What do you think of this? (Mystery Date Theme)

[Snarfyguy]

I'm not that jazzed about the commercial itself, but the jingle has really stuck with me and I've come to appreciate its David Lynch/Bobby Vinton/Roy Wood/okay, frankly drugged, woozy appeal.

The arrangement's even a little cluttered; I'd simplify it. But who am I to say? Maybe the weirdo genius who wrote it knew what he was doing.

I haven't heard it in over 40 years (!) but my recollection of how it went was weirdly accurate.

You probably had to be there. Was anyone else there?

How do we judge jingles, anyway?

[fange]

I like it!

Not so much the "and you, and you" part, but that dreamy late-50s/early 60s pop element is something I really love.

[fange]

Something like this one by Pete Pepper, 'Cherry Cherry Red'...

[TG]

I haven't heard it in over 40 years (!) but my recollection of how it went was weirdly accurate.

You probably had to be there. Was anyone else there?

I remember it. When I saw the thread title I wondered if you you were talking about the weird 60s game or some hipster band who had appropriated the name. My brain immediately went to “...Open the door for your...Mystery Date...”

I used to tell my younger brother that I’d convinced my parents to buy him one for Christmas.

[naughty boy]

I wasn't there, but I wish I had been. The vocal melody - where he sings 'mystery date' - is strange and beautiful, just my kind of thing. By the early 70s, I suppose, all this was gone, replaced by something a bit more aggressive.

I don't know how we judge jingles but often those short pieces of music - TV themes, too - are designed to stick in the memory after just one listen. And therefore they're high art. Right?

[Quaco]

Exactly. They're written and played to high standards by professionals! I'm serious. It's better than most rock music in a lot of ways.

Love this one -- I had never heard it before.

[Bent Fabric]

I don't know how we judge jingles but often those short pieces of music - TV themes, too - are designed to stick in the memory after just one listen. And therefore they're high art. Right?

Pete Townshend was often a man ahead of his time.

There's an Onion headline whose phrasing I can't recall quite accurately enough to Google, but basically the gist of it being that a jingle writer high on cough syrup or something composes some epic cat food commercial. I think these things are as great as we allow them to be (television themes, commercials) - the same aesthetics one applies to songwriting (little evocative emotional hooks, etc.), if you have a knack for these qualities, you could make a fair bit of magic for even the most mercenary means.

There's all sorts of little motifs and moments I remember from childhood television - taken out of context, many of them have an innate musical value.

If "we're" talking about, say, Taylor Swift, why shouldn't we be celebrating a particularly catchy fabric softener commercial?

[Goat Boy]

I wasn't there, but I wish I had been. The vocal melody - where he sings 'mystery date' - is strange and beautiful, just my kind of thing. By the early 70s, I suppose, all this was gone, replaced by something a bit more aggressive.

I don't know how we judge jingles but often those short pieces of music - TV themes, too - are designed to stick in the memory after just one listen. And therefore they're high art. Right?

Why would that make them high art?

[naughty boy]

It's bollocks, isn't it?

No, but - it's not tossed off, it's made to serve a specific purpose, it's calculated and it's memorable.

I dunno.

[Goat Boy]

So is No Limits by 2 Unlimited

[naughty boy]

now that’s high art if ever there was!

[Bent Fabric]

I think its fair enough to say that the theme from the Rockford Files succeeds in many ways that "Some Might Say" doesn't.

[naughty boy]

That’s it!

[naughty boy]

and the theme from Joe 90 is every bit as good as ‘Psychotic Reaction’

[Bent Fabric]

the theme from Joe 90

This is fantastic!

[fange]

A great pop song is (or at least maybe once was) written to sell a lot of records. A great ad tune is meant to sell a lot of product, and a great theme tune is meant to appeal to many viewers. Being great art and being specifically aimed to be successful/popular is in no way contradictory to me.