AT40 Themes

[classicat40fan]

Could somebody please give me as complete a rundown as possible of the opening/closing/hour ending/hour opening themes that were used from July 1970 to August 1988?

[mstgator]

I don't think it's that nobody knows, it's just that it's hard to list them since (aside from "Shuckatoom"), they really didn't have names. The best way would be if someone has examples of each theme that they would be willing to upload as mp3s (there used to be a site that had some of them, but it wasn't a complete listing).

[RJSchex]

Here's what I know so far:

*February 4, 1978—September 30, 1978:
"Shuckatoom" as opening theme, hour-opening, and in its entirety as closing theme; minor-key remix of 1970 theme as hour-closing

*October 7, 1978 (first 4-hour show)—July 21, 1979 (at least):
"Shuckatoom" as above, new hour-closing jingle with cold ending

*October 4, 1980:
"Shuckatoom" as opening theme only; same hour-closing as above, new closing theme (nothing known about hour-opening)

*Early 80's:
"Shuckatoom" opening theme, 1978 hour-closing, hour-opening that began with vocal, 1980 closing theme (which around 1982, I think, was lengthened with the addition of a sax solo)

*January 14, 1984 (possibly)—March 28, 1987:
all-new theme package with a guitar/synth sound; start of hour-closing jingle sounds a lot like the intro to Earth, Wind & Fire's 1978 song "Fantasy". Up to July 28, 1984 (at least), the opening theme began with a synth vamp; around 1985 (I think) it was changed to a horn fanfare. Hour-opening began with 5 drumbeats; closing theme began with horn rendition of "Casey's Coast-to-Coast" jingle, and ended with horn rendition of "American Top 40" jingle, followed by single loud note.

*April 4, 1987—March 5, 1988 (at least):
new theme package, mostly synth. Opening and closing themes were identical, except for intros. Ditto for hour-closing and hour-opening. Hour-closing jingle was 90 seconds long, and had a false ending.

If anyone can fill in the gaps, please feel free to do so.

[at40petebattistini]

Prior to the 1975 debut of the "Shuckatoom" theme, there were three unnamed AT40 theme recordings. First was the original upbeat moog music which, in my opinion, was (and always will be) the best. Then there was a slight variation to the original -- most often used in 1973 and 1974 -- that only the trained ear could differentiate from the original. And then there was a slower-tempo moog tune used only to close each hour. I believe the slower version also debuted in 1973 and was never used to open the program. To the best of my knowledge, these were the only theme recordings used prior to 1975. But in a pursuit to provide accurate information, I welcome any correction.

[Adrian]

To complicate matters, from September 22, 1979 to October 13, 1979, the opening hour theme was used to start off the show; the "Shuckatoom" theme came back to start the show on October 20, 1979.

Also, there was a new opening theme music starting from the January 26, 1985 show until the April 4, 1987 new theme package began. All other themes stayed the same.

[bandit73]

I liked the music at the end of each hour that was used in the mid-'80s. It had that neat electric guitar that went "ner-nener-neNERRRRR!"

For a while during the Shadoe years, the end of each hour featured this weird music in which the first 4 notes sounded exactly like the theme from "Dallas".

Also, during the early '90s, they had this funny jingle that was often used when returning from a commercial break. It had a guy yelling "HEEEYYY!" at the beginning.

[bandit73]

While we're on the topic, does anyone remember John Leader's 'Countdown America'?

'Countdown America' had this funny music bed that often cropped up during commercial breaks. It had this strange, honking music that went "ERRP...ERRP...ERRP...ERRP". And it would go on like that for like a minute or so.

Anyone else remember this?

[Scott Lakefield]

bandit73 said:

Also, during the early '90s, they had this funny jingle that was often used when returning from a commercial break. It had a guy yelling "HEEEYYY!" at the beginning.

I used to love that one! And oftentimes WPLJ in New York would cut it off (yes I know that there was also a version of the jingle without the "HEY!" at the top, but when I would hear the show on CD after I heard it on WPLJ, I knew which ones THEY cut off, and which ones the network cut off).

[TomBest]

My young daughter refers to the early theme as the "one with the cat". I dunno, it's kind of got an "electric meow" sound.

[GQ]

an electric meow, is that what it is?

To me, anyways, it sounds like a baby crying