TV Theme Songs: Danger Mouse

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale" of a time when television shows began with awesome TV Theme Songs. "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name" and sometimes you want to go back to when TV Theme songs were special. "Here's a story... of a lovely" time when TV Theme Songs served to identify, distinguish and set the stage for the television program that followed. "You take the good, take the bad, take them both and there you have" what unfortunately has become a lost artform. "Believe it or not", sadly it seems no effort or pride is taken in the TV Theme Song ever since Seinfeld proved a short synth-bass riff could be used instead. “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!” This regular feature may not "make all our dreams come true", but it will remember some of the best TV Theme Songs from years past (with a focus on the '80s decade). "Come aboard, we're expecting you."

This time we will cover the theme song for Danger Mouse. "He's the greatest, he's fantastic. Wherever there is danger he'll be there." The cartoon series debuted in the UK in 1981 and ran for ten seasons and 89 episodes on the ITV network. I am only familiar with Danger Mouse because Nickelodeon picked it up and ran it in the U.S. starting in June of 1984 until 1987 (and then again from 1991 to 1994). The show is a parody of British spy fiction, particularly the Danger Man series and James Bond films.

It is reported that the show was originally intended to have a more serious tone, but Mike Harding (who wrote the music for the show including the theme song) gave the creators the idea to make the series silly. That worked not only in the UK, but also in the U.S. where Danger Mouse ranked as the second most popular show airing on Nickelodeon for several years.

Mike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and musician. He has done comedy shows and released serious music over his career which began in the '60s. Harding composed the music scores for Danger Mouse as well as its 1988 spin-off Count Duckula. The theme song is sung by professional back-up singer and vocal coach Sheila Gott who was from Manchester, England. Here is the opening for Danger Mouse featuring the theme song...

"He's the ace, he's amazing. He's the strongest he's the quickest, he's the best. Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse!"

Hope you enjoyed tuning in for another "episode" of TV Theme Songs!