A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

theme songs

30 Minus 2 Days of Writing: Compulsively (22/28)

Pro wrestling is filled with heroes and villains. It’s the way it’s always been. And, usually, at some point, the hero beats the villain and all is well in the world.

In recent years, that line is a little more skewed. Good guys get booed. Bad guys are cheered. There are “tweener” guys who act all bad ass and cheat or whatever, but still get cheered.

For the most part, I’ve been a fan of the good guys. I don’t mind the tweener folks and, sometimes, I enjoy cheering for the bad guy. But I usually go with the normal view of pro wrestling and cheer the good guys.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again — when I watch wrestling, I want a little believability for a few hours. I know it’s a show and I’m fine with that. But I want to be entertained and I want to believe. Make me cheer for you or make me boo you. That’s your job. The Internet has made it harder because you have groups who always go against the norm. And that’s fine.

A flag from the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, as well as an autograph from Ray Rougeau, obtained a few years earlier.

Alas, I need to go back in time.

It was in the mid-80s and it was a Sunday night. The (then) WWF was holding Wrestlemania — I think the second one, but this was before the days of pay-per-view. You had to go watch it in other places. I wasn’t getting to do that as I was still a wee lad and was home. The WWF was on that night on some network with an old taped show.

On that show were the Rougeau Brothers — Jacques and Raymond. At the time, they were good guys. I started liking them. Eventually, they turned heel. Bad guys. Those crazy Quebecois wrestlers! What did they know? Alas, for some reason, I stayed liking them. They were arrogant, but funny.

I still consider them one of my favorite tag teams of all time.

They started doing a gimmick where they basically threw aside Canada as their home and adopted Memphis and became the “All-American Boys.” They still wore colors somewhat connected to Quebec (well, the light blue anyway) and their outfits had some fleur-de-lis on them, but they carried small American flags and handed them out.

At a show one time, I actually received one. I still have it. When they were still good guys, they were in my town for a small show and I got Ray Rougeau’s autograph. Jacques wasn’t signing, unfortunately. A few years later, when Ray was working in the front office, the WWF came to my town again. I had the chance to chat with Ray for a good 30 minutes. It was truly a great conversation.

But I digress…

They also had a catchy theme song, too. Have a listen in the video below:

For years, I’ve been a bit compulsive about this theme. First, it was just to get it and have it. The theme never appeared on any of the WWE theme CDs, so it wasn’t until the age of YouTube that I actually ever found it. Then, from there I needed to know the lyrics.

Think about this for a moment — the Rougeaus probably had this theme hit somewhere in the late 80s and ran for a bit. I never knew the French part of the lyrics (outside of the Parlez-vous Français).

So I constantly searched.

And searched.

I asked some French-speaking friends. They never came through for me. Even after taking French in college, I had no clue.

My quest was simple. Find out what the hell they were singing. You could say I was searching a bit compulsively.

Finally, I’ve cracked the code.

You see, I decided to go to Nicky. I figure if she’s going to put us through hell with this writing challenge and with some of these nutty themes, she owes me, right?

Exactly.

So I sent her the link to the video asking her to listen to this catchy tune (apparently, she didn’t agree that it was catchy), but she did pull off what I have been searching for — the lyrics!

The French part says:

On peut pas les sentir, dans le monde ils sont les pires, on aime les faire fâcher, ‘cause I mean we love the USA!

Yeah, exactly.

Translated, they are saying:

We can’t stand them, they’re the worst in the world, we like to piss them off, ‘cause I mean we love the USA!

Classic.

Basically, though they are trying to act all USA like and like they are “good guys,” they were spitting in the face and mocking the American fans. Talk about being bad guys. They were fully booed and it was awesome.

Truly a great heel team.

So the quest to find out what was said is over. No longer do I need to be compulsive about this. It’s over. One of the great mysteries of my childhood is now solved.

We’re All-American boys!

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TV themes don’t always need words

Continuing my reflection of some of the finest TV themes that have been done, this is Part 3. And this time, we dive into the world of themes without words. The bulk of these themes will comes from the 80s and 90s as that’s what I consider the golden era of TV theme songs.

I have already posted about theme songs (with words) from the 1980s and 1990s. The installment after this post for this series will be an “everything else” post that will cover the themes that fell outside of the perimeters of the other posts.

But oh those catchy TV tunes. The ones that you caught yourself whistling or humming the next day at work or school. The ones that didn’t need words. The ones that within three seconds of it starting, you knew what show was coming on the tube.

Come on, like when you heard this in the background, you had no idea some crazy stuff was going to happen?

