Beech Tree News Network

I’d originally planned on wrapping my television theme song series this week.  Then I went on Spotify, found a playlist and said, “oh I forgot about that one”.  After saying that a few times, I figured I’d make this a recurring subject.  I won’t do it every week but I do have a few more.  Let’s dig in!

I’ve run across an eclectic mix of 300 tv theme songs on Spotify.  Don’t worry, I won’t do them all this week.  First up is Happy Days.  Written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, this song was implemented two years after the series premiered.  Happy Days began in 1974.  Its original theme song was “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley.  That song was the opening theme and a version of “Happy Days” was sung by a studio chorus as the closing theme.  Starting in 1976, Happy Days replaced “Rock Around The Clock” at the beginning of the show.  

“Making Our Dreams Come True” is a 1976 hit single written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel.  It was recorded by Cyndi Grecco, then an unknown musician.  The title track of her debut album was also used as the theme song to the 1976-’83 sitcom Laverne & Shirley(where it was titled “We’re Gonna Make It” in the first season end credits).  “Making Our Dreams Come True” reached #25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on the Canada RPM Weekly Top Singles Chart.  It spent 16 weeks on the U.S. chart, peaking in early July and reached #13 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  To date, it’s Grecco’s lone record to reach any chart.

John Sebastian founded the ‘60’s Rock band The Lovin Spoonful.  He also made an impromptu appearance at Woodstock in 1969.  What we’re focusing on today, however, is his U.S. #1 hit “Welcome Back”, which was the theme song for the tv show Welcome Back, Kotter.  You might remember that show for launching the career of John Travolta.  Perhaps you’ve heard of him.  That’s right, he was in the cast.   The song reached #1 for one week in May 1976 after only five weeks on the chart.  It also topped the adult contemporary chart.  The song is featured twice in the MCU Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania(2023).  

We end the week with one basically everyone knows.  The Rembrandts “I’ll Be There For You” is the theme song from Friends (1994-2004).  The song was written by David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Michael Skloff and Allee Willis.  The song was released as a single May 23, 1995, 8 months after the show premiered.  The title theme was initially going to be “Shiny Happy People” by rock band R.E.M. but the band rejected the offer.  It worked out well for the Rembrandts.  The song topped the Billboard charts for 8 weeks in a row.  

If you’d like to listen to my podcast, Blendertainment, the links can be found below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/61yTPt9wXdz37DZTbPUs16?si=w5jHghPVRmaTaP5ZEI-wzQ

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blendertainment/id1541097172