Which are the worst out-of-tune vintage TV shows' theme music?

[bloke]

M*A*S*H* is pretty hideous...

Which ones have you noticed?

[bloke]

Good thread idea.

CHiPS immediately jumped to mind.

[the elephant]

MASH, between something like seasons 5 through 8 has that damned, flat piccolo that wants to blow my TV's speaker every time it fires that note like a laser beam. If they rereleased the entire series with that particular "performance" replaced by the one used in the first few years I would buy it just to start those episodes over and go, "AHHHHHHHHHH"…

[the elephant]

How about the most intentional dissonance?

The Streets of San Francisco

I love that one!

[bloke]

sidebar:

There is such a thing as a below-pitch piccolo (as you and I hear in that TV theme), but there is also a tendency to expect piccolos to play sharp (to match the type of tuning to which we are accustomed to hearing when listening to (the most commonly heard instrument, other than guitars...??) pianos (whereas the highest strings on the piano are INTENTIONALLY tuned 1/2 of a semitone HIGHER than the lowest strings on the piano - whereby the otherwise equal temperament perfect 5ths would badly grind).

If I play any sort of service with the Memphis Symphony next April, I will have been their "on-call" tuba guy for fifty freakin' years, and my buddy will have held down that job for roughly (??) 52/53...?? years. (I played a Stravinsky suite/divertimento - in his stead - when in the 12th grade.)
I've had to reintroduce myself to endless management, staff, players, and a formidable list of conductors.
I've played the equivalent of several full-seasons of services, a couple of actual full seasons, and even the thirty-something-years players will attest to that.

A few years after the orchestra first had a thirty-something member "core" and an actual salary, piccolo (as one might guess) wasn't in the core, but it was a per-service position which offered quite a few services (just as today). The higher pay attracted good players to audition, and the person hired (too good to stay there, as many really heavy hitters - such as Ryan Anthony, John Clouser, Mark Ridenour, et al - have passed through) was quite the piccolo (true) "artist". At first, their playing sounded unusual to me because - not only was their tuning "right where it should be" (rather than way to high), but they played (GULP) music.

BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY-SCHEDULED BERATING OF TV SHOW THEMES !!!

[arpthark]

Does "All in the Family" count?

[bloke]

Does "All in the Family" count?

Only via a technicality

[the elephant]

It is only painfully flat on the single pitch, every friggin' time. The rest is pretty well in tune. In other seasons it is dead in tune.

[bloke]

There are too-many-to-list unisons in old TV theme music whereby the unisons are not unison. I tend to wonder if everyone was fine with that, because it easily clued in the listener that there was more than one player playing the melody...(??)

I think since a lot of the themes were basically big bands that they felt like they had license or something. Even a bunch of the Nelson Riddle Sinatra accompaniments are pretty badly out of tune, and with mis-executed trumpet high notes.

One thing that attracted me to listening to the amazing arrangements of the Dukes of Dixieland was their intonation - as opposed to many other recorded bands. Of course their clever arrangements and virtuoso playing caught my ear as well.

[Finetales]

Some of those F major chords in the A-Team theme song are pretty gnarly.

[Three Valves]

I thought that was just the 70s stretched out wonky video making the pitch off…

It was on purpose?

[MikeS]

Walker, Texas Ranger was too easy a target. This, however, is bad on so many different levels. Warning: this might haunt your dreams.

[bort2.0]

I Love Lucy

[bloke]

I Love Lucy

I hear a lot of vibrato in that theme, but I'm not sure that defines being out of tune. Maybe I'm missing something...

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[bort2.0]

I Love Lucy

I hear a lot of vibrato in that theme, but I'm not sure that defines being out of tune. Maybe I'm missing something...

Yeah, you're probably right.

But isn't vibrato -- oscillating between a little above and a little below the pitch -- kind of intentionally being a little out of tune, just for the effect?

[matt g]

The soprano saxophone on the theme from “What’s Happening” from the 1970’s. Probably intentional, but still.

(The show had “Raj,” and “Rerun” inner city kids. Pretty obscure.)

That was a great show!

[Mark]

Does "All in the Family" count?

Only via a technicality

And you have to give them credit. In real life, Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor are both accomplished singers.

[WC8KCY]

The worst offender to me is the original Night Court series theme. The saxophone licks are often painfully flat and the electric bass is playing sharp the whole way through relative to the Rhodes piano. Maybe it was intentional, but...oy.

[Breavdah]

Wasn't all bad, there was the Love Boat theme. That one's just awesome.