Mike Post, Composer of the Greatest American TV Theme Songs

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Mike Post composed some of the greatest American tv themes. Worked with Stephen J Cannell, Donald Bellisario, etc etc etc. Start your arguments now.

(Note: we're going off his TV Series credits on Imdb. Polls only offer 50 options)

Want any on MP3? http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Mike-Post-Theme-Collection/dp/B003I4BQ9E

Poll Results

OptionVotes
1974-1980 The Rockford Files (TV series) 7
1981-1987 Hill Street Blues (TV series) 6
1989-1993 Doogie Howser, M.D. (TV series) 5
1983-1987 The A-Team (TV series) 4
1981-1986 The Greatest American Hero (TV series) 4
1989-1990 Quantum Leap (TV series) 4
1990-2010 Law & Order (TV series) 3
1980-1988 Magnum, P.I. (TV series) 2
1992 Tequila and Bonetti (TV series) 1
1977 CHiPs (TV series) 1
1983-1985 Hardcastle and McCormick (TV series) 0
1985-1986 Riptide (TV series) 0
1989 Studio 5-B (TV series) 0
1987 Hooperman (TV series) 0
1988 Sonny Spoon (TV series) 0
1983 Bay City Blues (TV series) 0
1973 Toma (TV series) 0
1974 The Texas Wheelers (TV series) 0
1976-1977 Black Sheep Squadron (TV series) 0
1979 Stone (TV series) 0
1979 The Duke (TV series) 0
1979 240-Robert (TV series) 0
1980 Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (TV series) 0
1978-1980 The White Shadow (TV series) 0
1982 Tales of the Gold Monkey (TV series) 0
1989 B.L. Stryker (TV series) 0
1989 Unsub (TV series) 0
1989 Booker (TV series) 0
1986-1994 L.A. Law (TV series) 0
1995 Pointman (TV series) 0
1995 Diagnosis Murder (TV series) 0
1995 NewsRadio (TV series) 0
1996 Profit (TV series) 0
1995-1996 The Jeff Foxworthy Show (TV series) 0
1995-1997 Murder One (TV series) 0
2001-2002 Philly (TV series) 0
1993-2004 NYPD Blue (TV series) 0
1996 Renegade (TV series) 0
1992-1993 The Hat Squad (TV series) 0
1991 Disney Presents The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage (TV series) 0
1987-1990 Wiseguy (TV series) 0
1984-1990 Hunter (TV series) 0
1990 Cop Rock (TV series) 0
1990- Blossom (TV Series) 0
1990 Broken Badges (TV series) 0
1991 The Commish (TV series) 0
1991 Palace Guard (TV series) 0
1991 Silk Stalkings (TV series) 0
2003-2004 L.A. Dragnet (TV series) 0


Choad of Choad Hall (kingfish), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:00 (eleven years ago) link

i didn't know he did chips! that moog part scared the shit out of me as a kid.

Sgt. Dee Dee The Brass Cupcake McCall (get bent), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:03 (eleven years ago) link

Hill Street Blues HANDS DOWN

I DIED, Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:06 (eleven years ago) link

who could it be?

THE KITTEN TYPE (contenderizer), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:06 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ZUSQQdoS4

THE KITTEN TYPE (contenderizer), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:08 (eleven years ago) link

chips was actually john parker. mike post did a previous version that wasn't used. i want my vote back!

http://chips-tv.com/wiki/%22CHiPs%22_Theme

Sgt. Dee Dee The Brass Cupcake McCall (get bent), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:08 (eleven years ago) link

CORRECTION! Mike Post only did some work for the series, and his theme for "CHiPs" was not used. John Parker's was. Can somebody strike out that line?

xp

Choad of Choad Hall (kingfish), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:09 (eleven years ago) link

He did the Blossom theme with Dr. John?

caro's johnson (Eazy), Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:27 (eleven years ago) link

can't vote for anything but rockford files but some good stuff here

i am old enough to remember toma ffs, i think baretta was basically a watered down version/reboot of that show when the lead actor flaked.

buzza, Thursday, 26 April 2012 06:03 (eleven years ago) link

love Rockford Files but can't not vote for the amazing Hill Street Blues

seapunk run. run punk run! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 April 2012 06:45 (eleven years ago) link

Quantum Leap

GoT SPOILER ALERT (Gukbe), Thursday, 26 April 2012 07:28 (eleven years ago) link

Rockford Files without a second thought.

i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:37 (eleven years ago) link

Hill Street Blues HANDS DOWN
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Bad Company's Drummer's Daughter (stevie), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:44 (eleven years ago) link

i own the lp of the hill street blues soundtrack. it is mostly classy car chase funk.

