Am I dreaming? Could it be? It seems to me that there is a similarity between the theme song from Get Smart, and the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin. Jimmie Page’s wail sounds a lot like the Get Smart Theme. Could Led Zeppelin have been inspired by Get Smart?
Ficer67
First thought - Ficer67 is a nutjob.
Replaying the Page wail in my head.
Mentally watching Maxwell go through all those doors while recalling the theme.
Second thought - Ficer67 is probably still a nutjob, but a nutjob who is on to something.
Although, I always thought myself that Page was borrowing the opening note’s from Bali Hi from South Pacific.
Yeah, I’m a nutjob too.
Interesting question.
And one, I confess, that I had never hitherto had cause to consider. There is no mention of a possible Get Smart theme inspiration in either Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin Uncensored) by Richard Cole (Simon & Schuster UK Ltd., 1993) or Hammer of the Gods (Led Zeppelin Unauthorised) by Stephen Davies (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985). Furthermore, Robert Plant once bought my brother-in-law a beer (sorry no cite) and Get Smart apparently didn’t come up in the conversation.
However, my curiosity aroused practically to fever pitch by your seemingly innocent question, I have now listened to both pieces of music twice and I have reached the following conclusions:
(1) If you are talking about a wailing vocal then its obviously Plant and not Page doing the wailing.
(2) There is no vocal wail in the Get Smart theme, or indeed anything that sounds vaguely like a vocal wail.
(3) There are several versions of the Get Smart theme so (2) could be wrong.
(4) The first few bars of each work are really quite similar so you could be right.
Picking it out on the piano just now with the aid of Google Video…
Get Smart is Middle C - F - EEEEE - F…
Immigrant Song is C# - up to octave C# - CCCCCC - C#
Bali Hai is Middle C (Bal) - Up to octave C (li) - High BBBBBB (hai) - may call - C (you)
So, yes, Page borrowed, but Get Smart didn’t.
P.S. I don’t know why earnest teenagers with tremendous voices but awkward gestures move me, but they do.
Perhaps it is another in a series of Zeppelin/TV theme links, like Stairway to Heaven and Gilligans Island.
Ok, my apologies, I could not remember exactly who played what…
Robert Plant is/was indeed the lead vocalist of Led Zeppelin.
I am only concerned about the wail in the immigrant song, not the rest of the song. And, I know that Get Smart came out in 1965, the immigrant song was not until 1970 or something.
Now I am positive that Led Zeppelin had better things to do than to religiously watch a series like Get Smart, in 1965. They all saw at least one episode of the show, however. And being musical people, they may have been influenced by the theme song.
The wail sounds a lot like the theme to me.
IMO, Stairway to Heaven is a crappy match for the Gilligan theme, I always thought Immigrant Song was much better.
Consider this verse:
On we sweep,
With thrashing oars,
Our only goal to reach the western shores.
Now keep the music and insert the words:
The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew the minnow would be lost.
I’m curious to learn from whence this information derives.
Always go with your first impression. 
Silly! Don’t you know that the Gilligan’s Island tune has nothing to do with Stairway to Heavan? Instead, it fits perfectly to the lyrics of the Australian national anthem?
Moving to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
No, gosh darn it. Speed up the tempo of Amazing Grace! Or you could slow down Gilligan, but that’s not as much fun.
I relied more on the “takes one to know one” theory.
I always thought White Zombie’s Thunder Kiss '65 sounded like it (The Immigrant Song). At least the opening hook.
well I think that answers my question…
I had to zombie this thread because, beyond all coincidence, I found a version of the above, which totally rocks.
Bizarrely, it turns out to be done by a local band with whom I have some passing personal acquaintance. I must have heard them do it in the past and forgotten about it, but either way it’s an awesome cover.
Stairway to Heaven and the Gilligan’s Island theme are both members of a very, very large family of songs and poems with the same basic meter. Other examples include House of the Rising Sun, every Emily Dickenson poem, The Yellow Rose of Texas, and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.