The Boston Phoenix reviewed the sitcom Barney Miller (1975-1982) as best-in-class TV. “Aside from The Honeymooners, Barney Miller was the sit-com that most approximated a one-act play. Almost every episode took place in one room of a rundown, filthy police station in Greenwich Village. Barney Miller managed to develop its main characters without showing their home lives (or their bare butts), thanks to perceptive writing and scenes that were long enough for actors to breathe.”
The theme is introduced by and built around the electric bass. NoTreble, one of the internet’s most comprehensive sites for all things bass-centric, profiles the session musician whose sound was featured: “As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Chuck Berghofer helped change the sound of popular music. His big, warm bass sound has laid the foundation for artists from A to Z with recordings by Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Christina Aguilera, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Diana Krall, Robbie Williams, and more. It has also set the mood on over 400 movies like Rocky, True Crime, Bird, and The Majestic.”
ArnoldFaberVibeman.com adds: “The team of Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson wrote this theme. Elliott was musical director for the Grammys for thirty consecutive years, Judy Garland‘s musical director, and creator of the Henry Mancini Institute as well as composer of many, many television and movie scores. Ferguson was among the founders of the Dick Grove School Of Music, musical director for Julie Andrews, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and Johnny Mathis, as well as scoring for countless TV series and movies … When you heard that funky solo bass line, you knew what you were in for! (It) has all the elements of the show in that opening line and then, as soon as you get into the groove, all hell breaks loose with that trumpet. It’s hip, cornball AND nostalgic all at the same time.”
Clocking in at just over a minute, the theme features two modulations. At both 0:42 and 0:52, there are minor third shifts upwards.
modulationoftheday.home.blog 