# Instantly Recognizable Franchise Music-Themes-whatever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591 "2012-10-13T03:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/1 "2012-10-13T03:56:37Z")
Wasn’t sure where else to put this, so I made a new thread; hopefully other people have stuff to add. 😛 MrTao was just blasting a song from another room. Within 15 seconds of hearing the music, which I hadn’t heard before, I shouted “That’s a great song; sounds like it should have been a James Bond song!” Apparantly, it is! From the new movie, out in a couple of weeks. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry_VBptuMO0) I am impressed, especially as I’m not a Bond fan at ALL. But whoever came up with that did an excellent job of packaging, that’s all I can say. 🙂 (and no, I can guarantee I haven’t seen any Bond trailer; I had no idea there was a new movie coming out at all.) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/2 "2012-10-13T06:28:22Z")
I can’t wait to see the new Bond. I hope it’s as good as Casino Royale and not so much like Quantum of Solace. A perk will be that I’ll finally get to hear what Adele sounds like. Per the OP’s instantly recognizable themes, Jaws Star Wars The Godfather ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/3 "2012-10-13T06:46:50Z")
Regrettably I now can recognize the theme from _Two and a Half Men_ almost instantly because I’ve been staying with my folks and my mother watches it every God-damn time it comes on. The reruns are syndicated on 3 different channels and she know the schedules by heart. I hear that shit in my sleep now. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/4 "2012-10-13T08:01:01Z")
There is a very good reason Bond songs sound like they do. It’s a very clever mixture of harmony and orchestration, and in pretty much every Bond song (except maybe abominations like License to Kill or Die Another Day) you will find that familiar chord progression from the beginning of the Dr. No Theme (before the guitar melody starts). Sometimes it’s hidden, but it’s almost always there. For example, in You Know My Name from Casino Royale, listen to the core notes at the beginning of the refrain - “ARM yourself because NO one else here will SAVE you”. The harmonies change, but those notes make up the exact chord progression I’m talking about, hidden in typical Grunge harmonies - Bm-G-E. Fascinating stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/5 "2012-10-13T13:58:27Z")
That sweeping horn thing from Jurassic Park. Instant recognition. The Close Encounters zylophone melody. It’s been shouted out in God-only-knows how many other alien-invading-earth movies since then, and I always hear it. I would argue for the classic Star Trek opening theme. Between the original season, Next Generation, and DS9, especially with all the syndicated runs, it’s pretty familiar, and very recognizable in all the incarnations as “Star Trek” themed. Likewise Twilight Zone. That’s practically a cliche, it’s so well-known, and well-used. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/6 "2012-10-14T22:53:13Z")
Dragnet ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/7 "2012-10-14T22:59:51Z")
I bet there are a lot of people who know the theme from [Peter Gunn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK-b5PLhrEI) but can’t identify it by name. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/8 "2012-10-14T23:02:38Z")
Mission: Impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/9 "2012-10-14T23:11:50Z")
After eight movies, John William’s Harry Potter theme is pretty recognizable. I would also argue the themes that the major movie production companies use at the beginning of a movie are all quite recognizable these days. I can tell a Fox picture from a Universal from a Disney just from the music. They haven’t changed those in decades for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/10 "2012-10-15T01:31:19Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > After eight movies, John William’s Harry Potter theme is pretty recognizable… Having not seen a one of them, I wouldn’t have a clue. I don’t think a movie theme makes it into the “instantly recognizable” category unless it crosses into other media – mainly radio and/or TV. This is my “movie/TV theme” music playlist: Ballad Of Jed Clampett Beverly Hills Cop Cheers Theme Dueling Banjos Flashdance Hawaii Five O High Noon The James Bond Theme The Magnificent Seven Miami Vice Theme Peter Gunn The Pink Panther Theme Secret Agent Man Theme From “Shaft” Theme from the Greatest American Hero ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/11 "2012-10-15T07:26:18Z")
Danny Elfman’s music for Tim Burton’s \*Batman \*movies \*Ghostbusters \*theme ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/12 "2012-10-15T14:41:51Z")
Hogan’s Heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/13 "2012-10-15T15:47:18Z")
That trippy “Doctor Who” theme music. Has it changed since the '60’s? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/14 "2012-10-15T17:15:48Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Danny Elfman’s music for Tim Burton’s \*Batman \*movies > > \*Ghostbusters \*theme IMHO, all of Danny’s soundtrack music has a eerie quality (some Boingo undertones, perhaps) to it that makes it readily identifiable. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/15 "2012-10-15T17:29:38Z")
Speaking of Danny Elfman, the Simpsons theme. John Williams’s themes from Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Batman TV show theme. The Andy Griffith Show theme. Bonanza. Get Smart. Mission: Impossible. The Addams Family. The Munsters theme. Meet the Flintstones. Car 54, Where Are You? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/16 "2012-10-16T00:41:07Z")
Lord of the Rings and the Pirates of the Carribean both have distinctive scores ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/17 "2012-10-17T01:55:19Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > After eight movies, John William’s Harry Potter theme is pretty recognizable. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Having not seen a one of them, I wouldn’t have a clue. I’ve seen six of them (all but 6 and 7A), and I haven’t a clue either… ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instantly-recognizable-franchise-music-themes-whatever/637591/18 "2012-10-17T04:04:38Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > I’ve seen six of them (all but 6 and 7A), and I haven’t a clue either… [FWIW, here it is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCNHVMIYqiA). I would recognize it instantly.