'Hawaii Five-O' meets 'Miami Vice'
In an age of reality television, I mourn the death of the TV theme song. I miss the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s where programs like The Jeffersons, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show gave us catchy tunes that were almost as enjoyable as the shows themselves. Of course, YouTube has become a great way to get your theme song fix, and today I saw something really cool.
Though Hawaii Five-O's theme music never had lyrics, I consider it the best TV theme of all time. The great music by Morton Stevens, combined with the excellent visuals, particularly that awesome wave at the very beginning, made for a fantastic viewing experience. Even today I have to watch it every now and then. And naturally, when you find something you love, you get a little protective of it. YouTube is littered with awful remakes of TV and movie themes so I was a bit anxious when I came across a clip that combined the theme music of Miami Vice with the visuals of Hawaii Five-O's opener. After all, Hawaii Five-O was the better program.
But as it turned out, I had nothing to fear. Jan Hammer's synthesized instrumental music may scream the '80s, but the music perfectly matches the Hawaii Five-O visuals. Everything comes at just the right time in the music, from the wave, to Jack Lord turning around on the Waikiki balcony, to the rotating police siren careening through the streets of Honolulu. I was impressed.
Though the two shows took place in very different time periods--the drug-fueled violence of South Beach and Crockett's pastel shirts would have looked out of place in Oahu in the 1970s--they do have a few things in common. Both involved cops and bad guys, evil mastermind villains, women in distress, a little skin, and tropical locales. Cheers to TheDuchy, the clip's creator, for making this happen.
Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent. 
you've got to rank Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" and Lalo Schiffren's "Mission
Impossible" right up there too. The only thing missing from your blog is a copy
of the original H5O opening sequence for comparison. When the Ventures came
out with their cut of the H5O theme I ran down to local Pacific Stereo to here it in
all its Quadraphonic magnificence. Thanks for the reminder. In the modern era I
have to rank Danny Elfman's "The Simpson's" theme as one the best.
It felt like blasphemy watching Hawaii Five-O's opening credits and not hearing the Tom-Toms beating the intro and then the horns blasting away in excitement. Man! I agree with you, that is the best theme ever. But, Miami is on the other side of the planet -- you know what I mean?
I can see why the Creative Commons idea would scare a lot of people.
Phooey!
- by youbetcha1018 October 13, 2009 11:04 AM PDT
- The only thing missing from your blog is a copy of the original H5O opening sequence for comparison. When the Ventures came out with their cut of the H5O theme I ran down to local Pacific Stereo to hear (http://explorehawaiitours.com/) it in
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(6 Comments)all its Quadraphonic magnificence.