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[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL
"Coolest Sitcom Songs Ever" |
12.15.10 |
BY MIKEY MIGO
The discussion has been done to death about “TV Show Theme Songs”. Hell, this year I think I did three columns myself based on the very topic. We all get it by now. We know the words to the “Saved By The Bell” and “Fresh Prince” themes. We know the melody to” Simpsons” and “Seinfeld”. What about the recurring songs on the actual shows themselves? I’m talking about the songs that pop up more than once and are as part of the character, joke, or scene as much as the actor if not more in some cases.
For the past week I’ve racked my brain trying to think of as many legitimate “recurring songs in sitcoms” as I could. I got a little help from family and friends and think I’ve put together a half decent list. Of course I’ve not seen every show and there probably twice as many I have today that I’m forgetting. It happens. Still, it’s a pretty solid list to spark a discussion on the topic.
Show: Friends
Song:Smelly Cat by “Phoebe Buffay”
Friends is an acquired taste. Sometimes it’s the greatest show ever and sometimes its dull and annoying. And that could be the case with the same episode, it just all depends on my mood. One consistently funny part of the show is Phoebe’s acoustic jam “Smelly Cat”. The song first appeared in the second season. The ongoing joke at start was that it was everyone’s least favorite song of hers, but Rachel loved it. It would appear regularly for awhile. We see her teaching it to Chrissie Hynde, her performing it with Chris Issak, she made a music video for it, and we even get to hear in jingle form for a cat litter commercial. The song was all over the place and always a pleasant surprise.
Show: Flight of the Conchords
Song:Doggy Bounce by “The Crazy Dogggz”
The show only lasted two seasons, but there aren’t many shows out there with this much original music. Bret and Jermaine rocked it for so long. The songs are hilarious, smart, and very well done. They’ve made a nice career of touring and recording their musical standup comedy routines across the world. My favorite tracks of theirs are “Bowie In Space” and “Hip-hop-opotamus”. Check them out if you’re totally uncool and haven’t heard them or seen their episodes. On the first season finale, the guys break up and go off to work with different people. One went with comedian Todd Barry and the other went with comedian Demetri Martin. At the end of the show we find Todd and Demetri have formed their own band and this was their first single. “Doggy Bounce” is one of those ridiculous poppy dance songs that do sadly become popular for awhile. The video reminds me of Macarena and the song is insane. It’s funny, but it’s still not quite as awesome until Demetri Martin busts out with the verse “Doggie dos and doggie don’ts/Doggie wills and doggie won’ts”. At that point the song gets stuck in my head. It comes back in the first episode of the second season. We find out it was plagiarized from a Polish band… but their run was good. I can only hope Crazy Dogggz reunite in the future…
Show: South Park
Song:Kyle’s Mom’s a Bitch by Trey Parker
It’s recurring, but not as often as we’d all think. The song has only been in two South Park specials. The first was the awesome “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo” episode and then in the movie “South Park: Bigger, Louder, & Uncut”. I’d argue and agree that this one is a bit of a stretch but the song was so great that I have to mention it. It’s a song about Kyle’s mom being a bitch for ruining Christmas. And when this magical hymn is sung a friendly piece of poo appears and hangs out for awhile. It’s what Christmas is all about. Then in the movie, it got “gangsta”. We got F-bombs, extended verses, children’s choirs, and a full blown music video production. It’s obvious the Gorillaz ripped everything off from Cartman.
Show: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Song:Day Man by “Charlie Kelly”
I know this show has built some sort of huge cult-like fan base over night, but watching from the start and seeing this show evolve has been a pleasure. It’s easily one of the funniest shows on TV and I really admire the backstory of how they got their show on TV and their DIY style. On an episode of Always Sunny, the gang were trying to form bands. Charlie was the first man to go off on his own. He huffed his paint and rocked out in “a world of darkness” on his keyboard. Dennis enters, pulls down the curtains and the light enters the room. This results in the greatest TV song of all time being unleashed. “Day Man! Fighter of the Night man! Champion of the sun!...” and so on. It didn’t end there. They brought it back in mass scale. Charlie wrote a musical and the gang then performs “The Nightman Cometh”, an extended version of the story of Day Man. Day Man has officially become one of my favorite songs of all time. Seriously. It’s catchy, the lyrics as cool as any RUSH song, and the back story is amazingly good.
Show: Happy Days
Song:Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino
I almost forgot about this one. In this case, it’s a character singing a few lines of the song. Whenever Richie Cunningham got some play from the ladies or he saw a dame he wanted to go Bucko crazy with he’d sing the first line or two of this Fats Domino classic. So pretty much the seasons with Mary Beth we heard it a lot. If you think about it, it’s a bit risqué for a song from the 50’s. Also in retrospect, it was kinda/sorta creepy and sleazy. It’s almost an old school equivalent to “Giggity-giggity”. Never the less, all hindsight considered, it’s still a memorable tune mainly because of its recurring use on this show.
Show: Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Song:It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones
If I did a column with this topic and didn’t include Cartlon Bank’s favorite song then I might as well not even do it. Of course I have to use this one. I think most folks my age have seen every episode of Fresh Prince about a half dozen times by now. The show has proven to be timeless and will probably be on Nick at Nite still when Will Smith’s kids have grandkids. It’s just a solid show. I don’t think it ever won many awards or anything, but it was just good entertainment. The show was consistently funny, occasionally topical, and always at least mildly amusing. But sometimes the show reaches a hilarity level that has you cracking up. For me there’s the recurring shot of Jazz being thrown out of the house and Carlton’s dance. For years the uptight Carlton would do an insanely silly dance to Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”. No matter what it always gets a huge laugh and is as funny as it was the first time you saw it.
Show: Arrested Development
Song:The Final Countdown by Europe
Obviously this one is the greatest. Arrested Development might not have the big syndication or long run as a Seinfeld, but it’s still one of the funniest shows ever to be on television. Hands down, or off in Buster’s case. The show was hilarious and great for many reasons, but one of those was their use of music. I could have went with the depressing Charlie Brown music that played throughout the series when a character would walk away dejected or depressed. They used music in awesome and hilarious ways, but there is one specific song that rocked them all. I’m talking about “The Final Countdown”! Gob’s use of the awesome Europe hit. It’s like a great song, but it’s use is what makes it so hilarious. Gob, a horrible magician, uses the song as his performance theme on multiple occasions. There is even a time or two where we hear the song as Gob’s ringtone. Greatness, folks! Greatness!
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