April 29, 2025 • 18 mins
Chances are, you’ve heard all these songs made famous by film and TV… but you probably haven’t heard the stories behind them. Why did young Will Smith overrule music legend Quincy Jones? How did a contract clause influence the lyrics to one of the best-known theme songs of the 1960s? And what did Joe DiMaggio really think when Paul Simon wrote a song about him? Turn the volume up, because Will and Mango have the answers!
Follow us on Instagram @parttimegenius!
Learn more about your ad choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess well, will what's that?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mango?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So I have been practicing mentalism.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I hate to say this, but I actually find that
hard to believe.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm gonna prove it to you so I can make
you and everyone listening to this think of the same
word at the same time. All Right, I'm ready, Okay,
here we go. Who are you gonna call?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Ghostbusters? I mean, that's funny, but I don't think that
counts as mentalism. Mango.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, I know. It just really proves how iconic the
song is. But apparently the Ghostbuster's theme song was difficult
for composer Ray Parker Junior to write. And why is
that Well, for one very specific reason. He had trouble
figuring out a way to fit the word ghostbusters into
the lyrics. It turns out it's a pretty weird word
to put in a song starting with what are you
(01:09):
gonna rhyme with Ghostbusters? Lackluster?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I get a feather duster insurance adjuster, Like. It feels
like he had a few options there.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, but none of those are going to get people
hyped at a party. But According to Ray Parker Junior,
the director Ivan Rerightman was adamant that the word ghostbusters
being the lyrics. Apparently, the music itself came pretty easy.
When Parker joined the project, the movie was in the
editing stage with I Want a New Drug by Huey
Lewis as a placeholder theme song, so Parker created a
(01:40):
track with a similar riff, but he just couldn't figure
out how to sing the word ghostbusters in a catchy way,
and he was actually down to the wire with the
deadline to get this done. Finally, inspiration struck when he
remembered that in the movie the guys have a commercial
with their phone number, and that led to this undeniable line,
who you Gonna Call Ghostbusters? Which I will now have
(02:01):
stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
But I'm not complaining.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Well, get used to the feeling, because today we're uncovering
some real earworms. We've got nine catchy facts about theme songs,
so let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm
Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good
friend Mangesh hot Ticket. And there on the other side
of the booth. Wait, where did where did Dylan go?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know, but I think I hear that song
Return of.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The Mac in my earphones. Okay, yeah, he's actually walking
into Return of the Mac like it's his own personal
theme songkh He's so smooth. That's our paler introducer Dylan.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
That song is catchy, and I'm also really glad he
returned to the book.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, me too. We need this episode recorded. And actually,
to bring it back to your incredible mentalism trick, my
next theme song has a similar widespread impact. It's the
one that starts in West Philadelphia ring a bell.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
There born and Raise exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
It's from the Fresh Prince of bel Air. And here's
what's funny. The show almost didn't have that iconic wrap
because executive producer Quincy Jones wrote a whole different song
for the theme. But when Will Smith heard it, he
hated it.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Can you imagine telling Quincy Jones that you don't like
something he wrote.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I have never told Quincy Jones that. But he had
produced so many hits, from Sinatra's Fly Me to the
Moon to Ray Charles in the Heat of the Night
to We Are the World, so many of Michael Jackson's
hits from bad to thriller, don't stop to you gain enough?
I mean Will Smith knew Quincy was a very big deal.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Of course, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff had won
a Grammy in nineteen eighty nine for parents Just Don't Understand,
which I think puts them in exact same selon right.
So this was Smith's first major acting job. So as
he was telling Jazzy Jeff he couldn't speak up about
the songs, Jazzy Jeff came up with a different solution.
