TELEVISION'S GREATEST HITS - Various Artists
YEAR: 1985
LABEL: TVT
TRACK LISTING: Captain Kangaroo (Puffin Billy), The Little Rascals (Good Old Days), The Flintstones (Meet the Flintstones), The Woody Woodpecker Show, Bugs Bunny Overture (This Is It), Casper the Friendly Ghost, Felix the Cat, Popeye, Yogi Bear, Magilla Gorilla, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Fireball XL-5, Howdy Doody, The Beverly Hillbillies (Ballad of Jed Clampett), Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, The Addams Family, My Three Sons, The Donna Reed Show, Leave It To Beaver (The Toy Parade), Dennis the Menace, Dobie Gillis, The Patty Duke Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan's Island, McHale's Navy, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, Lost In Space, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, Flipper, Combat, The Rifleman, Bonanza, Branded, F-Troop, Rin Tin Tin, Daniel Boone, The Wild Wild West, The Lone Ranger (William Tell Overture), Happy Trails, Mission: Impossible, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, Secret Agent Man, Dragnet, Perry Mason, Adam-12, The F.B.I., Hawaii Five-O, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6, Ironside, Mannix, The Mod Squad, The Tonight Show (Johnny's Theme), The Late Late Show (Syncopated Clock)
IMPRESSIONS: This is the one that started it all -- the flood of TV theme song compilations to follow. I will forever associate this with Rustler. One night after closing, we all sat around a table in the Rustler Steak House dining room listening to my tape of this album and playing "who can guess the TV show first". No one will ever forget Meg's immortal guess: "Smoke Gun????". The San Francisco Chronicle famously called the album "the most fun you can have with your pants on".
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: The Little Rascals (Good Old Days), Bugs Bunny Overture (This Is It), Casper the Friendly Ghost, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, The Addams Family, My Three Sons, The Patty Duke Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan's Island, McHale's Navy, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, Lost In Space, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, Flipper, Bonanza, F-Troop, The Wild Wild West, Happy Trails, Mission: Impossible, Get Smart, Secret Agent Man, Dragnet, Perry Mason, Adam-12, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, The Mod Squad, The Tonight Show (Johnny's Theme), The Late Late Show (Syncopated Clock)
FACT SHEET: TELEVISION'S GREATEST HITS is the first album in the series of TVToons albums which ran to 8 volumes. The album features both original soundtrack recordings taken from the TV shows themselves as well as newly recreated versions of themes. The original vinyl pressing of the double LP featured brief narration by announcer Don Pardo which was sadly excised for the cd reissue.
