More than a decade before Alan Thicke took on the role of Dr. Jason Seaver on the 1980s TV sitcom Growing Pains, which aired from 1985 through 1992, the Canadian actor and composer was a television host and wrote, composed, and sang theme songs for popular television and game shows during the early 1970s.
In 1973, Thicke sang the theme song for The Wizard of Odds, a debut game show for Alex Trebek, then went on to write more music for more shows, including The Joker’s Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, Blank Check, Stumpers!, Whew! and The Diamond Head Game, and later for Animal Crack-Up, which he co-wrote with his brother Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus and hosted.
He also composed the original theme song for Wheel of Fortune before producing and writing several TV talk shows for Norman Lear and hosting his own late-night talk, Thicke of the Night (1983-1984) before moving into TV sitcom territory. Writing mostly with his then-wife, Gloria Loring, a singer and actress, who also co-wrote and sang most of their compositions and played Liz Chandler on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Loring also released 12 albums between 1968 and 2008, and had a No. 2 hit in 1986 with “Friends and Lovers,” a duet with actor Carl Anderson. Thicke also co-wrote the song “Sara” with Bill Champlin for the former Chicago singer’s 1981 album, Runaway, and “Stop Me from Starting This Feeling” for Lou Rawls’s 1986 release, Love All Your Blues Away.
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“Back then, theme songs were more important,” said Thicke in a 2010 interview. “They were a part of every show. Nowadays, they don’t aspire to have memorable themes for every show … and certainly theme songs with a lyric. They have no time for that, so I think that’s almost a lost art.”
Thicke and Loring’s son Robin Thicke—who also had small roles on Days of Our Lives and Growing Pains—also followed their path with his musical career with his 2013 hit “Blurred Lines” and collaborations with Mary J. Blige, Pharrell, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, and more.
Before he died in 2016 at age 69, Alan Thicke wrote more than 40 theme songs for television.
“The challenge was, you have 24 seconds to do something catchy and memorable and sum up the entire premise of the show in case somebody had never seen it before,” said Thicke. “You had to do it with an internal rhyme scheme and a perky little ditty.”
Among Thicke and Loring’s TV compositions were the theme songs to two of the biggest sitcoms ht ran from the late 1970s through the ’80s.
[RELATED: The ‘Facts of Life’ Star Who Sang on Michael Jackson’s Hit “Pretty Young Thing”]
“It Takes Diff’rent Strokes” for Diff’rent Strokes (1978-1985)
Written by Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring, and Al Burton
Along with his wife, Gloria Loring, and composer Al Burton, Thicke performed and wrote the theme song for the hit television show Diff’rent Strokes, which aired from 1978 through 1985.
Diff’rent Strokes was the story of two kids from Harlem, New York, adopted by Park Avenue businessman Mr. Phillip Drummond, played by the late Conrad Bain, and also starred Todd Bridges and the late Gary Coleman as Willis and Arnold Jackson, Dana Plato as Kimberly Drummond, and Charlotte Rae as their housekeeper, Mrs. Edna Garrett.
Now, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum
What might be right for you, may not be right for some
A man is born, he’s a man of means
Then along come two, they got nothing but their jeans
But they got, Diff’rent Strokes
It takes Diff’rent Strokes
It takes Diff’rent Strokes to move the world
When the world never seems
to be living up to your dreams
It’s time you started finding out
What everything is all about
A teenage Janet Jackson later joined the cast in a recurring role as Willis’ girlfriend during the third season of the show. In 1985, then-First Lady Nancy Reagan also made an appearance during the fifth season.
“The Facts of Life” for The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
Written by Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring, and Al Burton
A spin-off of Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life followed the storyline of the Drummond’s housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae), who went on to manage an all-girls private school. Sung by Gloria Loring, the original theme song for Facts of Life song was co-written with Thicke and composer Al Burton. The first iteration of the theme song also featured Rae on vocals with Loring.
You take the good
You take the bad
You take them both, and there you have
The facts of life
The facts of life
When the world never seems
To be living up to your dreams
Then suddenly you’re finding out
The facts of life are all about you
“The ‘Facts Of Life’ internal rhyme scheme was intricate and one that I remember finishing and saying, ‘Yeah, that’s pretty good—that all rhymes,’” recalled Thicke. “I got a lot of rhyming words in 24 seconds.”
Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
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