Naming That Tune

I got the idea for this post while I was listening to All In A Day on CBC Radio. Host Alan Neal played the theme song to the 70s show, Welcome Back Kotter: I named the tune almost immediately as the opening piano notes hit my ears.

I'm good at naming tunes.

Coincidentally, just the day before, DW was reading her Facebook feed and asked me if there was a TV theme song that inspired me to download the full version of the song. A mutual friend of ours had posed this question on his timeline.

It was an easy answer for me: a few months earlier, I had done just that. I've loved the theme song to the TV show, Bosch, since we watched the first season. Though we had the option in our streaming service of skipping the intro, most times I played it through just so that I could listen to the tune.

I downloaded the song, "Can't Let Go," by Caught a Ghost, while we watched the first episode of Season 6. I haven't done it yet, but I plan to listen to more of the band's music and possibly download more.

After giving DW my answer, she proceeded to search for more TV theme songs and began playing them from her smartphone. And thus began our version of Name That Tune.

I was pretty quick to responding to the tunes, sometimes joining in when there was singing involved: WKRP in Cincinnati; The Courtship of Eddie's Father; Green Acres; The Dukes of Hazzard. Most theme songs just took seconds to identify: Hawaii Five-0 (the original); Perry Mason; Mad Men; The Sopranos; Mission: Impossible; Sanford and Son; My Three Sons.

Are there any of these shows, themselves, that stump you? Yeah, I'm that old.

Sometimes, I'd have to think a little longer. Sometimes, I'd be stumped: but in those cases, I hadn't heard of the show or would admit that I had never watched it.

So many times, I'd tell her not to waste my time: Game of Thrones; Dallas; Gilligan's Island; The Golden Girls; The Monkees. Too easy.

When I was in high school, I was pretty up-to-date on music. If I was with friends, and a song started up, they would point to the speaker and look at me, expecting me to introduce the song before the vocals kicked in.

A longtime friend, Neil, would phone me at home. He would ask to speak to me, and as soon as he heard me say hello, he'd drop the needle on his turntable and a song would play. He wouldn't say a word but would wait for me to identify the song.

Within seconds, I'd state the title and artist, and Neil wouldn't say a word: he'd simply hang up. If I got the song wrong (rarely), he'd let it play a little longer. If I guessed wrong a second time (even more rarely), he'd voice a buzzer sound (think Family Feud) and hang up.

To this day, I try to play this game with DW and the kids. When I listen to music through our speakers, and a song starts up, I'll ask whoever is near me, "Who is this?" I'm not looking for the name of the song but just the artist.

Sometimes they'll play along, when they have the answer handy. Most of the time, they just roll their eyes and leave the room. If I do it too much, my youngest will start playing some of her jazz music from her smartphone and dare me to guess the artist.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I'm wrong. Touché.

It was great to hear "Welcome Back," by John Sebastian (full disclosure: I had to look up the artist) on CBC Radio and was glad to have recognized the song so quickly. Now that I've heard it again, I just might add it to my playlist.

How about you? What television theme song do you like so much that you've downloaded or purchased it? Leave a comment.