I was watching the penultimate episode of the latest series of 'The Simpsons' the other day, and at the end we were treated to the end credits played by Weezer, which got me thinking about other T.V. themes that have been covered by rock bands, and there are more than you would think. Some have even been hit singles for The Manic Street Preachers, The Timelords and The Dickies, and in their naive Australia for Silver Studs, and many famous bands like to pay homage to their favourite T.V. shows by covering the theme tune. The James Taylor Quartet jazzed up 'Starsky & Hutch' for their second album following the success of their mini-album of film themes in 1987, and the latest example is a frankly unrecognisable version of 'The Golden Girls' theme 'Thank You For Being A Friend' from St. Vincent. Pantera have shredded 'Mission Impossible', just as Weezer have done with 'The Simpsons', whereas a couple of the best covers are from artists previously unknown to me, Shagpile with a lovely cover of the theme from 'Cheers', and Mateo Oxley with a similar version of the theme from 'Friends'. Also tucked away on here is Sun Kil Moon's take on 'The Partridge Family', 'Laverne & Shirley' from The Squealing Pygmies, 'Welcome Back Kotter' from Swedish hipsters jj, and Husker Du paying tribute to their hometown-based 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. The theme from 'Batman' has been covered by many rock bands, including The Who, The Jam, Link Wray, REM, and The Ventures, but I've gone with The Flaming Lips' version here, and we round the whole thing off with the track that started this idea, Weezer playing out 'The Simpsons'. Hope you enjoy this little diversion, and now that I've got this out of my system I'll get back to the normal rock stuff.
01 Theme From Starsky & Hutch (The James Taylor Quartet)02 Making Our Dreams Come True (The Squealing Pygmies)03 UFO (The Wedding Present)04 Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (Manic Street Preachers)05 Mission Impossible (Pantera)06 Thank You For Being A Friend (St. Vincent)07 Batman Theme (The Flaming Lips)08 Banana Splits (The Dickies)09 Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Shagpile)10 Doctorin' The Tardis (The Timelords AKA The KLF)11 Love Is All Around (Husker Du)12 Get Smart Theme (Agent 86) (Agent Orange)13 C'Mon Get Happy (Sun Kil Moon)14 Theme To The Persuaders (Jah Wobble)15 Welcome Back (jj)16 Happy Days (Silver Studs)17 I'll Be There For You (Mateo Oxley)18 Spider Man (Ramones)19 The Simpsons Theme (Weezer)