Bad Company's Drummer's Daughter (stevie), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:44 (eleven years ago) link

weirdly the rockford files & hill street blues themes were US hit singles iirc

(REAL NAME) (m coleman), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:45 (eleven years ago) link

more "deserved" than "weird"

seapunk run. run punk run! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:46 (eleven years ago) link

I've seen bar bands cover the Rockford Files song. That's good enough for me.

i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:46 (eleven years ago) link

http://991.com/newGallery/Mike-Post-Hill-Street-Blues-103982.jpg

And here's the UK picdisc single

Mark G, Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:47 (eleven years ago) link

weirdly the rockford files & hill street blues themes were US hit singles iirc

― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Thursday, April 26, 2012 9:45 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

more "deserved" than "weird"

― seapunk run. run punk run! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, April 26, 2012 9:46 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

certainly deserved; weird then because it was TV on the radio, so to speak, and in retrospect cause there hasn't been an instrumental hit in eons

(REAL NAME) (m coleman), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:53 (eleven years ago) link

it's an oddity yeah but i feel like the UK charts up to the (very early) 80s were always open to tunes from all sorts of fields other than "teenager's music" that had taken over public consciousness

seapunk run. run punk run! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:56 (eleven years ago) link

over the years we had a few TV themes that were hit singles seemingly from simple public demand for the record

seapunk run. run punk run! (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 April 2012 09:58 (eleven years ago) link

if gang gang dance were any good they would sound like the nypd blue theme

sonderangerbot, Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:06 (eleven years ago) link

Quantum Leap

I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:29 (eleven years ago) link

voted for Doogie Howser

some dude, Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:43 (eleven years ago) link

this guy must be filthy rich right?

sonderangerbot, Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:56 (eleven years ago) link

NYPD Blues theme a total rip-off of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE

Three Word Username, Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:01 (eleven years ago) link

My theory from childhood was that Mike Post themes all have hidden, Star Trek-style lyrics:

"Hill Street Blues/It's a show/I watch it on every Thursday night/It's that show I watch on Thursday night" (etc.).

"Here/ on/ L.A. Law."

"Law & Order's on/ Law & Order's on/ now."

Principle later applied to E.R..

Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:17 (eleven years ago) link

"Wee nowww
here we are
Rockity Rockity rocka
Rockford files.."

Mark G, Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:48 (eleven years ago) link

Waka Flocka Rockford

i love the large auns pictures! (Phil D.), Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:00 (eleven years ago) link

All good TV theme tunes should allow you to at least insert the name of the programme. I remember seeing a documentary about "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" where the producers said they knew they had the right theme tune when they all started singing "who wants to be a millionaiiiiiire," at the end of it.

Greatest American Hero is a bit of a cheat because it is really a song, but it is really a great song. I would be hard pressed to choose between it, the Rockford Files, and Hill Street Blues.

trishyb, Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:00 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Zmh-KlYZo

some dude, Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:24 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CquMO3vJvo

Cheggers Plays Populous (snoball), Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:32 (eleven years ago) link

(also a candidate for to cross-posting to the 'people who have figured out how to live' thread)

Cheggers Plays Populous (snoball), Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:33 (eleven years ago) link

1976-1977 Black Sheep Squadron (TV series)

holy hell I just got the largest nostalgia rush

I'M THAT POSTA, AAAAAAAAAH (DJP), Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:38 (eleven years ago) link

i had no idea that one guy did so many of these!

call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:41 (eleven years ago) link

i had no idea that Mike Post wrote "My Opinionation"!

some dude, Thursday, 26 April 2012 13:43 (eleven years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link

Fckin Mike fckin post! I spent so many bored hours at my piano practice trying to learn the Hill fuckin St Blues. FUCKN.

Pureed Moods (Trayce), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 06:47 (eleven years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 00:01 (eleven years ago) link

Doogie Howser was really the dark horse here.

s.clover, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 00:16 (eleven years ago) link

Thanks to this thread ive had the damn rockford files stuck in my head since yesterday.

Pureed Moods (Trayce), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

Wow, tightly fought

Choad of Choad Hall (kingfish), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

Kind of suprised L&O didnt get more votes tbh

Pureed Moods (Trayce), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 00:19 (eleven years ago) link

hill street was robbed

It was you. Miming to Tenacious D. (stevie), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 07:06 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Zmh-KlYZo

s.clover, Wednesday, 9 May 2012 15:31 (eleven years ago) link

It's weird how Post is like this overwhelmingly important pop composer yet you can't buy the actual TV versions of these recordings on a fucking CD. Everything turns out to be re-recorded cover versions (sometimes by post himself, granted, but usually not). I guess it's cause the rights to the orig tracks are too insane what with all the different networks and studios etc etc.

Hierophantiasis (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 16:45 (eleven years ago) link

I think this is the third recent poll I've decided! Much more empowering than the governmental charade.

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 16:48 (eleven years ago) link

My cousin claims to own the Rockford theme on 45, and it was released commercially.

Choad of Choad Hall (kingfish), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 18:36 (eleven years ago) link

It's weird how Post is like this overwhelmingly important pop composer yet you can't buy the actual TV versions of these recordings on a fucking CD. Everything turns out to be re-recorded cover versions (sometimes by post himself, granted, but usually not). I guess it's cause the rights to the orig tracks are too insane what with all the different networks and studios etc etc.

You can't *buy* the tv versions but sometimes you can find them online.

Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 18:39 (eleven years ago) link

i think the hill street soundtrack album is the original versions tbh

It was you. Miming to Tenacious D. (stevie), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 20:35 (eleven years ago) link


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