He said, why don't we try recording our own version
of a theme song?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
So much humors? Yeah? I know.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So in a later interview, Jeff explained that Will Smith
often struggled with developing a concept for a song, but
once the concept was there, like in this case, the
plot of the show, it was easier for him to
write the lyrics. So it actually came together really quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
And how does Quincy Jones react to all of this?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
So, according to Smith, when he played it for Jones,
he said, quote, that's good. Mine's a piece of You
can use your mentalism to fill in the blank. So
the song was approved and just in the Nick of
time jazz. Jeff remembers there being just three weeks between
recording the theme song demo and the day the show
actually premiered.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That is incredible. Well, I think we can give Quincy
some consolation with this next one, because even if he
didn't write the Fresh Prince song, he did did write
the Austin Powers theme and he did it in just
twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I actually didn't remember I had anything to do with that,
and that is unbelievably.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Fast, truly, and it's a piece with so many parts.
There are flutes, trombone, drums, and they all add so
much character throughout the track. The song is called Soul
bossa Nova. I love that, but he didn't write it
for the movie. Jones actually wrote this piece way back
in nineteen sixty two, so that's over three decades before
Mike Myers danced to it in the opening scene of
(05:28):
Austin Powers. The song is really a product of its
time though. Bossa Nova was a trendy genre of Brazilian
music in the early sixties. And I didn't know this before,
but the term means new thing or new style.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Which I guess could also describe Mike Myer's comedy in
the nineteen nineties. But what set this new style apart well.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
The bossonova genre was defined by its quieter sound compared
to the traditional samba. It was rhythmically complex and this
jazzy style, but it usually featured flute and saxophones. Quincy
Jones had spent time in Brazil during this Boston Nova
movement and he got inspired, so he wrote Soul Bosonova
soon after he left the country. He'd eventually make a
(06:11):
self proclaimed fortune on the song, but that almost didn't happen.
In his autobiography, Jones writes about a failed tour of
Europe where his all star band was incredibly successful, but
the budgeting was terrible and he calls it an economic disaster.
He said the tour taught him the difference between music
and the music business, and he had to actually sell
(06:31):
his music catalog to make up for the losses. But
as he made money, he bought back the rights to
his song for one hundred five thousand dollars, a price
seven times higher than he sold him for. But as
Quincy Jones put it, quote that song, it won't go away.
Mike Myers used it for the themes of Austin Powers films.
It was also used in the movie The Pawnbroker and
(06:52):
a Woody Allen film, Take the Money and Run. But
perhaps most importantly, it was the theme song for a
popular Canadian game show called Definition that ran from nineteen
seventy four to nineteen eighty nine, which is how he
really made his money on this song, and it's also
where young Mike Myers.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
First heard it.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
By the way, the piano player on the track is
Leilo Schiffrin, who wrote the Mission Impossible theme song, which
I know is on your list.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, no, spoilers, stopped piking my list, but yes, the
Mission Impossible theme song was written by Argentinian jazz pianist
Leilo Schiffrin. This was in nineteen sixty six, and this
song is known for its unique use of a five
to four time signature. I think we can all hear
it in our heads. But the notes go from two
long beats to two short beats and then that repeats.
(07:39):
Of course, well, those long and short notes can actually
be translated into Mars code as dash dash dot dot. Now,
in Morse code M is two dashes and I is
two dots, so the song actually spells out m I
that is.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Really cool, and it's kind of like an easter egg
in music notes exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
But also that rhythm and those notes make it very identified,
which is basically Schiffrin nailing the assignment.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I think, why why is that? Well?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
When the show's creator, Bruce Geller called Schiffrin to ask
him to write the song, he had a very detailed request.
He said he was looking for something that when a
viewer went to the kitchen to get a soda, if
they heard the theme music, they would immediately know that
Mission Impossible was playing on TV.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I love that. That's how he was thinking about it,
and obviously that's what theme songs do. It's still true today.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, and Schiffrin gained some pretty high profile fans for it. So,
for example, he went on to score Bruce Lee's Enter
the Dragon. Lee requested him personally because he liked listening
to the Mission Impossible soundtrack while he was working out.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I love the idea of Bruce Lee just like listening
to the Mission Impossible soundtrack over and over, punching and kicking. Well,
oddly enough, my next theme song also has a hidden
message in it, and I want to tell you about it.
But first a little break. Welcome back to Part Time Genius,
(09:11):
where we're counting down nine facts about some of our
favorite theme songs. If you like what you're hearing, be
sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and please
leave us a rating and review. We love, love, love
hearing from you.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
All right, well, speaking of things we love to hear,
I'm curious what's your next fact?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So if you've ever wondered what's going on with the
Frasier theme song, first of all, you are not alone,
and second, I have answers. So if you're called a
theme song, there's a line that goes toss salads and
scrambled eggs have a combination that no one has ever
ordered or wanted to eat together. And yet it's in
the intro to one of the most beloved nineties sitcoms.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, I have to man, I never understood what that
was about, so apparently there's some metaphor built into it.
The composer of the song is Bruce Miller, and the
producer has asked him to create something jazzy and play
him this Joni Mitchell song for inspiration. They also didn't
want a song to reference psychiatry, psychology, or really anything
specific about the plot of the show. I guess unlike
(10:10):
Fresh Prince.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, it's kind of the opposite. But Miller went to
his friend Darryl Finnissy to write the lyrics, and Finishy
sent back the version We Know and Love Today with
all that like toss salads and scrambled eggs lines. He
used those foods as a veiled reference to Fraser's patients,
things that were quote mixed up, and the rest of
the lyrics have meaning as well. I hear the blues
(10:33):
of Colin. Those are obviously Fraser's patients calling into his
radio show and he's got them pegged, which is how
he can help them through their problems. And yet those
toss solads and scrambled eggs calling again at the end
of the song. That's you know, the callers still calling.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, I mean, I really thought those lyrics were just
kind of nonsense and more creating a vibe or something.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, me too. And another interesting tibit is that Bruce
Miller wanted meltor Mae to sing the theme song, but
Kelsey Grammer told the show's producers he wanted to sing it,
and obviously Grammar got the gig.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, huh, that's pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, I'm going to one up your old sitcom theme song.
I'm going even older Mango to the theme the Gilligan's Island,
written by show's creator and producer Sherwood Schwartz with George
wil who also wrote the song It's the most wonderful
time of the year. As most of our older listeners
will know, the theme song was a TV classic, using
a sea shanty style to describe how Gilligan and the
(11:29):
gang they got stranded on this island after what was
supposed to be just a three hour tour, of course,
but there were actually different versions over the years. In fact,
the original Gilligan's Island theme didn't even mention Professor or
Mary Anne. Can you imagine this?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, I mean those are pretty big characters to leave out.
So how did this happen?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Well, the story goes that it was because of actress
Tina Luise's contract. She played Ginger the movie star, and
apparently one of the details in her contract was that
she would be named last in the credits. So the
song finished with the movie and the rest without any
mention of the Professor or Mary Anne. Sherwood Schwartz wrote
a book about his time working on Gilligan's Island, and
(12:07):
while he didn't exactly confirm that fact, he did write
that quote. The characters had to be introduced in a
certain order because of contractual obligations. But before season two,
the actor who played Gilligan, Bob Denver, requested the other
two cast mates be added to the song, and of
course they were, but Don Wells and Russell Johnson, who
played Marianne and the Professor, seemed unbothered by the original emission.
(12:29):
According to Wells, they used to write each other notes
signed love the rest.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
I love that. So jumping from the sixties to the seventies,
I discovered a story of a theme song composer who
also wanted to be the lead part in the project.
And I'm talking about Isaac Hayes, who composed the theme
from Shaft. He was approached to score the movie in
nineteen seventy one, but he was more focused on whether
he could play the lead role of private detective John Shaft.
(12:55):
And he asked the director, Gordon Parks, if he could audition,
and he kind of got this lukewarm response. The director said, okay,
but remember you've got to do the music. According to Hayes,
he went home and immediately started telling all his friends
about how he's going to try out for the role,
not even mentioning the actual job he had scoring the music.
