Monday, July 5, 2010

Top Ten 80s TV Themes - Number 9

As we continue our walk down 80s television theme memory lane, I wanted to take pause.  Pause so that you can mentally prepare yourself for what's to follow.  Pause because you're going to be shocked that I can find eight theme songs better than this one. Pause for you would not have thought of this song were it not for me.



HOW COULD YOU HAVE FOGOTTEN MACGYVER? Shame on you!

The best way to describe this instrumental piece is that the only way it could potentially be better were if MacGyver performed it on a synthesizer he made himself.  Seriously, listen to it again, I'll wait. . . Wasn't that awesome??  From the very first chord, you know that you're about to be treated to a show of intrigue, action, and ingenuity.  Not to mention the awesome imagery in just the first twenty seconds: passport, tree limb being manipulated into some trigger mechanism, using a wrench on a steering wheel, RAZOR WIRE! Are you kidding me? And... just when the intro builds to a beautiful crescendo, the timer ticks down to zero and HUGE EXPLOSION! God I love this song.

The remainder of the song compliments the footage just as you think it would - by highlighting Richard Dean Anderson as a bad ass extraordinaire.  The quick staccato bursts of the main riff take us to different activities in MacGyver's travels: shooting some sort of projectile rocket out of a tube, pole vaulting savat kicking some joker in the face, jumping into a raft, repelling down a mountain - this guy does it all.  Then, after the chorus has repeated itself sufficiently, we get the brief change in the tune all while MacGyver poses for us behind a prop plane and back to the main riff.  Wow, I'm exhausted having listened to it, in a good way.

I'm thankful to MacGyver for two things: teaching me the importance of always having a paper clip handy and giving me this wonderful song.

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