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After purchasing an Al Hirt album the other I started thinking about how great his theme from the Green Hornet is and some of the other great theme songs.  I think there are two things that make a television theme great:

- a memorable melody

- it needs to convey the theme of the show, usually in a pretty short time frame

I picked out what I think are the ten best themes that fit this, spread out over two days.  Since it’s my list I’m throwing out shows that use preexisting songs, so that would rule out Rescue Me.  One of the most difficult parts about this is separating the song from the introduction as a whole.  I had considered the Hawaii Five-Oh theme as one of the great one but after listening to it on Youtube it turns out that the song is just okay, but the introduction itself is what’s so memorable.

Perry Mason

This one doesn’t immediately come to mind but I think it’s a solid theme that conveys the seriousness of the show while adding some dramatic tension early on in the episode.

Mission Impossible

Another one that really lets the view know  what sort of show it is.  There’s a sense of urgency as the tune progresses that sets up the show well. Despite the era that the show was produced, I don’t feel that the song is dated at all.

Beverly Hillbillies

It’s the only bluegrass song to ever reach number one, played by the master Earl Scruggs.  I realized I’m biased on this one but it matches the show perfectly.  The theme alone is more interesting than anything that ever happened on the show itself.

The Rockford Files

One of the things I like about the Mission Impossible theme is that it doesn’t sound dated.  However this theme, like the show itself, screams 1970s.  That being said it’s a great song and I love the harmonica break in the middle.

Speed Racer

The theme that was burned into the long term memory of thousands of generation x-ers. An instantly recognizable chorus and a sense of playfulness that matches the show perfectly.

First off, Alice in Chains announced their latest set of tour dates and they’re playing in Kansas City on 02/21/10 at the Midland Theater.  They came through a couple of years ago and even though I passed on it then I think I’m going to go this time.  The new singer is good and the new album is decent enough that it should be a good show.

Bon Jovi’s also coming on March 15.  Somewhere around New Jersey I lost interest in them as they became more of a generic rock band with a bunch of blah songs.  I’ve seen them twice before during their 80s heydey but at this point they interest me so little that I wouldn’t go even if it was free.

The reason I bring up this show I that I saw a link to the ticket packages.  There’s six of them, not including the travel package:

Diamond - $1725.00

Emerald - $989.00

Platinum - $575.00

Gold - $365.00

Silver - $142.50

The packages give you a seat whose location is appropriate to the amount of money you spend.  For me the kicker is that this is the first time that I’ve seen these expensive packages where there’s no mention of meeting the band.  For the most expensive package you get a front row seat and a fucking chair you get to take home and other than a bunch of crap that’s it.  You’re paying Bon Jovi $1700 for a front row seat.  The $142 package gets you a “second price” reserved ticket, whatever that means, and it doesn’t sound good.

I think what gets me is that this is Bon Jovi.  Bon Jovi.  They sang “Living on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”.  They’re not the Beatles or the Stones.  They’re a hard rock version of Genesis for Pete’s sake.  I just don’t get it, but good for them that they’re able to get that kind of money for their shows.

Some interesting things out this week but the only thing I’m positive about picking up is from an ex-Beatle who falls on my list of artists whose stuff I always pick up regardless.

Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City

Yes it’s another Paul McCartney live album, but the setlist on this is different enough from his previous live release to make it interesting, plus it comes with a DVD.  I’m looking forward to “Helter Skelter”, “A Day in the Life” and “I’ve Got a Feeling”.

John Mayer - Battle Studies

I need to hear this first.  I respect John Mayer as a musician and songwriter but a lot of times his stuff leaves me cold so I’m leery about buying this without hearing it first.  With every new studio release I keep hoping that it will capture the energy of his live show, so hopefully this is the one.

Rush - Working Men

Really Rush?  Another live album?  With the exception of 2112 I don’t see anything that wasn’t on the last one.  I love them live but this is just too much.

Them Crooked Vultures - s/t

I had no idea they even had a studio album coming out.  This is why the radio sucks, why hasn’t any station been playing this?  I really want to hear it first.

Fall Out Boy - Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits

I like Fall Out Boy enough to pick up a couple of their discs used but for some reason I have no interest in this.  I could see myself listening to it a couple of times and then just putting it away.

I had originally planned on reviewing the actual Can’t Slow Down studio album but that CD is AWOL in a pile somewhere and instead I watched the live DVD that came with it.

First thing’s first:  I’m not a big Foreigner fan.  It’s not that I dislike them - there’s a handful of their songs that I really enjoy - it’s more that I don’t care about them.  Their songs have been overplayed so much on classic rock radio that it’s mostly become background noise to me.

So why sit through a DVD of live performances?  Mostly it’s that I’m intrigued by bands that replace key members.  In this case Kelly Hansen of Hurricane replaced previous singer Lou Gramm, although their Wikipedia entry reports that Mick Jones is the only original member remaining.  I’m always curious what route the band takes when replacing someone like a singer.  Will they be replaced with a clone (like Journey) or will they attempt to change the band’s sound (oh let’s just pull out Motley Crue for this)?

In this case it’s somewhere in the middle.  Hansen doesn’t sound exactly like Lou Gramm but close enough to see why he was picked for the Foreigner gig.  However he brings enough of his own vocal style to give the current version of Foreigner some kind of identity.

As for the performance, with the exception of a terrible acoustic version of “Say You Will”, the songs sound pretty good.  The energy level of the band is decent, not phoning it in but not putting on an amazing performance either.  I suspect that if I were more of a Foreigner fan this is exactly the show I would want - they do a good job playing their hits without forcing too much new or unknown material on the crowd.  As far as my personal feelings, it didn’t make me any more or any less of a Foreigner fan.  It was interesting to watch once and that’s plenty for me.