Within about two weeks he found out, however, that Richard
(13:16):
Brountree was cast a Shaft and he'd just be doing
the music.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I mean, I guess he overcame his disappointment and did
make one of the most iconic theme songs of all time.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Right, yeah, it's pretty unforgettable and amazingly, the Shaft single
and album hit number one. Hayes also earned an OSCAR
for Best Original Song, making him only the third black
artist to do so at the time. All right, well,
let's go back to the small screen for the next one.
So the Rembrandts are famously known for the Friends theme
I'll be there for You. In fact, mentalf loss Rights
(13:45):
quote when Friends producer Kevin S. Bright sent the pilot
episode to the Rembrandts, its placeholder theme song was RIM's
It's the end of the World.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We know it and I feel fine. We all know
that song very well, which he was hoping they could
emulate if they took the gig. But before they could
get to writing. Apparently, Friends co creator Marta Kaufman's husband
Michael Scloff wrote the song and he got help with
the words from Ali Willis, who co wrote Earth Wind
and Fire's hit September, and then the rem Brands brandified it.
(14:14):
I don't know if you knew that term.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
So now.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
At the time, the rem Brands were working on their
third album, and because this was just a theme song
for a TV show, the original version was only forty
two seconds long, but as the song became a hit,
the theme song did too. In fact, the band learned
that a radio station in Nashville was playing the track
on a loop just to satisfy the crazy call and
listener demand. But the idea started spreading to other stations too,
(14:39):
and other DJs got the same idea, So the band
wrote an extended version to add it to their album,
even though one hundred thousand copies of the album had
already been printed. They decided to do this anyway, and
because the producers of Friends had helped write the theme song,
they were in the studio along with the Rembrandts working
on that extended track. Pretty wild, isn't it now? First,
(15:00):
the rem Brands were pretty annoyed by having to add
the sitcom track to the album because it didn't really
fit into the arc of the album that they had
already made. But in the end they were pretty okay
with it since it helped them sell a lot more copies.
By the way, here's a little quiz for you. How
many claps do you think are in the song after
that first line? Hmm? It's kind of a trick question.
(15:23):
What were you going to say?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Though?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
For I think or okay, there are four claps then
a drum comes in. But for anyone who was unsure,
there's no need to be embarrassed. Apparently Matt LeBlanc didn't
know how many claps to do when filming the recent
Friends Reunion either.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Well, speaking of friends, that ties perfectly into my last
fact about two unlikely friends brought together by a theme song.
And I'm talking about Paul Simon and baseball great Joe DiMaggio.
And the song, of course is Missus Robinson, written by
Simon for the film The Graduate. Now the song today's
the lyric where have you Gone? Joe DiMaggio? Only Joe
(16:00):
DiMaggio didn't know how to feel about that question at first,
and a few years after it came out, Simon and
Dmaggio ran into each other at a restaurant. According to Simon,
DiMaggio said, quote, what I don't understand is why you
ask where I've gone. I just did a mister coffee commercial.
I'm a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank. I haven't
gone anywhere.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's a pretty hilarious way for Joe Demaggio to describe himself.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, And this gave Simon the chance to explain the line.
What it meant was where have all the heroes gone?
You know, all the great heroes? And he didn't mean
Demagio specifically. And I guess the explanation satisfied Demagio because
the two became friends for life. Simon even wrote an
obituary for DiMaggio after he passed and sang the song
in centerfield of Yankee Stadium to honor him. Now, the
(16:46):
irony is, according to Paul Simon, he was always more
of a Mickey Mantle guy.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I have to say a mango that fact is worthy
of today's trophy. So congratulations, I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Well, that is it for today's episod. We'll be back
next week with another brand new episode, and in the meantime,
you can find us on Instagram at part Time Genius.
Research and writing for this episode was done by our
old friend Meredith Danko. Thank you Meredith, and from Dylan, Gabe, Mary,
Will and myself, thank you so much for listening. Part
(17:28):
Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This
show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me Mongage Heatikler
and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social
(17:50):
media support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and buy
Any Shorey. For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope
and iHeartRadio. Guess well, will what's that?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Mango?
