A good theme song, a tune that gets stuck in your audience’s head without anyone getting sick or tired of it, can help ensure that viewers remember your show just as much, if not more, than great writing and fantastic acting by your cast. The importance of TV theme songs was especially true in the 1980s, where so many different recognizable themes were produced for series’ opening credits that it almost seems an impossible task to compile all the great ones into a list. However, that’s what we attempted to do for your right here. There are the 15 most recognizable TV theme songs from the 80s.
Photo via NBC
The A-Team
In order to set the right tone for this infamous action series, the show’s theme needed to sound heroic and almost militaristic. That’s why the beginning drums (a staple of any marching band) come first, followed by the horns, creating an epic, almost sports-like tune. The theme song to The A-Team was telling us that these were the good guys, that Hannibal, Templeton, Howling Mad, and B.A. were the ones to root for.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVonyVSQoM]
Photo via NBC
Family Ties
“What would we do, baby, without us?” Family Ties asks in its opening credits, instantly becoming one of the most memorable TV theme songs in history. While not very subtle (but was anything really subtle back in the 80s?), the Family Ties theme emphasizes the series title and tells the audience that this is a show that families can watch with one anoher – it’s all about sticking together, through the good times and the bad.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8CqnwNdip8]
Photo via NBC
Who’s the Boss?
Why I’m still like Abed from Community, wondering the exact reason for the title of this series and asking for an answer to the show’s titular question (Who really is the boss?), that doesn’t stop me from realizing that the opening theme to Who’s the Boss? is easily one of the most recognizable TV theme songs from the 80s. Similar to Family Ties, Who’s the Boss? focuses on the importance of family and living, promising a “brand new life around the bend” if you just keep going.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBLy1YvKqi8]
Photo via ABC
Cheers
One of the greatest television series of all-time also has one of the greatest television theme songs ever (not just from the 80s). The iconic Cheers tune, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” was not just referring to the series titular bar. No, it also acted as a comfort and reassurance to the show’s audience. Anytime you watched Cheers, you could feel as if the characters themselves knew you, as if this fictional bar was your home as well, a place to always visit.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS0VQOHX7lM]
Photo via NBC
Different Strokes
“Now the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you might not be right for some.” Different Strokes was ambitious enough to try to promote change, equality, and acceptance even through the cheesy sounds of its opening theme song. Ultimately, though, if you’re not too cynical, you can appreciate the positive message behind the Different Strokes’ theme and also find yourself singing or humming along to it, as it is, for sure, one of the most recognizable TV theme songs from the 1980s.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAwagCwJj-g]
Photo via ABC
The Facts of Life
What I love about The Facts of Life theme song is how it just makes you want to get up and dance to it. This jazzy and incredibly catchy tune is one of the most recognizable TV theme songs of the 80s thanks to its upbeat melody but also due to its simple but honest lyrics, like “You take the good, you take the bad. You take the both and then you have the facts of life,” and “It takes a lot to get them right, when you’re learning the facts of life.” It’s refreshing to hear an 80s theme song that doesn’t try to promise or do too much – instead, The Facts of Life theme just tells it like it is.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GxXRbSFDg]
Photo via NBC
21 Jump Street
Before you listen to this classic theme song, you better be ready to “JUMP! On Jump Street.” Everything about the intro to 21 Jump Street, from the melody of the song to its lyrics o even the shots used for each actor’s name, are so incredibly 80s that it’s great to just sit batch and watch the opening credits over and over again. The fact that Johnny Depp is in the series (and also made a cameo in the 2012 film reboot as well) is, of course, just an extra bonus.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyd0E66i9EQ]
Photo via Fox
Growing Pains
Growing Pains, like Family Ties and like Full House (which will show up later on this list), uses its theme song to emphasize how important each member of the family is to one another, telling the audience, “As long as we got each other, we got the world spinning right in our hands. Rain or shine, we got each other…” It’s the trademark optimism that can be found in almost all of the TV theme songs from the 1980s, and it’s not simply recognizable but very catchy as well.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liFmMcmigsQ]
Photo via ABC
Doogie Howser, M.D.
The Doogie Howser, M.D. theme song, unlike so many of its fellow 80s themes, keeps its simple. No lyrics, just a simple melody that allows the images (the numerous newspaper clippings that tell us how smart Doogie is, like how he got a perfect score on the SATs when he was only six) and clips from the show (Doogie saving a person’s life or hanging out with his best friend, Vinnie) to do the job.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrERtikdPus]
Photo via ABC
Knight Rider
There’s no lyrics in the Knight Rider theme song, but that’s because the cool, catchy, electric sound of the series theme automatically sets the high-tech, futuristic, and somewhat dangerous tone of the series all by itself. Plus, it became such an infamous theme song that it’s nearly impossible to get it out of your head once it’s there (not that you really mind).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8Qls0HnWo]
Photo via NBC
The Golden Girls
Aside from Cheers, I’m not sure if any of the other TV theme songs on this list do a better job of establishing what their shows are all about than The Golden Girls’ theme. The key, repeated line throughout the song is “Thank you for being a friend,” which is what the focus of the show is consistently on. No matter how different these four women can be sometimes, Rose, Dorothy, Blanch, and Sophia (Dorothy’s mother) will always remain the best of friends and be there for each other when they are needed.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxm158EyPZw]
Photo via NBC
Full House
“Everywhere you look, everywhere you look, is the face of somebody who needs you.” Like Family Ties and so many other family-oriented 80s sitcoms, Full House used its theme song to emphasize the importance of family, which if you don’t get too distracted by the inherent awkwardness of Bob Saget or the unchanging awesomeness of John Stamos (you always gotta love Uncle Jessie), you’ll find that is what Full House is all about: family. And the Full House creators liked to hammer that message home loudly and clearly with the same cheesy and overly sentimental score played near the end of every episode whenever DJ, Stephanie, or Michelle learned their “valuable lesson” of the week.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUlgBSz3AkY]
Photo via ABC
Fame
Before there was Glee, there was the 1980s, film-inspired television show Fame, whose theme song told you all you really needed to know about the series, which focused on the lives of students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. “Fame! I wanna live forever” are the main lyrics to the series theme song, and they sum up the motivation and drive of the show’s students, who above all us, want to be famous for doing what they love: performing.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV9ajjn46dY]
Photo via NBC
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard’s theme song insists that Bo and Luke Duke are “just good ol’ boys” meaning nobody any harm, despite their constant run-ins with the law. Essentially, the theme to the series perfectly encapsulates the show’s fun and carefree attitude. It’s not a realistic or dramatic world that these characters are living in. It’s all about the fun of being reckless and wild, without any of the real life consequences to go along with it.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRX4mlFi06A]
Photo via CBS
Miami Vice
Like Knight Rider, no words accompany the sounds of the Miami Vice theme song, but there’ something so slick about how the music sounds that you just know, simply by listening to it, what kind of show this series is going to be like. It’s going to be filled with action, drama, and probably characters that are so cool that you’ll be wishing you could be them every time you watch an episode.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLuf8rJAbyY]
Photo via NBC
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