The National song “Terrible Love” came on recently during the final scene of The End; Showtime’s Australian dark comedy about life, death, and dignity. The song’s melancholy vibe and chorus (“It takes an ocean not to break”) added dimension to the family playing together in the ocean. Another reminder of how music can transform our viewing experience. We had fun with the best songs in movies (see previous post under TV or Music), so let’s try for those memorable moments in TV where a song completes or enhances the scene. So many shows, so many songs. This list is in no particular order and includes theme songs, but not commercials (how ’bout worst commercial recently? Rakuten to the tune of Elton’s “Rocketman” anyone?) From The Sopranos, to Stranger Things, to Friends, the vast TV-scape contains innumerable classic songs. Here’s 10 that stand out for me.
“Velouria” by the Pixies in Halt and Catch Fire: When this song came on, it sounded like the Pixies and the recognizable vocals of Black Francis. But musically it didn’t; a high-energy straightforward rocker as opposed to their shifty, off-kilter sound. I was familiar with Surfer Rosa and Doolittle, but not this song, or its album, Bossanova. While this was my memorable song from the show, Halt and Catch Fire had to be on the list. The AMC drama about the personal computer and World Wide Web revolution of the ’80s and early ’90s was a soundtrack to that time period. One of the lead characters, punk rocker Cameron (played by Mackenzie Davis), was the perfect conduit listening to edgy punk in her headphones. XTC, Talking Heads, The Cars, Wire, Psychedelic Furs, and many more highlight the show’s tunes. Check it out on Netflix if you missed it on AMC.
“Siamese Twins” by The Cure in The Americans: It’s a good thing anytime The Cure turns up in a TV show or movie. This song is a deeper track from the dark, goth-y Pornography album. If you missed out on the six seasons of The Americans on FX, the show is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It’s outstanding. One of my all-time favorites.
“Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory” by Traffic in Vinyl: The rockin’ intro and ’70s fuzzy vibe of this song set the tone of American Century Records on Vinyl (“Personality Crisis” by the New York Dolls being another highlight song). The Martin Scorcese/Mick Jagger production (yeah, think about that for a minute) starred Bobby Cannavale (in a career performance as Richie Finestra) as a NYC record producer in the 1970s. Richie is a coke-snorting wild man trying to hang on to his wife (played by Olivia Wilde) and save the label by moving away from classic rock to a more contemporary sound (“I don’t want to hear any fucking Jethro Tull” or something close to that). I was in TV heaven. I still get mad at HBO for canceling the show after one season. If I had to quibble, the murder side plot detracted from the story and some of the casting for the rock stars (Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, and many more) was not ideal. It’s the latter point that might have doomed the show for HBO. I still don’t get it though, but let’s face it, they had me at the word “Vinyl.”
“God Only Knows” and “Home” by the Beach Boys and Engineers, respectively in Big Love: This show gets two spots for its theme songs: the classic Beach Boys tune for seasons 1-3 and the ambient mood of “Home” for seasons 4 and 5. “God Only Knows” is a hallowed song off of Pet Sounds; one of the greatest albums ever (often #2 on the list behind Sgt. Pepper’s). The French horn and harpsichord opening of the song along with the show’s cast seen ice skating together made it one of TV’s best openings (you couldn’t fast-forward through it). They took a big risk shaking it up for season 4 and they heard about it. What the hell is this song? I loved the ethereal song by Engineers immediately and its accompaniment to the actors falling through black space. This made me wonder why more shows don’t decide to change theme songs after a time.
“Living on a Thin Line” by the Kinks in The Sopranos: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” became an unforgettable TV moment in the final scene of the series, but my favorite song on the show was this Kinks number off their 1984 LP Word of Mouth. It was the “University” episode in season 3 where Ralphie kills the Bada Bing stripper, Tracee. The song is used throughout the episode and juxtaposes the killing with its upbeat melody. Tracee was indeed living on a thin line.
“Venus” by Shocking Blue in The Queen’s Gambit: This 1969 song by Dutch band Shocking Blue rings true of the 60s. Beth (Anya Taylor-Joy) dancing to the song and its signature organ riff is another stellar moment in this charming show.
“Superhero” by Jane’s Addiction in Entourage: Not my favorite song from this band, but the tight rock n’ roll with Perry Farrell singing along make it a great theme song for Vince, “Drama,” “Turtle,” and “E” as they strut their stuff around Hollywood.
‘Vienna” by Ultravox in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: The piano and viola of the classical rock song makes a dramatic scene as Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) kills Versace in the finale.
“Marquee Moon” by Television in Stranger Things: The guitar anthem from Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd enlivens the second season of the kids in Hawkins, Indiana. Echo and the Bunnymen, The Clash, Joy Division, The Smiths, and more add to the musical flavor of the show.
“Untitled” by Interpol in Friends: This song was a nice surprise as Joey and Rachel kiss in Barbados to close out the penultimate season 9 of Friends. I know many people were unaware of this song (or band) at the time, but I was already a big fan of Interpol’s debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights. The moving instrumental opens the album and was written to be their intro song at shows. And, here it was defining the memories of an iconic TV show.
Trivia ? – Name the bands on these six famous TV theme songs:
- a) Big Bang Theory
- b) South Park
- c) Friends
- d) Malcolm in the Middle
- e) Veronica Mars (not the season 4 version)
- f) The Simpsons
Answers: a) Barenaked Ladies, b) Primus, c) The Rembrandts, d) They Might Be Giants, e) Dandy Warhols, f) Danny Elfman