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So I have been practicing mentalism.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I hate to say this, but I actually find that
hard to believe.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm gonna prove it to you so I can make
you and everyone listening to this think of the same
word at the same time. All Right, I'm ready, Okay,
here we go. Who are you gonna call?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Ghostbusters? I mean, that's funny, but I don't think that
counts as mentalism. Mango.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, I know. It just really proves how iconic the
song is. But apparently the Ghostbuster's theme song was difficult
for composer Ray Parker Junior to write. And why is
that Well, for one very specific reason. He had trouble
figuring out a way to fit the word ghostbusters into
the lyrics. It turns out it's a pretty weird word
to put in a song starting with what are you
(01:09):
gonna rhyme with Ghostbusters? Lackluster?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I get a feather duster insurance adjuster, Like. It feels
like he had a few options there.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, but none of those are going to get people
hyped at a party. But According to Ray Parker Junior,
the director Ivan Rerightman was adamant that the word ghostbusters
being the lyrics. Apparently, the music itself came pretty easy.
When Parker joined the project, the movie was in the
editing stage with I Want a New Drug by Huey
Lewis as a placeholder theme song, so Parker created a
(01:40):
track with a similar riff, but he just couldn't figure
out how to sing the word ghostbusters in a catchy way,
and he was actually down to the wire with the
deadline to get this done. Finally, inspiration struck when he
remembered that in the movie the guys have a commercial
with their phone number, and that led to this undeniable line,
who you Gonna Call Ghostbusters? Which I will now have
(02:01):
stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
But I'm not complaining.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Well, get used to the feeling, because today we're uncovering
some real earworms. We've got nine catchy facts about theme songs,
so let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm
Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good
friend Mangesh hot Ticket. And there on the other side
of the booth. Wait, where did where did Dylan go?
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know, but I think I hear that song
Return of.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The Mac in my earphones. Okay, yeah, he's actually walking
into Return of the Mac like it's his own personal
theme songkh He's so smooth. That's our paler introducer Dylan.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
That song is catchy, and I'm also really glad he
returned to the book.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, me too. We need this episode recorded. And actually,
to bring it back to your incredible mentalism trick, my
next theme song has a similar widespread impact. It's the
one that starts in West Philadelphia ring a bell.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
There born and Raise exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
It's from the Fresh Prince of bel Air. And here's
what's funny. The show almost didn't have that iconic wrap
because executive producer Quincy Jones wrote a whole different song
for the theme. But when Will Smith heard it, he
hated it.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Can you imagine telling Quincy Jones that you don't like
something he wrote.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I have never told Quincy Jones that. But he had
produced so many hits, from Sinatra's Fly Me to the
Moon to Ray Charles in the Heat of the Night
to We Are the World, so many of Michael Jackson's
hits from bad to thriller, don't stop to you gain enough?
I mean Will Smith knew Quincy was a very big deal.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Of course, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff had won
a Grammy in nineteen eighty nine for parents Just Don't Understand,
which I think puts them in exact same selon right.
So this was Smith's first major acting job. So as
he was telling Jazzy Jeff he couldn't speak up about
the songs, Jazzy Jeff came up with a different solution.
He said, why don't we try recording our own version
of a theme song?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
So much humors? Yeah? I know.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
So in a later interview, Jeff explained that Will Smith
often struggled with developing a concept for a song, but
once the concept was there, like in this case, the
plot of the show, it was easier for him to
write the lyrics. So it actually came together really quickly.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
And how does Quincy Jones react to all of this?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
So, according to Smith, when he played it for Jones,
he said, quote, that's good. Mine's a piece of You
can use your mentalism to fill in the blank. So
the song was approved and just in the Nick of
time jazz. Jeff remembers there being just three weeks between
recording the theme song demo and the day the show
actually premiered.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
That is incredible. Well, I think we can give Quincy
some consolation with this next one, because even if he
didn't write the Fresh Prince song, he did did write
the Austin Powers theme and he did it in just
twenty minutes.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I actually didn't remember I had anything to do with that,
and that is unbelievably.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Fast, truly, and it's a piece with so many parts.
