How do you write TV theme music for children? Does\u00a0it make you mega-rich? And does the tune itself\u00a0eventually drive you (and parents everywhere) nuts?<\/p>\n
We tracked down the creators of half-a-dozen of TV\u2019s greatest children\u2019s show themes in order to find out. As Bluey\u2019s Joff Bush told us: \u201cThe key lesson is that if you\u2019re going to write a theme tune, make sure you really like it because\u00a0you\u2019re going to hear it a helluva lot!\u201d<\/p>\n
From nostalgic cult classics to current hits, from cartoon animals to live-action school soaps, six composers confess the secrets of\u00a0kids\u2019 TV music \u2026<\/p>\n
\u2018Parents get woken up\u00a0at 6am by it\u2019On the hoof \u2026 a demo track was used as the Peppa Pig theme for 20 years. Photograph: Album\/Alamy<\/p>\n
Composer Julian Nott scores Peppa Pig, as well as Wallace & Gromit, Bing and Ben & Holly\u2019s Little Kingdom.<\/p>\n
It all started at the National Film and Television<\/a> School\u2019s animation department. Two fellow students became friends: Nick Park, who did Wallace & Gromit, and Mark Baker, who did Peppa Pig. They\u2019ve been collaborators ever since.<\/p>\n Peppa was just another job that came along. I worked on the pilot episode for free as a favour. It wasn\u2019t just the same theme tune as today, it was the same recording. We\u00a0finally updated it last year but for two decades they used the demo version. It\u2019s only 10 seconds long which is shorter than most title sequences. It was a challenge to write a short, sharp, catchy tune. It had to be fast and fun with a memorable melody. The gaps in it were exploited by Mark, who inserted oinking sound effects.<\/p>\n We classical musicians tend to laugh at pop writers for only knowing three chords but Peppa has two, which is probably a musical outrage. There was zero budget, so it\u2019s all played on synthesisers and samplers. The instrumentation which became associated with Peppa \u2013 marimbas, timpani, glockenspiel, vibraphone \u2013 were only chosen because they were the most convincing samples you could get back then.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Peppa took over the world, so I hear my music all the time. I\u2019m often in a cafe or airport and a child will be playing it on their iPad. I\u2019m\u00a0tempted to lean over and say: \u2018I\u00a0wrote that!\u2019 but never have. There was a time when I couldn\u2019t get on a train without hearing it. It\u2019s a strange feeling. Kids watch their favourite shows on repeat, so it can drive parents mad. Toddlers work out how to switch on Peppa Pig and their parents get woken up at 6am by the theme music. It might be one of the most unpopular tunes ever written! But I\u2019m very lucky that it\u2019s given me financial security. Peppa Pig was like winning the lottery. It\u2019s enabled me to sustain a career. It\u2019s all upside and it\u2019s marvellous.<\/p>\n \u2018It was the luckiest two minutes of my life\u2019Ring of success \u2026 the cast of Saved By the Bell. Photograph: Photo 12\/Alamy<\/p>\n Scott Gale wrote the theme song for\u00a0NBC\u2019s 1990s teen sitcom Saved\u00a0By the Bell.<\/p>\n I was music coordinator on The Golden Girls<\/a>. One Friday, the producer of this new teen comedy called and asked me to try out for the theme tune. My wife had left me that morning but I put down the phone, picked up my guitar and,\u00a0bingo, it just poured out of me.\u00a0It was the luckiest two minutes\u00a0of my life. We recorded it over the weekend at my partner Rich Eames\u2019s home studio.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On Monday morning, we handed in our cassette. Little did I know that executive producer Peter Engel had told all the other prospective composers not to include \u201csaved by the bell\u201d in the lyrics because he wasn\u2019t sure the name would stick. But I never got that message, so the title appeared five times in mine. Peter later admitted he was glad I didn\u2019t get his instructions.<\/p>\n Saved By the Bell was the first live-action Saturday morning kids\u2019 show. Everything else was cartoons. I thought it\u2019d be lucky to last seven episodes but it ran for four seasons. And the show, thank goodness, was heavy on music. We wrote it all. If there was a jukebox playing, we\u2019d write the songs. The characters formed a rock group. We\u00a0wrote what they played. There was something new every week.<\/p>\n Saved By the Bell was very good to me. I still get royalties from Spain, South Africa, everywhere. Those gigs are hard to get but it\u2019s the gift that keeps on giving. I\u00a0never tire of hearing it. I\u2019ll chance across it while channel surfing and it whisks me back to those wild times. Nearly four decades later, I\u00a0still get to talk about it. It\u2019s nothing\u00a0but wonderful.<\/p>\n \u2018I ended up writing songs with Ant and Dec\u2019Limitless win \u2026 regular royalties from Byker Grove \u2013 the show that launched Ant and Dec \u2013 are a boon for theme composers the Kane Gang. Photograph: ITV<\/p>\n Martin Brammer is the frontman of\u00a0pop trio the Kane Gang, whose track became the basis of the theme tune to Byker Grove.