Top Ten TV Theme Songs

Let's explore PasteMagazine.com's list of theme songs, this time see what made #8 on their list:

8. Hawaii Five-o - Morton Stevens

Of all the songs on this list, this is the one that you'll have stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Includes the massive "Hawaii Five-O" theme, plus the cuts "Call To Danger", "Up Tight", "Blues Trip", "The Long Wait", "The Floater", "Beach Trip", "Operation Smash", "McGarrett's Theme", and "Front Street". Book 'em Danno!



A soundtrack album featuring Morton Stevens' theme and incidental music was issued by Capitol Records in 1970. One of the instrumental pieces on the album, "Call to Danger", was excerpted as background music accompanying a "Special Presentation" logo that CBS used to introduce its prime time television specials throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

interesting tidbits:

The show continues to be seen in Hawaii since it left the air, thus making it the longest-running show to continue airing in the state after it ceased production. It is currently seen on Honolulu independent outlet KWHE.

The phone numbers that were dialed from various Honolulu-area phone booths throughout the run of the series were actual household numbers, which caused some "invasion of privacy" concerns for residents, even after the series ended; hence in the middle of the series run, the Honolulu phone prefix "(808) 555-xxxx" was to be used on every episode from then on.

Jack Lord was the only actor to appear in all episodes of Five-O and was the only original cast member remaining when its last episode aired in May 1980. He and Herman Wedemeyer were the only actors to appear in the first episode (excluding the pilot) and the last episode of the series.

The soundtrack is listed at around $40 (Capitol ST-410)