There are flutes, trombone, drums, and they all add so
much character throughout the track. The song is called Soul
bossa Nova. I love that, but he didn't write it
for the movie. Jones actually wrote this piece way back
in nineteen sixty two, so that's over three decades before
Mike Myers danced to it in the opening scene of
(05:28):
Austin Powers. The song is really a product of its
time though. Bossa Nova was a trendy genre of Brazilian
music in the early sixties. And I didn't know this before,
but the term means new thing or new style.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Which I guess could also describe Mike Myer's comedy in
the nineteen nineties. But what set this new style apart well.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
The bossonova genre was defined by its quieter sound compared
to the traditional samba. It was rhythmically complex and this
jazzy style, but it usually featured flute and saxophones. Quincy
Jones had spent time in Brazil during this Boston Nova
movement and he got inspired, so he wrote Soul Bosonova
soon after he left the country. He'd eventually make a
(06:11):
self proclaimed fortune on the song, but that almost didn't happen.
In his autobiography, Jones writes about a failed tour of
Europe where his all star band was incredibly successful, but
the budgeting was terrible and he calls it an economic disaster.
He said the tour taught him the difference between music
and the music business, and he had to actually sell
(06:31):
his music catalog to make up for the losses. But
as he made money, he bought back the rights to
his song for one hundred five thousand dollars, a price
seven times higher than he sold him for. But as
Quincy Jones put it, quote that song, it won't go away.
Mike Myers used it for the themes of Austin Powers films.
It was also used in the movie The Pawnbroker and
(06:52):
a Woody Allen film, Take the Money and Run. But
perhaps most importantly, it was the theme song for a
popular Canadian game show called Definition that ran from nineteen
seventy four to nineteen eighty nine, which is how he
really made his money on this song, and it's also
where young Mike Myers.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
First heard it.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
By the way, the piano player on the track is
Leilo Schiffrin, who wrote the Mission Impossible theme song, which
I know is on your list.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, no, spoilers, stopped piking my list, but yes, the
Mission Impossible theme song was written by Argentinian jazz pianist
Leilo Schiffrin. This was in nineteen sixty six, and this
song is known for its unique use of a five
to four time signature. I think we can all hear
it in our heads. But the notes go from two
long beats to two short beats and then that repeats.
(07:39):
Of course, well, those long and short notes can actually
be translated into Mars code as dash dash dot dot. Now,
in Morse code M is two dashes and I is
two dots, so the song actually spells out m I
that is.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Really cool, and it's kind of like an easter egg
in music notes exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
But also that rhythm and those notes make it very identified,
which is basically Schiffrin nailing the assignment.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I think, why why is that? Well?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
When the show's creator, Bruce Geller called Schiffrin to ask
him to write the song, he had a very detailed request.
He said he was looking for something that when a
viewer went to the kitchen to get a soda, if
they heard the theme music, they would immediately know that
Mission Impossible was playing on TV.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I love that. That's how he was thinking about it,
and obviously that's what theme songs do. It's still true today.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah, and Schiffrin gained some pretty high profile fans for it. So,
for example, he went on to score Bruce Lee's Enter
the Dragon. Lee requested him personally because he liked listening
to the Mission Impossible soundtrack while he was working out.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
I love the idea of Bruce Lee just like listening
to the Mission Impossible soundtrack over and over, punching and kicking. Well,
oddly enough, my next theme song also has a hidden
message in it, and I want to tell you about it.
But first a little break. Welcome back to Part Time Genius,
(09:11):
where we're counting down nine facts about some of our
favorite theme songs. If you like what you're hearing, be
sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and please
leave us a rating and review. We love, love, love
hearing from you.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
All right, well, speaking of things we love to hear,
I'm curious what's your next fact?
Speaker 1 (09:27):
So if you've ever wondered what's going on with the
Frasier theme song, first of all, you are not alone,
and second, I have answers. So if you're called a
theme song, there's a line that goes toss salads and
scrambled eggs have a combination that no one has ever
ordered or wanted to eat together. And yet it's in
the intro to one of the most beloved nineties sitcoms.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Yeah, I have to man, I never understood what that
was about, so apparently there's some metaphor built into it.
The composer of the song is Bruce Miller, and the
producer has asked him to create something jazzy and play
him this Joni Mitchell song for inspiration. They also didn't
want a song to reference psychiatry, psychology, or really anything
specific about the plot of the show. I guess unlike
(10:10):
Fresh Prince.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, it's kind of the opposite. But Miller went to
his friend Darryl Finnissy to write the lyrics, and Finishy
sent back the version We Know and Love Today with
all that like toss salads and scrambled eggs lines. He
used those foods as a veiled reference to Fraser's patients,
things that were quote mixed up, and the rest of
the lyrics have meaning as well. I hear the blues
(10:33):
of Colin. Those are obviously Fraser's patients calling into his
radio show and he's got them pegged, which is how
he can help them through their problems. And yet those
toss solads and scrambled eggs calling again at the end
of the song. That's you know, the callers still calling.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, I mean, I really thought those lyrics were just
kind of nonsense and more creating a vibe or something.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yeah, me too. And another interesting tibit is that Bruce
Miller wanted meltor Mae to sing the theme song, but
Kelsey Grammer told the show's producers he wanted to sing it,
and obviously Grammar got the gig.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah, huh, that's pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
All right.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Well, I'm going to one up your old sitcom theme song.
I'm going even older Mango to the theme the Gilligan's Island,
written by show's creator and producer Sherwood Schwartz with George
wil who also wrote the song It's the most wonderful
time of the year. As most of our older listeners
will know, the theme song was a TV classic, using
a sea shanty style to describe how Gilligan and the
(11:29):
gang they got stranded on this island after what was
supposed to be just a three hour tour, of course,
but there were actually different versions over the years. In fact,
the original Gilligan's Island theme didn't even mention Professor or
Mary Anne. Can you imagine this?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, I mean those are pretty big characters to leave out.
So how did this happen?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Well, the story goes that it was because of actress
Tina Luise's contract. She played Ginger the movie star, and
apparently one of the details in her contract was that
she would be named last in the credits. So the
song finished with the movie and the rest without any
mention of the Professor or Mary Anne. Sherwood Schwartz wrote
a book about his time working on Gilligan's Island, and
(12:07):
while he didn't exactly confirm that fact, he did write
that quote. The characters had to be introduced in a
certain order because of contractual obligations. But before season two,
the actor who played Gilligan, Bob Denver, requested the other
two cast mates be added to the song, and of
course they were, but Don Wells and Russell Johnson, who
played Marianne and the Professor, seemed unbothered by the original emission.
(12:29):
According to Wells, they used to write each other notes
signed love the rest.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
I love that. So jumping from the sixties to the seventies,
I discovered a story of a theme song composer who
also wanted to be the lead part in the project.
And I'm talking about Isaac Hayes, who composed the theme
from Shaft. He was approached to score the movie in
nineteen seventy one, but he was more focused on whether
he could play the lead role of private detective John Shaft.
(12:55):
And he asked the director, Gordon Parks, if he could audition,
and he kind of got this lukewarm response. The director said, okay,
but remember you've got to do the music. According to Hayes,
he went home and immediately started telling all his friends
about how he's going to try out for the role,
not even mentioning the actual job he had scoring the music.
Within about two weeks he found out, however, that Richard
(13:16):
Brountree was cast a Shaft and he'd just be doing
the music.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I mean, I guess he overcame his disappointment and did
make one of the most iconic theme songs of all time.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Right, yeah, it's pretty unforgettable and amazingly, the Shaft single
and album hit number one. Hayes also earned an OSCAR
for Best Original Song, making him only the third black
artist to do so at the time. All right, well,
let's go back to the small screen for the next one.
So the Rembrandts are famously known for the Friends theme
I'll be there for You. In fact, mentalf loss Rights
(13:45):
quote when Friends producer Kevin S. Bright sent the pilot
episode to the Rembrandts, its placeholder theme song was RIM's
It's the end of the World.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
We know it and I feel fine. We all know
that song very well, which he was hoping they could
emulate if they took the gig. But before they could
get to writing. Apparently, Friends co creator Marta Kaufman's husband
Michael Scloff wrote the song and he got help with
the words from Ali Willis, who co wrote Earth Wind
and Fire's hit September, and then the rem Brands brandified it.
(14:14):
I don't know if you knew that term.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
So now.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
At the time, the rem Brands were working on their
third album, and because this was just a theme song
for a TV show, the original version was only forty
two seconds long, but as the song became a hit,
the theme song did too. In fact, the band learned
that a radio station in Nashville was playing the track
on a loop just to satisfy the crazy call and
listener demand. But the idea started spreading to other stations too,
(14:39):
and other DJs got the same idea, So the band
wrote an extended version to add it to their album,
even though one hundred thousand copies of the album had
already been printed. They decided to do this anyway, and
because the producers of Friends had helped write the theme song,
they were in the studio along with the Rembrandts working
on that extended track. Pretty wild, isn't it now? First,
(15:00):
the rem Brands were pretty annoyed by having to add
the sitcom track to the album because it didn't really
fit into the arc of the album that they had
already made. But in the end they were pretty okay
with it since it helped them sell a lot more copies.
By the way, here's a little quiz for you. How
many claps do you think are in the song after
that first line? Hmm? It's kind of a trick question.
(15:23):
What were you going to say?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Though?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
For I think or okay, there are four claps then
a drum comes in. But for anyone who was unsure,
there's no need to be embarrassed. Apparently Matt LeBlanc didn't
know how many claps to do when filming the recent
Friends Reunion either.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Well, speaking of friends, that ties perfectly into my last
fact about two unlikely friends brought together by a theme song.
And I'm talking about Paul Simon and baseball great Joe DiMaggio.
And the song, of course is Missus Robinson, written by
Simon for the film The Graduate. Now the song today's
the lyric where have you Gone? Joe DiMaggio? Only Joe
(16:00):
DiMaggio didn't know how to feel about that question at first,
and a few years after it came out, Simon and
Dmaggio ran into each other at a restaurant. According to Simon,
DiMaggio said, quote, what I don't understand is why you
ask where I've gone. I just did a mister coffee commercial.
I'm a spokesman for the Bowery Savings Bank. I haven't
gone anywhere.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It's a pretty hilarious way for Joe Demaggio to describe himself.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Right, And this gave Simon the chance to explain the line.
What it meant was where have all the heroes gone?
You know, all the great heroes? And he didn't mean
Demagio specifically. And I guess the explanation satisfied Demagio because
the two became friends for life. Simon even wrote an
obituary for DiMaggio after he passed and sang the song
in centerfield of Yankee Stadium to honor him. Now, the
(16:46):
irony is, according to Paul Simon, he was always more
of a Mickey Mantle guy.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
I have to say a mango that fact is worthy
of today's trophy. So congratulations, I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Well, that is it for today's episod. We'll be back
next week with another brand new episode, and in the meantime,
you can find us on Instagram at part Time Genius.
Research and writing for this episode was done by our
old friend Meredith Danko. Thank you Meredith, and from Dylan, Gabe, Mary,
Will and myself, thank you so much for listening. Part
(17:28):
Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This
show is hosted by Will Pearson and Me Mongage Heatikler
and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's
episode was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan
with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced
for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with social
(17:50):
media support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and buy
Any Shorey. For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com