TV Themes #5, Statistics #13, and The Talking Heads

Today's TV theme, at #5 in our list, belongs to a show that began to air in 1970 and run for 5 seasons. It was awarded 3 Emmies, 1 Golden Globe and received 14 nominations. It was based on a great and very popular play by Neil Simon and was made into an equally great and very popular movie starring acting legends Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. We are, of course, talking about The Odd Couple.

The TV show starred two veterans of movies & TV, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Tony Randall was famous for starring as Dr. Lao in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, as well as starring against Debbie Reynolds in The Mating Game. He really excelled in "third wheel" parts: against Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand in Let's Make Love, but mainly against Doris Day and Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers. More often than not there was a gay undercurrent in the way he portrayed his roles. Also, in real life, he fulfilled many gay stereotypes, like having taken ballet classes and being an ardent fan of the Opera and an avid art collector. To all intents and purposes, however, he was a twice-married man who was not gay. The lesson here is: don't pay much attention to stereotypes.

Jack Klugman was a renowned character actor in a number of films and TV shows. Most interestingly, he had appeared against Jack Lemmon, who had Tony Randall's part in the movie version, in Days Of Wine And Roses. In TV, he appeared in most of the notable shows of the 60s: The Untouchables, Naked City, The Twilight Zone, The Virginian, The Defenders, The Fugitive, Ben Casey, The F.B.I., The Bold Ones, The Name Of The Game and The Carol Burnett Show. After the success of The Odd Couple he starred in another successful series, Quincy M.E., which ran for 8 seasons.

The catchy as hell theme was written by Neal Hefti, who had previously written the Batman TV & movie theme. Before that, he was a trumpeter and arranger with dance orchestras including those of Harry James, Woody Herman, and Charlie Spivak between 1941 and 1951.

Here's the theme:

Now, to this week's statistics: with the exception of Ireland, who's MIA, all the Top Tenners had a strong appearance, but there were also new countries gracing us with their presence. That never fails to excite me.

In the weekly chart the US is #1 leading Greece by 6:1, which is in turn leading Germany by 2:1. Germany is leading France by 3:1 and not far from France are two countries that are tied at #5, Canada and the UK. Portugal is sitting comfortably at #7, Italy is at #8 and two countries are tied at #9, old-timer Russia and newcomer the Philippines. Just outside the Top 10 we find newcomer Zimbabwe and oldtimer Spain. Also dropping in this week were visitors from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Kuweit, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela. So nice to have you all with us!

Only small changes in the all-time Top 10: The US is still the champion, leading Greece by 2.5:1. Greece itself is leading Germany, which sits comfortably at #3, by 6.5:1. Russia wasn't very active this week, so, while still at #4, is feeling UK's heat, which after a good week is at #5, just 5 visits behind Russia. Canada reclaimed the 6th position, leaving Ireland behind at #7. France at #8 is getting closer to Ireland every week, while Cyprus and Spain's steady presence is rewarded with positions #9 & #10. Portugal is getting closer to the Top 10. Will it enter it next week, at the expense of its neighbor? We'll have to wait and see.

As for today's random song choice, it's not so random. A couple of weeks ago we spent time with the Smiths who are my favorite British band of the 80s. Then for the last 2 weeks I've been talking about R.E.M., my favorite group of the 80s overall. I thought it's only fair not to leave out my 2nd favorite group of the 80s, the Talking Heads. Since I couldn't find a gay connection to get them in the main unity, placing them in the random corner is the best I could do. Also, I know that their discography began in 1977, but, in my mind they're more of an 80s band.

Just a short introduction before we listen to their songs. They were: David Byrne, the band's main composer, on lead vocals and guitar, Jerry Harrison (formerly of The Modern Lovers and later a very successful producer) on keyboards and guitar and married couple Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz on bass guitar and drums respectively. They released 8 studio albums between the years 1977 and 1988 and all of the are worth having. Here are some great songs, in chronological order:

From their first album in 1977, here's the classic Psycho Killer. In this version David Byrne is giving it an impressive solo rendition:

From their second album in 1978 here's a great take on Al Green's evergreen Take Me To The River:

From their third album in 1979, here are two songs. First, the fabulous Life During Wartime:

Here they are in an acoustic mood, with Heaven:

Their fourth album, 1980's Remain In Light, produced by Brian Eno, is their most renowned. It was named fourth best album of the 80s by the Rolling Stone magazine. Here's possibly their best song, Once in a Lifetime:

From their fifth album in 1983, here's Burning Down the House:

From their sixth album in 1985, here are the two singles, both Top 20 hits in the UK.

Road To Nowhere is first:

Then there's And She Was:

From their seventh album in 1986, here's Wild Wild Life:

Finally, from their last album in 1988, here's Blind: