3 Rock Bands Who Have Their Own Theme Song

A band usually has one song that becomes so popular that it becomes their calling card—a pseudo theme song, in a way. Several bands over the years have taken that idea one step further by actually penning a theme song for themselves in the traditional sense. These songs are instantly recognizable, orient the listener, and sum up a band’s strengths in a bite-sized track. Below, revisit three band theme songs.

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[RELATED: 3 Lyric-Free TV Theme Songs Everyone Can Still Sing Along To]

“The 1975” – The 1975

The 1975 begin all of their albums with a self-titled track. The effort is meant to quickly drop the listener into a new sonic world—to reintroduce the band and the cultural backdrops they’ve written against. For their first few records, the band used the same set of lyrics and adjusted the production to better align with the project’s sonic direction. For their fourth record, they changed their approach, tapping Greta Thunberg for a spoken-word take on the climate crisis. Similarly, the latest version of “The 1975” saw them drop their usual conventions.

“The 1975” is more than a theme song, but it also serves as one. Like any good TV show theme, this track is meant to remind you who you are listening to and why. This short but meaningful track, in all its iterations, is a potent taster of what’s to come on The 1975’s watershed albums.

“Bad Company” – Bad Company)

Few bands have written as unabashed a theme song as Bad Company’s self-titled track. If you were wondering if this band could live up to their name, look no further than the lyrics to this song. I was born six-gun in my hand / Behind a gun, I’ll make my final stand, hey / That’s why they call me / Bad company and I can’t deny, they sing.

If Bad Company wasn’t a truly great band for their time, this song might’ve seemed a little trite. Though it’s not without its levels of kitsch, this song managed to walk a tightrope between a bold theme song and a great standalone track.

“(Theme From) The Monkees” – The Monkees

Of the three bands on this list, the only one that has truly needed a theme song is The Monkees. The ’60s rock band had its own TV show, in which they played a band trying to make it big. A show about a band needed a killer theme song, obviously, and “(Theme From) The Monkees” delivered just that.

It’s pure ’60s magic with tight harmonies and jangly guitar tones. It’s fun-loving and endlessly memorable. Two things that could also be said about the show itself.

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