The "Insane World Of Mike Sain" airs every Wednesday at 9:00 AM Eastern Time on WPON-AM 1460 Detroit. This morning, Mike played oldies TV theme songs for various TV shows which ran from the late 1950s through the late 1990s.
- Rawhide - Frankie Laine - 1959
- Peter Gunn - The Blues Brothers - 1980
- Mouseketeer Closing Theme - Annette With The Afterbeats - ca. 1955
- Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight) - Richard Chamberlain - 1962
- Theme From Ben Casey - Valjean - 1962
- Action - Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon - 1965 (by request)
- Route 66 Theme - Nelson Riddle And His Orchestra - 1962
- 77 Sunset Strip - Don Ralke - 1959
- Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers - 1966
- Theme From My Three Sons - Lawrence Welk - 1961
- (Theme From) The Monkees - The Monkees - 1966
- (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley And His Comets - 1955, 1974
- Love and Marriage - Frank Sinatra - 1955
- With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker - 1968
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Notes:
- "Rawhide" by Frankie Laine was used to kick off today's show as this song has become a WPON favorite, having been a part of the playlists for three shows this past year. "Rawhide" was written by Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin and was the theme for the horse opera "Rawhide" which starred Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yeats and ran from 1959-1966. Frankie Laine had numerous chart hits going all the way back to 1947, and his distinctive baritone can be heard in the opening theme songs of many Westerns.
- "Peter Gunn," the title theme song from the private eye TV show that co-starred Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn and ran from 1958-1961, was written by Henry Mancini and was a chart hit for Ray Anthony (1959), Duane Eddy (1960), Deodato (1976), and the Art of Noise Featuring Duane Eddy (1986). The Blues Brothers cover of "Peter Gunn" is part of the soundtrack for the 1980 movie, "The Blues Brothers." The Blues Brothers, whose members included John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd from "Saturday Night Live," not only starred in their own movie but also had several chart hits from 1978-1981.
- The "Mouseketeer Closing Theme" was always the last song heard on "The Mickey Mouse Club" which ran from 1955-1959. Annette Funicello was a Mouseketeer and co-starred with Frankie Avalon in a number of early 1960s beach movies. She also had several chart hits including "Tall Paul" (1959) and "O Dio Mio" (1960). The version played today is from the hard-to-find CD, "The Best Of Annette." "The Mouseketeer Closing Theme" was also included on Funicello's 1962 album, "The Story Of My Teens" (Buena Vista, BV-3312).
- Richard Chamberlain's "Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)" is the best known of his string of Billboard Hot 100 hits from 1962-1964. Chamberlain is a leading actor in the movie, TV, and the theater who became famous for his starring role as Dr. James Kildare in TV's "Dr. Kildare" which ran from 1961-1966.
- "Ben Casey," which starred Vince Edwards in the title role, and "Dr. Kildare" both debuted in 1961 and ended in 1966. The title TV theme song from "Ben Casey" was a chart hit for Valjean in 1962. Valjean was a pianist born Valjean Johns, and "Theme From Ben Casey" was his chart debut song.
- Freddy Cannon's "Action" was from the Dick Clark TV show "Where The Action Is." Ricky Lyons had a minor hit in 1960 with "Shim Sham Shuffle" which has the same melody as "Action." Cannon's "Boom-Boom" nickname came from his big bass drum sound.
- The instrumental "Route 66 Theme" was a chart hit for Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra in 1962 and was the TV theme song for "Route 66" which co-starred Martin Milner and George Maharis and ran from 1960-1964.
- "77 Sunset Strip" was a chart hit for Don Ralke in 1959 and was the title theme song for the private eye series which co-starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes and ran from 1958-1964. "77 Sunset Strip" is mostly an instrumental except for some sung repetitions of the song title and snapping fingers.
- "Secret Agent Man," which was one of many hits for Johnny Rivers, was the TV theme song for the spy series, "Secret Agent," which starred Patrick McGoohan as John Drake and ran from 1964-1966. "Secret Agent" was based on the TV series, "Danger Man," which first aired in 1960 as a half-hour spy program on British television.
- The "Theme From My Three Sons" was a chart hit for Lawrence Welk and was the title theme song for the series that starred Fred MacMurray and ran from 1960-1972.
- A made-for-TV band, the Monkees had many Top 40 hits and starred in 58 episodes of "The Monkees" from 1966-1968. Their uncharted TV theme song, "(Theme From) The Monkees," is included on Monkees, a CD reissue of their 1966 debut album.
- Bill Haley's "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" first topped the charts in 1955 and was featured in the movie "Blackboard Jungle" starring Glenn Ford. This song was later used as the original opening theme for the TV sitcom, "Happy Days," which ran from 1974-1984. Due to its popularity from the show, "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" recharted in 1974.
- Frank Sinatra's 1955 hit, "Love And Marriage," was used as the TV theme song for "Married... with Children," a farcical sitcom about a thoroughly dysfunctional family which co-starred Ed O'Neill and Katey Sagal and Al and Peggy Bundy and ran from 1987-1997. "Love And Marriage" also charted in 1955 for Dinah Shore.
- Joe Cocker's 1968 hit, "With A Little Help From My Friends," was used as the TV theme song for "The Wonder Years" which co-starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold and ran from 1988-1993. "With A Little Help From My Friends" was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and previously covered by the Beatles on their 1967 album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Parlophone PCS-7027).
Click here for a complete list of "Insane World Of Mike Sain" playlists available on this web site.
