 Various Artists Reviewing a compilation of TV themes as an "album" gets into a kind of weird area, especially when the end result is putting it in the same class as, say, something by Grant Green or Willie Nelson. And yet I've actually listened to this CD straight through a ton of times, and overall I'd be willing to bet that in terms of total number of times the disc has been in my CD player, this one is in the top three. So does that make Television's Greatest Hits 70s & 80s one of my favorite albums? Scarily enough, I think so. The sheer quality of the disc is amazing, whether you're listening in an annoying "Hey, I remember that"nostalgia mode or simply enjoying the music as music. TVT has issued seven or eight similar collections, but this one represents the true golden age of the TV theme song. "Good Times," "The Jeffersons," "The Muppet Show," "One Day at a Time," "M*A*S*H," "Barney Miller," "Taxi," "Welcome Back Kotter," "Love Boat," "Fat Albert," "Speed Racer," "Laverne and Shirley," "Baretta," "Sanford and Son" … 65 in all, each holding musical and/or cultural significance and the release of a conditioned response of happiness that can only come from having heard these songs hundreds of times. I may be a freak, but a lot of these songs are among my all-time favorite songs, and I'm talking right up there with "real songs." In some ways you have to admire jingles and theme songs for their concise pop instincts – everything needs to be said within a minute or so. And because the exposure for the songs is so huge, they have to be immaculately produced, so you get extremely tight arrangements and crack musicianship. I mean, listen to the bass line on "Movin' On Up" sometime, or the carefully constructed craziness of the "Muppet Show" theme. There's more inventiveness in these kooky little songs than in a hundred albums by John Mayer (not that I'm recommending he make 100 albums). Beyond the crowd pleasers, there's tons of connoisseur choices like "Barnaby Jones," "Starsky & Hutch," "Josie and the Pussycats," "Streets of San Francisco," "Maude," and "Rockford Files." The ridiculous songs are pleasing heard outside the context of their ridiculous shows, like "Wonder Woman," which features the line: "In your satin tights/fightin' for your rights." Then there's "Gimme a Break," which features Nell Carter thoroughly trying to put across a soulful theme for one of the worst shows ever. "The A-Team" features the spoken intro, and now that I think of it, it's nearly impossible to start a disc off with "Sesame Street" and have it fail in any way, unless John Mayer does the rest of the disc. The disc is paced well, segmented into four basic sections ("Morning Cartoons," "Sit-Coms," "Prime Time Drama," and "Action Adventure"). For me, the sitcom section is the best, especially given the cheeky run of gospel-flavored themes ("Good Times," "One Day at a Time," "Gimme a Break," "Maude," "The Jeffersons"). I certainly don't claim to love all the themes ("All in the Family" isn't always the sort of song I like to throw on the old hi-fidelity, ditto "Saturday Night Live"), but the overwhelming majority are fantastic. It takes us from late-mid-70s through the Mike Post mid-80's, just before the art of the theme song started to dry up. And yes, I know I shouldn't rock out in my room to "Simon & Simon," but you shouldn't drink so much, neither! The liner notes are fun, unearthing bits of trivia like the fact that "Three's Company" was co-written by Joe Raposo, who wrote nearly all your favorite "Sesame Street" songs. Individual songs I might compain about are probably someone else's favorites (one person's "Miami Vice" is another person's "Taxi," if you follow me, which I don't). The only real problem I have with the disc is that it features the 80s version of "Facts of Life," but I suppose that's a relatively minor quibble, especially given all the children in the world who are starving.
Review by The Sensuous Nurse |