Monday, March 22, 2010

Fredde Gredde Brings Back the TV Theme Song

We are firm believers that the TV theme song is dead. The days when a catchy tune, with hooky lyrics that left you wanting more, and stuck in your head for decades has long since past. That is until Fredde Gredde made this video, reminding us that there have been some good themes since 1979.

In fairness to our side of the argument, a lot of these tunes were existing songs licensed to act as a theme for a show, including the Beach Boys' God Only Knows, Frank Sinatra's Love and Marriage, and The Rembrandts' I'll Be There for You... but still there are quite a few original, catchy ditties in the bunch.

Fredde's medley features 22 theme songs from a broad range of TV shows from The O.C. to Mission Impossible. Our favorites are True Blood, The Office, Charles in Charge, and the kazoo solo in Bad Reputation from Freaks and Geeks.

The arrangements are great and the transitions are very clever. And, to top if off, Fredde, the 24-year-old Swedish musician, is multi-talented and cute as a button to boot. And, just to clarify, this is not, in fact, adorable twins as we and many others first suspected, but instead some pretty good compositing.

Plus, Fredde has written some haunting, dreamy original songs. Visit his site to check them out. And don't miss his 32 Songs in 8 Minutes medley featuring Billie Jean, No Woman No Cry, Hips Don't Lie, Killer Queen, and the Power Rangers Theme. Pure genius.

Fredde has gained a pretty loyal internet following, but we want more. Fredde, if you're reading, we'd like to make a request. Could you do a TV Themes Part II? We already made the 22-song playlist for you featuring our favorite themes from the '60s and '70s. We know, it's before your time, but you'd do us proud.

Here's the list:
Laverne & Shirley
Three's Company
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Chico and the Man
Welcome Back Kotter
When Things Were Rotten
The Courtship of Eddie's
Nanny & The Professor
M*A*S*H
The Jeffersons
All in the Family
Gilligan's Island
Brady Bunch
WKRP in Cincinnati
The Love Boat
Green Acres
The Odd Couple
Facts of Life
The Muppet Show
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Addams Family
The Greatest American Hero

1 comment:

  1. Wow, this is a great article, easily the best one I've read about.. me, so far, hehe. I gotta be honest though: I've heard four or five of those themes, and it's hard to find inspiration when I don't have some connection to them. Also, I'd like to keep my eyes on new things, instead of repeating what I've already done successfully. So, no sequel at this moment, sorry. :)
    Thanks though, I'll see if I can link to this post somewhere!

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