Magnum Mania!

This is interesting. I watched a youtube interview with Mike Post (Rockford Files, Hill Street Blues) who wrote the theme song to Magnum and many other shows. He said that it was easy for him to write because he had known Tom Selleck all through public school. They grew up together.

Apparently this composer liked to study the written characters as well as the actors themselves (like James Garner in 'Rockford') when he wrote theme songs.

Very interesting! The MPI theme song definitely reflects TM, the 2 are inseparable to me. The original theme song was horrible in my opinion, too '70s.

I agree with Coops. The original song was barf. The iconic theme however was totally cool and exciting. I believe the theme song was part of the 'perfect storm' of characteristics that made the show great.

Interesting.......I love the theme music to this day and think it, and the opening sequence with it's editing still holds up. I always thought the music they used on the first few shows sounded too much like something from the sixties, particularly it sounded to me like the theme to Mannix.........

Steve
Chicago

I remember having the 45 when it came out. I have no idea whatever came of it.

randy01 wrote:He said that it was easy for him to write because he had known Tom Selleck all through public school. They grew up together.

Yeah, they were in the same Class ('62) at Grant High School, along with Mickey Dolenz (of The Monkees).

I must be one of the few people who really like the Freebairn-Smith original theme song. It's a wonderful jazz piece with a great melody. I especially love the bass line and those horns.

Here's a strange piece of trivia for you. IGN, the multimedia news and review website, put out a list of their "Top 50 TV Theme Songs of All-Time". MPI came in at #22, but what is really interesting (shocking) is that they picked the ORIGINAL THEME SONG, not the Mike Post one!

http://music.ign.com/articles/704/704547p3.html

Crafted by Ian Freebairn-Smith ... went for a borderline funk-lite-cum-sweeping instrumental vibe with this instrumental ditty that utilizes plenty of cascading chicka-chicka guitar and swooning strings to create a memorable sonic romp.

Three's Company beat MPI???

Like I said, Three's Company beat MPI???

And I can't believe they put the old version in there instead of the classic! Very interesting.

I suspect the winner was the Mike Post theme, but the person who wrote the description based it on thinking it was the original. That happens a lot with younger writers who aren't familiar with the topic.

Did Ian Fairborn Smith do Airwolf?

Doesn't seem his style, but then again I haven't heard the Airwolf theme in years....

randy01 wrote:I suspect the winner was the Mike Post theme, but the person who wrote the description based it on thinking it was the original. That happens a lot with younger writers who aren't familiar with the topic.

I guess it could be, but they reference Freebairn-Smith and the song description fits the original theme song better than the Post one. It's such an odd pick, as the original theme song was only used for part of Season One and was never used in syndication! I didn't even remember the song until the DVDs came out.

Doc Ibold wrote:Did Ian Fairborn Smith do Airwolf?

Doesn't seem his style, but then again I haven't heard the Airwolf theme in years....

Freebairn-Smith didn't compose the Airwolf theme song (Sylvester Levay did), but he did score a couple of Airwolf episodes.

http://magnum-mania.com/Audio/Airwolf.html

James J. Walters wrote: I guess it could be, but they reference Freebairn-Smith and the song description fits the original theme song better than the Post one.

Yes. What I mean is, I suspect the writer used information based on the first theme song. Maybe he had to make a choice between the "first" or the "second," and he may have chosen the first arbitrarily, without doing enough research.

I haven't heard the first one. I'm sure it's not bad.

I think it was done by a "committee" at IGN, not one person. In any event, Magnum Mania's got you covered on the original theme song. Slap on some shades, light up a smoke and get down with the sonic jazz sounds of Ian Freebairn-Smith. Can ya dig that funky fuzz bass and horns, man?

http://magnum-mania.com/Audio/Theme_Son ... ended.html