John Stetch - Sanford and Son

Do you remember in the early 80s where every TV theme was a musical hit and played in constant rotation on the radio? The themes for Welcome Back Kotter, Taxi, Hill Street Blues, Cheer’s, Dallas, The Love Boat, and St. Elsewhere, instantly come to mind.

 

Some compositions were standards for the 20s, 30s, and 40s, that were hits long before they were associated with TVs show like Harlem Nocturne, written by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers in 1939. You’ll recognize it as the music behind the opening scenes for Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer series.

 

In my opinion, most of the music behind TV is not that compelling. However there are some tunes were well crafted and outright brilliant compositions. I’d place most of the music behind the Bugs Bunny and Charlie Brown holiday specials in this category.

 

So – I’ve been hearing a song – over and over again. I couldn’t quite place it – but I knew it was from TV. I did some searching and the title “Streetbeater” kept popping up. Streetbeater by Quincy Jones.  Here’s the original and here’s the version that caught my attention. What do you think? Which one do you like best? I really like the piano in this – and think it changes the whole tempo of the music. More introspective – or something.

 

Speaking of introspective, spending Wednesday night and yesterday with Fred was great. The weather Wednesday night was perfect for sitting on the porch, sharing a love of wine, food, and language. Yesterday morning we had coffee out front while we discussed the French cooking idioms posted by Clotilde on her lovely food blog, “Chocolate and Zucchini”. We also took a tour of my local Whole Foods – where Fred was pretty much blown away with the quality and quantity of produce, fish, meat, wines and cheese. I think the best part was when he discovered his beloved Bucheron cheese nestled in with other French favorites.

 

Our friend Anita arrived around noon and we cooked a southern classic for brunch – Shrimp and Grits – spiced up with Andouille Sausage. Plus we used the tomalley from the shrimp’s heads to infuse the cream sauce with even more flavor. Food p0rn pictures to follow later tonight or this weekend.