ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240113
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID BIANCULLI KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
To someone who watches very little TV, the concept of a series of musical CDs collecting television themes may sound like a waste of time - but to most of us, memory-stirring tunes from the likes of ``Davy Crockett'' and ``Naked City'' are indeed the sound of music.
It was a decade ago that executive producer Steve Gottlieb released on the Tee Vee Toons label his first collection of ``Television's Greatest Hits'' and experienced enough success to rapidly release two sequels and a commercial-jingles offshoot.
Now come volumes four through seven in the ``Television's Greatest Hits'' series: four CDs, each containing 65 complete TV theme songs, grouped roughly according to era and genre.
Volume four, ``Black and White Classics,'' begins with ``Astro Boy'' and includes everything from ``Make Room for Daddy'' (a big-band instrumental version of ``Danny Boy'') to Dave Brubeck's ``Take Five''-ish jazzy theme to 1964's ``Mr. Broadway.''
Volume five, ``In Living Color,'' starts with ``Stingray,'' includes ``Superchicken,'' ``Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,'' ``The Dean Martin Show'' and such esoteric fare as ``Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo'' and ``The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.''
Volume six, ``Remote Control,'' opens with ``Fish'' - a theme as good as its show was bad - and serves up everything from the chirpy vocal of ``Charles in Charge'' to the manic instrumental theme of ``The Benny Hill Show.'' It also ends with a haunting song that turns out to be the theme to the PBS series ``Cosmos.''
Finally, volume seven, ``Cable Ready,'' presents the most modern of themes, leading off with ``The Simpsons'' and including Rockapella's theme to ``Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' and Bobby McFerrin's version of the theme to ``The Cosby Show.''
Each of these CDs works two ways: as name-that-tune trivia-party centerpieces and as background music that occasionally forces itself to the foreground to evoke memories, laughter or both.
There are surprises galore here, even to those well-versed in TV themes. Not even TV savant Rosie O'Donnell, I bet, would be able to recite the lyrics to a silly 1964-65 Debbie Watson sitcom called ``Karen'' - much less remember that it was recorded, though thankfully not written by, the Beach Boys (``She sets her hair with great precision/yeah, it's her favorite indoor sport/and by the light of television/she can even write a book report'').
``Cable Ready'' is my favorite of the four CDs, because it has the strongest lineup of themes. Right in a row, you have ``Roseanne,'' ``Seinfeld,'' ``Mad About You,'' ``It's Garry Shandling's Show'' (perhaps the funniest TV theme ever written - co-authored by Shandling himself, along with Alan Zweibel and composer Joey Carbone) and ``The John Larroquette Show.'' The same volume also has ``The Nanny,'' ``My So-Called Life,'' ``Twin Peaks,'' ``The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' and Frank Zappa's ``Duckman,'' a cartoon theme that sounds surprisingly mature in this audio-only context.
Every CD, though, has its treats, which surely is a subjective call. For me, the delights included hearing ``Quick Draw McGraw'' and ``The Real McCoys'' in volume four, ``Lost in Space'' in volume five, ``Soap'' and ``Doctor Who'' in volume six and ``NYPD Blue'' and ``thirtysomething'' in volume seven.
To a TV fan like myself, this kind of musical potpourri from the small screen seems like heaven.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB