Seven Popular Artists Who Wrote TV Theme Songs

Earlier this week, paid television and movie streaming service Netflix revealed that rapper Tyler, The Creator wrote the theme song for the new Bill Nye series, ‘Bill Nye Saves the World.’ The new theme takes elements from the original ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ theme. Viewers will be able to hear the new theme when ‘Bill Nye Saves the World’ premieres on the service on April 21.

Tyler, The Creator joins a long list of other top artists who have written original theme songs for television shows. There have been a lot of such collaborations over the years on network, cable and streaming programs.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, has been thinking about television themes written by some of our favorite artists. Not including artists who wrote the theme to their own show (Will Smith, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’; recent Disney and Nickelodeon programs), here are seven artists and the original television themes they have written.

1.       Barenaked Ladies, “The History of Everything”: One of the most recognizable themes on network television today, the ‘Big Bang Theory’ theme “The History of Everything,” was written and performed by rock band the Barenaked Ladies. Back in 2007, ‘Big Bang Theory’ producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady asked lead BNL lead singer Ed Robertson if he would write a theme for the show. He agreed, but only under the stipulation that his band be the only band that they ask.

2.       They Might Be Giants, “Boss of Me”: They Might Be Giants are no strangers to writing music for television. The band has written several songs for Disney cartoons and shows, movies and commercials, as well as performed the Bob Mould-penned theme for ‘The Daily Show.’ But their biggest TV theme success was with “Boss of Me,” written as the theme song to the show ‘Malcolm in the Middle,’ starring Frankie Muniz. The song became a hit for the band and even earned them a Grammy.

3.       Primus, “South Park Theme”: It might not sound like it, but the theme song for ‘South Park’ was actually written by experimental rock band Primus. According to an interview with singer Les Claypool, the band was approached by two fans just out of college who were writing a show and wanted him to do a theme song. He ended up having to rerecord his vocals for a sped-up version of the theme after the network deemed the original too slow. Claypool also wrote the theme to ‘Robot Chicken.’

4.       Regina Spektor, “You’ve Got Time”: Regina Spektor has actually worked with ‘Orange is the New Black’ creator Jenji Kohan twice. The first time was for the show ‘Weeds,’ which Spektor recorded a cover of Pete Seger’s ‘Little Boxes to be used as the theme. But for their second collaboration, for the show ‘Orange is the New Black,’ Spektor wrote an entirely new song. “You’ve Got Time” was a big hit for the singer too, leading her to her first Grammy nomination.

5.       Ozzy Osbourne, “Dog, the Bounty Hunter”: Ozzy Osbourne, the prince of darkness, has even written original music for television. In 2004, he provided the eponymous them for A&E’s ‘Dog, the Bounty Hunter.’ It’s intense music for an intense character, so I can see why they chose him to write it.

6.       Quincy Jones, “Sanford & Son Theme (The Streetbeater)”:  Even though ‘Sanford & Son’ originally aired in the 1970s, Quincy Jones’ theme for the show is still one of the most recognizable to date. A full version of the song can be heard on Jones’ album ‘You’ve Got It Bad Girl.’

7.       Mark Mothersbaugh, “Rugrats”: During and after Devo’s heyday, Mark Mothersbaugh wrote a lot of theme music. Not only did he write the theme for ‘Rugrats,’ but he also did the themes for ‘Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,’ ‘Adventures in Wonderland’ and ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog,’ as well as wrote the music for every ‘Rugrats’ spin-off imaginable. Mothersbaugh still actively writes theme music for movies and television.

Over the years, there have been many popular artists that have written theme songs for television shows. With the news that Tyler, The Creator has written the theme music for ‘Bill Nye Saves the World,’ another artist can now be added to that list.

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Find music from these artists and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. Whether you are looking for rap, pop, rock, R&B, classical or even television and movie soundtracks, Long Island’s top new independent record shop has it. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, DVDs and memorabilia spanning thousands of titles and genres. More titles are being added all the time, so check back often to see what’s new.