3 One-Hit Wonders From Classic TV Shows That Will Make You Grab the Remote Control

Today, television shows are everywhere. It seems that every streaming service has 11 billion or so new shows popping up every season. Of course not all of them can be winners. Indeed, there are very few shows that have stood the test of time. But one of the reasons that some do is because of their music and even their theme songs.

Here below, we wanted to explore three such offerings. A trio of tracks from classic television shows that helped their programs age very well. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from classic TV shows that will make you want to grab the remote control and put the series on all over again.

[RELATED: 3 Energetic One-Hit Wonders That Are Perfect To Dance Along To]

“I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts from L.P. (1995)

Anyone who watched “Must See TV” in the 1990s knows the show Friends and anyone who watched that program knows this song almost by heart. But the origin of the song is particularly interesting. Originally, NBC wanted the R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People” to intro Friends. But the Athens, Georgia-born indie rock group declined. So, Warner Bros. commissioned some songwriters to pen this track and The Rembrandts were tapped to record it. Then they added two more verses to it and released the song in 1995. And on the track, which hit No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band sings,

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s D.O.A.
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but

I’ll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I’ll be there for you
(Like I’ve been there before)
I’ll be there for you
(‘Cause you’re there for me too)

“Woke up This Morning” by Alabama 3 from Exile on Coldharbour Lane (1997)

This track hit the UK singles chart twice, once upon its release in 1997 and again in 2000 when the hit HBO television show The Sopranos used it as its theme song. That program, which is all about a low-level mob boss, is quite violent at times. So, beginning the show with a song about grabbing your gun first thing in the morning is especially apt. Indeed, on the offering, lead vocalist for the British-born band Jake Black sings,

You woke up this morning
Got yourself a gun,
Mama always said you’d be
The Chosen One.

She said: You’re one in a million
You’ve got to burn to shine,
But you were born under a bad sign,
With a blue moon in your eyes.

“Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer from Miami Vice Soundtrack (1985)

Incredibly, this instrumental opening theme song from the hit crime drama television show Miami Vice hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Composed by Jan Hammer, the track was the last instrumental song to top the chart until 2013 (“Harlem Shake” by Baauer). The propulsive theme-driven song also earned Hammer two Grammy Awards—one for Best Instrumental Composition and another for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

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Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage