Ah, the ‘80s. The decade of decadence. The era of the mass media revolution and music technology evolution. On television, the hair got bigger, makeup got more glammed, pretty people populated more shows, and moral messaging began its erosion. It also gave us cool television intros.
The following very ‘80s TV themes list reflects the changing musical styles of the decade. This song track is all about original music done for the shows. Plus avoiding as much cheese as possible—although, as much as we love the ‘80s, some of those synth sounds …
Airwolf
Totally electronic in nature, Sylvester Levay’s multilayered, synth-driven theme to Airwolf is one of the most ‘80s tracks on this list and reflected the big technological shift that had previously influenced the synth-pop and new wave moments. However, the first season originally had real brass in the musical intro that was synth-ed out later. Perhaps the producers thought that having a totally keyboard-based sound worked well for a show featuring a high-tech helicopter.
The Equalizer
The darkest theme song for a mainstream network show at the time, Stewart Copeland’s music perfectly fit the gritty opening montage that was shot in a bleak, monochrome style and tapped into urban paranoia of the time. The former Police drummer’s driving electronic theme galloped ominously before reaching a ray of hope at the end with its heroic sounding climax. It also maintained his signature sonic quirkiness and lured you into watching the show.
Knight Rider
Stu Phillips and Glen A. Larson’s Knight Rider theme in 1982 was one of those inflection points where you could hear the ‘70s shifting into the ‘80s, notably with the track’s subdued, staccato guitar line, lurching bass, and dancing synth lines that gave it the kind of futuristic feel needed for a show featuring a talking, self-operating car. However, K.I.T.T. will always be way cooler than those lame Waymo taxis in San Francisco.
Magnum P.I.
Like Knight Rider, the famous Magnum theme represented a shift in thinking, although this was organic not electronic. For the first half of Season One, Ian Freebairn-Smith’s original intro had a jazzy big band flavor that better suited the nature of Magnum’s associate Higgins. Then Mike Post and Pete Carpenter were brought in to deliver a more accelerated, uptempo theme with electric guitar that represented Magnum’s dangerous adventures. It’s one of the best TV themes ever written. This was a musical style that would stay common throughout the ‘80s. A longer single version featuring Larry Carlton reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1982, but it didn’t quite have the bite of the shorter TV version.
Miami Vice
Debuting in 1984, Miami Vice may have been nearly as influential in helping to promote certain musical artists as MTV was during the 1980s. Michael Mann’s show set a visual tone, influenced fashion, featured pop and rock stars and their songs, and gave us this sizzling theme with its offbeat electronic toms and sparkly synths. Jan Hammer’s instrumental magic meshed in with the pastel colors and steel and glass skyscrapers shown in the opening montage. The single went to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 1985 and won two Grammy Awards in 1986 for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Stingray
The Nick Mancuso crime thriller series Stingray, about a man with a mysterious identity helping those in need, lasted for 23 episodes between 1985 and 1987. Mike Post and Pete Carpenter’s moody and majestic opening theme, combining ominous sounding synth rock with brass action fanfare, is very much of its time. So are the opening credits for the show that featured daring car stunts, hot babes, diamonds, and a tough-looking hero, all playing into the teenage male fantasy of the decade. It’s totally ‘80s.
T.J. Hooker (Season 5)
For the opening theme to William Shatner’s popular cop series, composer Mark Snow tweaked it every season starting with more traditional orchestral sounds and eventually replacing many of them with insistent keyboard sequencing and epic guitar harmonies. It’s an over-the-top theme for an over-the-top show, and it’s fun to hear how Snow morphed it along the way.
Wiseguy
In the ‘80s we still had hokey theme songs and more traditional TV music along with an increasing number of keyboard-driven intros. For Wiseguy, composer Mike Post took a cinematic orchestral approach. The stirring strings are highly apropos for show about a federal agent going undercover with the mafia, white supremacists, and other unsavory groups. The show stayed on for four seasons, and Walter Murphy was brought in to do music for Seasons Three and Four, adding Latin percussion to the theme in the final year.
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Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
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