Is it just my age? Am I trapped in the inevitable “40 something” time trap of sentimentality and nostalgia for the 1970s? Maybe this is part of the dreaded phenomenon known as the “Mid Life Crisis” that I have been waiting to kick in for most of the past decade!! But somehow life seemed better and brighter in the 1970s……. The reality is almost certainly that that wonderful defence mechanism in the brain, called “selective memory” has kicked in!! Maybe it’s just that I was an adolescent and teenager in the 1970s, and life’s disappointments and failures had yet to dull and cynically corrupt my natural “joie de vivre”!!

So it is with caution that I suggest the premise that the best TV show theme tracks and songs emanated from those “golden days” of the 1970s. This is in no way a conclusion borne of scientific criteria, but I honestly believe that the rich diversity of music from the 1970s was reflected and mirrored by TV Show Theme Tunes of that decade. Please feel free to disprove my theory, and I invite all those that were teenagers in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s to challenge my musings, and leave your comments and thoughts in the Reply Box at the end of this article….

My Top Five Favourite TV Show Theme Songs of All Time are as follows –

1) The Persuaders Theme by the John Barry Orchestra. Barry pulled out all the stops, in composing this masterpiece for Lew Grade’s wonderful ATV show that paired a post Saint and a pre-James Bond Roger Moore with Hollywood icon, Tony Curtis. The single should have reached No 1, but No 13 proved to be unlucky for it when it stalled and peaked in this position in the UK charts in early 1972!!

2) The Protectors – “Avenues and Alleyways” performed by Tony Christie, which completely overshadowed the elegant adventure show, starring Nyree Dawn Porter, Robert Vaughan and Tony Anholt . To my mind, still Tony Christie’s best song, not reflected in the single’s peak chart position of No 37 in March 1973.

3) Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads. The show’s catchy theme song, “Whatever Happened to You”, was written by Mike Hugg (of Manfred Mann) and series co writer Ian La Frenais, and was performed by Hugg’s session band under the name Highly Likely. It made the lower reaches of the UK Top 40, peaking at No 35 in  in May 1973. Mike Hugg also wrote the theme tune to the spin-off 1976 feature film, entitled “Remember When”. The catchy tune matched the cheeky innocence of the programme’s protagonists Geordie mates Bob and Terry, played by Rodney Bewes and James Bolam.

4) The Adventures of Black Beauty – Sunday teatime in the early 1970s was always brightened for me by this “beauty”…..not the horse, but a human, namely the beauty of the leading actress, Stacy Dorning!! The theme tune, “Galloping Home”, was written by Denis King and performed by the London String Chorale. It was released as a single and peaked at No 31 in the UK charts in February 1974. It was later used at the climax of the first series of I’m Alan Partridge, with Steve Coogan’s character dreaming of running through a field as Black Beauty does in the series’ title sequence.

5) Cheers Theme Tune – “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”. The theme song from the 1980s television sitcom Cheers was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo and performed by Gary Portnoy. Not long after the show was first screened, Gary Portnoy went back into the studio to record a full-length version of the song that reached the outskirts of the UK charts, peaking at No 58 in March 1984.

All these fantastic theme songs surprisingly had very modest success in the charts when released as singles!! Significantly only one TV Theme Tune from the 1980s, therefore endorsing my flimsy theory that the best TV Themes were spawned in the 1970s. But what are your favourite TV show theme tunes of all time?

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Alternatively you can buy a “TV Theme Song  Souvenir” for a family member, or friend……this would make a unique present or original gift for a special celebration ie a 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th Birthday, a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Mother’s or Father’s Day or Valentine’s Day!! THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!!