<\/p>\n We\u2019d already reworked our song Small Town Creed to be the jingle for Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies\u2019s show. The makers of this local teen drama \u2013 a sort of Geordie version of Grange Hill \u2013 asked if the Kane Gang fancied doing the theme tune. Either out of expedience or laziness, we thought: \u201cHang on! Maybe we can get a third version out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a challenge to create something impactful in 45 seconds. It became this tongue-in-cheek funk workout, a bit edgier than the average kids\u2019 TV tune. A dozen of the cast came down to do the \u201cOoh, Byker Grove!\u201d chants. That little laugh at the end was from Lyndyann Barrass, who played Spuggie. We liked it and left it in. People tend to remember that laugh. A few years ago, I got a request from another artist \u2013 Professor Green or someone \u2013 to\u00a0sample it.<\/p>\n The show ran for 18 series, so royalties make a handy annual bonus. It\u2019s not a life-changing amount of money but it\u2019s hard making a living in music nowadays, so sidelines that tick over are invaluable. Midway through the run, we redid it slightly. Put a funky drummer sample on it to make it more contemporary. Byker Grove led to all sorts of connections. I did some work with Donna Air\u2019s pop duo Crush and songwriting sessions with Ant and Dec<\/a> as they were moving away from being PJ & Duncan. Lovely lads.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written hundreds of proper songs but the Byker Grove tune always gets a reaction. I write with Olly Murs now and he flipped when he found out. Now there\u2019s a reboot in development. It would be madness to change the theme tune, right? Fingers crossed we get the call from Ant and Dec.<\/p>\n \u2018Kids are disappointed that I\u2019m not a six-year-old girl\u2019Heeler dealer \u2026 Daley Pearson wrote the Bluey theme tune. Photograph: Ludo Studio<\/p>\n Joff Bush wrote the theme music and composes most of the soundtrack for globally loved animation Bluey.<\/p>\n I met Daley Pearson [Bluey\u2019s executive producer] when we were students. In 2017, he said: \u201cWould you be interested in coming up to Brisbane for this side project we\u2019ve got? It\u2019s called Bluey, for four to six-year-olds.\u201d I was like: \u201cI doubt I\u2019m the right fit but I\u2019ll check it out.\u201d I\u2019ll be forever grateful that I did. I met [Bluey\u2019s creator] Joe Brumm and we clicked. I watched the rough pilot episodes and just fell in\u00a0love. I had do it.<\/p>\n I knew exactly what the show\u2019s sound should be. A bit hand-made with an almost chamber ensemble sound. It\u2019s hard to describe but I could hear the chord progression in my head. When the writing\u2019s that good, it\u2019s relatively easy to score. Joe Brumm makes my music look better. I suggested building a library of music which we could reuse but Joe wanted something new for every episode. I was like: \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of work!\u201d But it became one of the beauties of Bluey.<\/p>\n They were going to license a track for the theme tune but I said: \u201cCan I have a go at it?\u201d And then I had 10 goes at it! Version eight unlocked it. Now it\u2019s hard to imagine without the theme song. It probably sounds simpler than it is. There are little details in it that only I notice. Parents tend to be more impressed than children. If I tell a kid that I write the music for the show, they\u2019ll ask: \u201cAre you Bluey?\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cOh, OK.\u201d They\u2019re disappointed that I\u2019m a 41-year-old man, not a six-year-old girl. That keeps your ego in check.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n I\u2019m fortunate that my work\u2019s more famous than me. Bluey\u2019s been great for opening up career opportunities and pretty lucrative. The albums have topped the charts. It\u2019s enabled me to work on strange projects that I want to do, rather than taking adverts to pay the rent. I\u2019m just starting on a ballet.<\/p>\n I recently became a father and suddenly understood why dads find Bluey so emotional. I messaged Joe saying: \u201cI get it now!\u201d My daughter\u2019s two and last week, she came back from daycare going: \u201cDoo doo doo doo, Bluey and Bingo!\u201d I was like: \u201cDo\u00a0you like that\u00a0song?\u201d She said: \u201cIt\u2019s pretty good.\u201d We rerecorded it last year and I got some cute photos of her conducting the orchestra. I\u2019ll surprise her with them someday. Then again, I\u00a0was singing Wagon Ride to her to help her go to sleep. She woke up, put her hand over my mouth and went: \u201cDifferent music.\u201d She\u2019s\u00a0my\u00a0harshest critic.<\/p>\n \u2018My fee definitely wasn\u2019t Scrooge McDuck money\u2019Quacked it \u2026 the DuckTales intro is known worldwide. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc\/Alamy<\/p>\n Pop and musical theatre songwriter Mark Mueller composed the theme tune for late 80s Disney series DuckTales.<\/p>\n