Such is the world of TV shows with those themes without words. So many great shows have been like that. Believe me, trimming this list down to the ones I’ll have below was not easy! There are a ton, especially in the 80s and 90s. They are catchy jingles that stay in you mind for hours, days, or more. But they were good. They weren’t just 20-second quickies to open a show. They had substance, much like the shows with words.

And seriously, when you heard this theme, you weren’t expecting some serious (well, you get what I’m saying) courtroom chicanery?

These themes are a part of television history!

Even though many of these shows ended more than a decade or two ago, the themes still work. They still fit the shows. And they still make it cool to watch some of the old shows. Even if just for the theme.

So, without further ado, allow me to give you my personal top 10. If you have thoughts of ones I might have missed, drop them in the comments below (especially if you have links!)

10. Northern Exposure

Loved this show. Loved this theme. Loved this intro. A moose in the intro. Awesome.

9. Benson

Another one of my all-time favorites. I see part of it has come out on DVD. I think I may have to look into this show for my collection.

8. Hill Street Blues

Ahh, this song rules. Great show, too.

7. St. Elsewhere

Another great theme. I really always liked the sound of this one.

6. Beverly Hills 90210

Oh come on, you know you love it! Admit it!

But, did you know there was apparently a different opening originally and it didn’t last long? For you 90210 nuts, let me know what you know about this. Apparently it was played for the first half of the initial season.

5. Alf

Ha!

4 (tie): ER

I lost a little touch with this in the latter years, but I was always a huge fan of the show.

4 (tie): X-Files

Despite being a top-10 list, this had to make it so it tied with the other theme that I was waffling about.

3. Magnum PI

You know that, at some point, somebody was probably going to get their ass kicked!

2. Miami Vice

Awesome!

1. L.A. Law

This is one of my all-time favorite shows and themes.

There are some others that didn’t make this list as I liked them, but not in my Top 10, such as Dallas, Newhart, Night Court, Roseanne, T.J. Hooker, and Doogie Howser M.D. Did I miss your favorite? Let me know!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Where are the theme songs?

Finish this line for me…

“What ever happened to predictability …”

My guess is that if you are anywhere in your 20s or above, you can finish that. Not only can you finish the line, but you can sing it with the tune and everything.

Would you like some help?

Yes, that was the long version of the Full House theme and intro. It’s something that you don’t really see anymore — television show jingles. When I was growing up, it was part of the show. A minute or a minute and a half of the song and credits. But it was something that you grew used to seeing and hearing. When the theme came on, you knew you had a moment to grab a drink or a snack and get back for the show.

Now, they just start the show and run the credits in the opening moment.

Why?

The intro songs were a part of the show. I realize that the time on the show is important, but why take something so good away from the show.

Think of shows from the 1980s and 1990s. I’d be willing to bet if you were a fan of sitcoms, you could identify a show by its theme alone. Think Cheers. It’s one of the longest running shows of all times. The theme song goes with the show.

Don’t remember it? I’d be shocked if that was the fact. Here it is…

That theme is so popular that there have been off-shoots of it. Take Flaming Moe’s from The Simpsons.

Anyway, back to the TV theme song.

I’ve noticed recently the trend to totally avoid theme songs and it’s disheartening. As someone who grew up with the themes, I would love to see a resurgence of them. Even some of the more serious shows had the theme songs. I’m sure if I said some shows — Hawaii 5-0, Hill Street Blues, Perfect Strangers, Dallas, Different Strokes — I have a feeling many of you would easily be able to sing along or hum along the theme.

With that in mind, the reason for this post. I know I won’t be able to convince television executives to bring back these themes, but I can at least enjoy some of my favorites. Below, I give you 10 of my favorites (not including the ones up top), in no specific order. I’m sure I will miss a couple, but these are some of my favorites.

This is the first of several of these posts I will do over the coming weeks. This one are for shows that started or were fully in the 1980s and had words with the theme songs. Therefore, you won’t see themes such as WKRP in Cincinnati, Alice, Laverne and Shirley, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son etc.

In future editions of this subject I will do theme songs (with words) that ran in the 1990s. I will also do one that is for themes without words (haven’t decided if I will do an 80s/90s one or have one for each decade). Finally, I’ll likely do a post on older themes as well, which will mix themes with and without words.

Did I miss your favorite (with words) theme from the 80s? Post it in the comments below.

Enjoy!

10. Perfect Strangers

9. Webster

8. My Two Dads (I’m posting two videos here, one with the talk-in intro and one with the song intro only)

7. Charles in Charge

6. Punky Brewster

5. Growing Pains

4. Mr. Belvedere

3. Who’s the Boss?

2. Family Ties

1. Family Matters

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!