Strong Songs

It's time for something a little different, as Kirk takes a look at the theme songs from some of the most beloved animated TV shows of all time.

This super-sized episode focuses on five different pieces of music, each of which is the theme for a different animated show. It's a ton of music in a variety of styles, full of frantic key shifts, earwormy melodies, bodacious drum fills, and a surprising number of saxophone solos.

The songs, in order:

• "The Simpsons Theme" by Danny Elfman, 1989
• "Duck Tales" by Mark Mueller, 1987
• "Rescue Rangers" by Mark Mueller, 1989
• "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" from Neon Genesis Evangelion, by Hidetoshi Satō, Neko Oikawa, and Toshiyuki Omori, 1995
• "Tank!" from Cowboy Bebop, by Yoko Kanno, 1998

ALSO FEATURED:

• "Maria" from West Side Story's 2009 Broadway cast recording, by Leonard Bernstein
• The Batman: The Animated Series theme by Danny Elfman
• "The Disney Afternoon Theme" and "Monkey In Your Tank" performed by The Disney Afternoon Studio Chorus
• "A Cruel Angel's Thesis: Bike Horn Cover" by Alex Small-Butera on YouTube
• "Front Burner" arranged by Sammy Nestico for the Count Basie big band
• "Cat Blues" and "Sax Quartet" from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, both by Yoko Kanno

OUTRO SOLOIST: Rob Reich

This episode's outro soloist is the fantastic bay area pianist/accordionist Rob Reich. Rob performs all over the place with a bunch of different groups, and is a total pleasure to see play. He's got a bunch of albums you can check out and contributes to an array of interesting projects (Live silent-film scores! Circus music!) and experiments. Find more at his website, http://www.robreich.com/.

NEWSLETTER/MAILING LIST

Sign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://tinyletter.com/KirkHamilton

STRONG PLAYLISTS

You can find playlists containing every Strong Song as well as all of Kirk's weekly music picks from his other podcast, Kotaku Splitscreen, on both Spotify and Apple Music.

SUPPORT STRONG SONGS ON PATREON!

The biggest possible thank-you to everyone who's signed up to become a patron of Strong Songs—your support is making it much easier to dedicate the time that the show deserves!

If you want to support the show, check out the Strong Songs Patreon. Here's the link: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongs

AUGUST 2019 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

Caleb Rotach
Chad Barnard
Dan Apczynski
Dave Florey
Glenn
Sara Walsh

AUGUST 2019 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Alexander Polson
Andre Bremer
Andrew Lee
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Bill Thornton
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Emily Williams
FlSHBONES
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joujou
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Mueller
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