. Hee-Haw - Jesus Christ Superfly
33. Beverly Hillbillies - Butt Trumpet
34. Good Times - The Bollweevils
35. Charles in Charge - Corn'Mo

When I bought this CD, I didn't quite know what to expect, but to my suprise I ended up enjoying this CD greatly. Although, most songs are great, some kinda can be thrown out like stated above, but for a 35 track CD it is real good. I would definilty recommend it to any one you has a punk rock ear turned into some classic TV theme songs. My original search way for an oldies coliation of punk groups, but my serach ended when I founds this. You'll like it, give it a try.

Admittedly, there are rough spaces on this voluminous 30+ track CD, chocked full of garage-bound punky bands wailing their way through hapless TV songs of yesteryear. But there are high glory points, too. "Cheers", "Zoom", "Paid Programming" (with "Slinky") and most especially, "Carmen Sandiego" are all standouts. I spent about 13 bucks on this and feel as if I received a decent bargain. Give it a whirl.

Although there are a few which can be thrown away, the majority of the songs on this CD are pretty damn good. I like especially the new lyrics in the "friends" theme. give it a try.

I was disappointed in this CD as I thought I was purchasing an "original" TV Theme song CD. Pay close attention when purchasing from Amazon.com. This CD is more a heavy metal type music with foul language which is something I would not have purchased. Once I opened and played it (and the return policy is null and void) and realized the error. Oh well, something else to gather dust in my desk drawer.