# Theme songs that became more popular when repurposed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2018, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096 "2018-09-28T07:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/21 "2018-09-28T16:59:06Z")
I always think of [Totino’s Pizza Rolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r78PRXlgOI). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/22 "2018-09-28T17:07:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I always think of [Totino’s Pizza Rolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r78PRXlgOI). Or the cops singing Happy Anniversary to Wilma Flintstone. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/23 "2018-09-28T17:27:30Z")
The theme music from the television series _[Ironside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KE-Ze-VPeE)_ was used in the movie _Kill Bill_. I’m guessing more people have heard it in the movie than have watched the television series. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/24 "2018-09-28T17:49:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Another one that may or may not make the cut (probably stretch it, I admit) is the so-called “Nadia’s Theme.” It was originally used as part of a movie soundtrack, but then became the theme song to “The Young And the Restless.” In 1976, ABC’s Wide World of Sports used it in a montage about Romanian Gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and it became tightly associated with her, so much so that the song became known as “Nadia’s Theme.” (The actual name is “Cotton’s Dream.”) It even peaked at #8 on the Billboard charts under the name “Nadia’s Theme (The Young and the Restless.)” I was only one at the time , but I remember the song for many years after that as “Nadia’s Theme” only discovering it to be the theme song to a soap opera much later. Wow, I’d forgotten and now remember how much I was into Nadia and her theme and was a bit cheesed that the dumb soap opera co-opted it. Now I find out, Nadia was the last co-opter. I fell in love with Ode to Joy when it was the theme to Brooke Shield’s sit-com Suddenly Susan and was again pretty cheesed when it was changed to some dumb indie chick singing a dumb song. This will also not count with the exacting standards of this thread since nobody but me remembers that synthed up version of Ode to Joy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/25 "2018-09-28T17:59:09Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Heh. I’m so _uncultured_, the first thing I think of is a stupid joke I heard as a kid where the punch line is “titty, rump, titty, rump, titty, rump, rump, rump” 😛 I think that one was in _ **Oui** _\* magazine. 😃 Here’s one from The Unknown Comic: Where does the Lone Ranger take his garbage? To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump… 😛 \*Pronounced “Ooo-wee” by an acquaintance. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/26 "2018-09-28T18:08:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I always think of [Totino’s Pizza Rolls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r78PRXlgOI). _ **Jeno’s** _ Pizza Rolls, preceded by [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQKBMdkWc9E) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/27 "2018-09-28T18:14:51Z")
Maybe not what you’re looking for because it was recycled within the same franchise, but… 1979’s _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ featured an original theme by Jerry Goldsmith. Eight years later, when _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ premiered, it had the same theme song. Surely more people relate it to the series rather than the film today. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/28 "2018-09-28T18:39:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Wow, I’d forgotten and now remember how much I was into Nadia and her theme and was a bit cheesed that the dumb soap opera co-opted it. Now I find out, Nadia was the last co-opter. The interesting thing about this was that Nadia never actually performed to that song. It’s all completely from a _Wide World of Sports_ montage, and apparently, after requests from viewers about the song, they decided to release it as a single on A&M records. [Here’s the Wikipedia article on it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia%27s_Theme). It’s all a rather odd story to me. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/29 "2018-09-28T19:05:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Truth be told, I know it from bits on _ **Sesame Street** _. 😉 But it was first popularized in the English speaking world by a recurring skit on The Red Skelton Show. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/30 "2018-09-28T19:40:55Z")
[Yakety Sax, which was not actually written for The Benny Hill Show.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakety_Sax) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/31 "2018-09-28T19:44:47Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > But it was first popularized in the English speaking world by a recurring skit on The Red Skelton Show. Benny Hill also helped later. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCr6UnXGdN0&t=458) (Video moved to a position to avoid the NSFW parts.) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/32 "2018-09-28T19:48:19Z")
With all these mentions of the “William Tell Overture”, I seem to remember a cartoon showing a man in a cowboy outfit and a mask holding a six gun in the air. He’s standing back to back with a man in Alpine dress holding a crossbow in the air. A third man, in the background says: “OK, winner gets rights to the themesong.” ---
**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:** [September 28, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/33 "2018-09-28T20:00:19Z")
I remember a commercial with a man smoking a Lark cigarette. A masked man comes up to him and says “Who gave you the right to use my song?” A man with a crossbow comes up to the second guy and says “I was just going to ask you the same thing.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/34 "2018-09-28T20:12:02Z")
Another example: “Nice Work If You Can Get It” was written for the movie musical _A Damsel in Distress_ and later used as the theme song for the TV Show _Cybill_ (thought with Cybill Shepard singing it). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/35 "2018-09-28T20:29:14Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > With all these mentions of the “William Tell Overture”, I seem to remember a cartoon showing a man in a cowboy outfit and a mask holding a six gun in the air. He’s standing back to back with a man in Alpine dress holding a crossbow in the air. A third man, in the background says: “OK, winner gets rights to the themesong.” I still find it interesting that the one piece of music most associated with the opera is not in the body of the opera itself. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/36 "2018-09-28T20:31:54Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/37 "2018-09-28T20:52:57Z")
_“As Time Goes By”_ was written in 1931, several years before it was used in _Casablanca_, and made little impression on the public until then. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/38 "2018-09-28T21:07:46Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I fell in love with Ode to Joy when it was the theme to Brooke Shield’s sit-com Suddenly Susan and was again pretty cheesed when it was changed to some dumb indie chick singing a dumb song. This will also not count with the exacting standards of this thread since nobody but me remembers that synthed up version of Ode to Joy. The Republic of Rhodesia also stole the tune, wrote a new set of lyrics, and used it as their national anthem. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/39 "2018-09-28T21:51:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I remember a commercial with a man smoking a Lark cigarette. A masked man comes up to him and says “Who gave you the right to use my song?” A man with a crossbow comes up to the second guy and says “I was just going to ask you the same thing.” See Post #21. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096/40 "2018-09-28T21:53:01Z")
The [second movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICyGkBN9yVs) was used for the Huntley Brinkley news report many years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theme-songs-that-became-more-popular-when-repurposed/822096.md?page=3)