The task of any movie studio green lighting and investing in television or film projects; is to make money and sell past the pilot. Often times, the show’s theme song, if memorable and a radio hit can help that goal. Sure we love the songs from most of our favorite TV shows, but here we wanted to share the songs that actually got airplay and or were on the charts like any other song. Here are a few the of television and film theme songs that had chart history…
The obvious song from successful sit-comes is taken from the popular Friends show and the Rembrandts theme song “I’ll Be There For You” which did well on the charts and allowed the band to make money on the road touring.
The theme song from the Tom Cruise franchise ‘Mission: Impossible’ films can be credited to Lalo Schifrin from the early 60s. HBO’s hit The Sopranos theme song came from an unlikely source, a band called Alabama 3. The song “Woke Up This Morning” did well on the charts twice; once when it was pushed at debut, the other at the end. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” also saw an uptick in airplay and sales due to the last episode.
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Photo credit: Matt Becker