4. Peter Gunn - Henry Mancini
The P.I. wouldn't have been nearly as hip if his every move wasn't accompanied by music from Mancini. The theme music has been covered by everyone from Duane Eddy and Jimi Hendrix to Aerosmith, Pulp and The Cramps. Even Quincy Jones has recorded a version of it—and when Jones covers a song, you know it's cool.
Peter Gunn was an American private eye TV show that aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The title character (played by Craig Stevens) was a private investigator and a sophisticated "hipster" who loved cool jazz; Peter Gunn was portrayed as the epitome of "cool".
The show's use of jazz, at a time when most TV shows used orchestra for the soundtrack, was another unique touch that set a trend for many years to come.
The main theme from Peter Gunn became an instant hit for Mancini, earning him an Emmy Award and two Grammys and which has since been covered by numerous jazz, blues, and rock artists.
interesting tidbits:
In Stephen King's novel Misery, Annie Wilkes poisons a cat named Peter Gunn.
After the two-season run on NBC and the single season on ABC, Edwards made numerous attempts to revive the character in other media. A novel and a comic book were released in 1960.
A feature film, Gunn, was made in 1967, and ABC carried a pilot in 1989 with Peter Strauss in the lead role, but they failed to catch on.
There are various vinyl releases of the music and the Lp's range from $10-50, depending on which copy you have.
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