Professor of Rock

You’re gonna love today's episode. Today We’re taking a trip back to the 80s for more of the best that television has to offer. It’s our latest edition of 80s TV Theme Songs. On previous shows have covered primetime juggernauts like Cheers, Family Ties, Knight Rider, The A-Team, and a bunch of others. That episode had some great stories, like how The A-Team ripped off Cream’s epic rock classic Sunshine of Your Love, but CREAM LOVED IT, and how the Cheers theme started off in a musical. But we’ve got a whole new line-up of classic 80s themes… including Unsolved Mysteries that scarred a generation of kids and had parents writing and calling, begging the show to change the song because it was so disturbing. Plus, there’s the famous TV actor Alan Thicke, who almost nobody knows was a secret TV THEME song master. When nobody was looking, he wrote 40 TV songs, including 3 of the biggest ever, and he even sang one. Plus the hit TV song for Moonlighting that a respected artist got talked into leaving off his new album because his producer thought it wasn’t on point with the other tracks… He lost out on over a million in sales! But we kick off the episode with a TV show that would never get made today because of its so-called politically incorrect premise, it starred a rookie actor named Tom Hanks, who would become the biggest box office draw of the late 80s and 90s, and it used one of the biggest hits of the late 70s as its TV theme until the rights got too expensive, and so they commissioned a SHODDY CHEESEBALL COVER of it that many misunderstood as the real deal… Best 80s TV Theme Songs Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwjDOqPtm0&t=344s ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive Producer Brandon Fugal Honorary Producers Frank Kuna, zachery perry, Shayne Smith, Tom Stokes, Walter O. Wright II ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast Apple: https://apple.co/445fVov Spotify: https://spoti.fi/42JpfvU Amazon: https://amzn.to/44b5D6m iHeartRadio: https://bit.ly/444h8MO ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patreon: http://bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan Merch Store: https://professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com/' Instagram: https://bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock #classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #onehitwonder Hey Music Junkies: Kicking off our 80s TV themes Countdown at #8… I’ve got a pair of Bosom Buddies… Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari playing Kip Wilson and Henry Desmond. You all remember this one? So long before Tom Hanks was an Oscar winning Hollywood institution, he was a young comedian on a seriously absurd ABC sitcom. The concept? Two guys who dress in drag so they can afford an apartment. Running for two quick seasons from 1980 to 1982, Bosom Buddies gave the world its first real look at what Tom Hanks could do. The storyline followed two young New York advertising execs who are suddenly homeless when their building is demolished. The only affordable option they can find is the Susan B Anthony Hotel… which is a female-only residence. Meaning no men allowed. So Kip and Henry put on wigs and become Buffy and Hildegard. And honestly, they’re not fooling anybody. But this is television after all. So we’ll just go with it. And beneath the cross-dressing comedy, the show was actually a kind of smart, character-driven sitcom about friendship, ambition, and trying to make it in New York. Plus it helped launch Hanks’ career. But the show needed a theme that conveyed youthful independence and modern urban energy. And the producers landed on Billy Joel's 1978 hit "My Life" — a piano-driven declaration of autonomy from his critically acclaimed album 52nd Street… The song had already spent time in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was perfect fit. But there was one practical catch… broadcast licensing costs differed significantly from using the original master recording. In other words, it was expensive. So Paramount Television commissioned a truly cheesy soundalike studio version featuring session vocalist Gary Bennett re-creating the track over a newly recorded backing arrangement. So yeah it was a knock off version of the Piano Man and sadly to this day many passing music fans think it’s Billy Joel. The original "My Life" was distinguished in part by its lush backing vocals, recorded by Chicago's Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus… which gave the track its stadium-pop sheen. The re-recorded version did its best to match that energy but it failed, but for two seasons it became the show's sonic identity. But then Bosom Buddies moved into syndication, and the licensing math got more complicated. The rights that had covered the network run weren't designed for long-term reruns