That feeling when a song yanks you back to your childhood living room, complete with shag carpet and wood paneling? The 1970s delivered TV theme songs that were more than catchy tunes—they were sonic appetizers setting the mood for everything from sitcoms to police procedurals. Selecting just 15 from this treasure trove of earworms was like choosing a favorite kid. These aren’t just songs; they’re cultural time capsules that trigger laughter, tears, and maybe a sudden urge to rock some bell-bottoms.
7. Welcome Back, Kotter
John Sebastian’s chart-topper that literally renamed a TV show.
When John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976, producers did something unheard of—they renamed their show after the song. It’s like if Stranger Things suddenly became Running Up That Hill! The tune was so infectious it jump-started careers and sold after-school dreams.
You’re sprawled on a corduroy couch, Swanson’s TV dinner in hand, watching Gabe Kaplan navigate the sweathogs of Buchanan High. John Travolta appears on screen before he was preening across the Saturday Night Fever dance floor. “Welcome Back” didn’t just launch a show; it launched legends.
6. Three’s Company
The cheeky earworm that turned innuendo into appointment television.
Joe Raposo wrote “Come and Knock on Our Door,” but session singers Ray Charles and Julia Rinker Miller brought the earworm to life. For anyone tired of sitcoms taking themselves too seriously, ABC’s Three’s Company provided the perfect antidote from 1977 to 1984—transforming mundane misunderstandings into comedic gold built on innuendo and physical humor.
John Ritter as Jack Tripper proved awkward moments were universal. His talent for pratfalls and double entendres elevated the sitcom into the pineapple-flavored vodka of TV comedies: surprisingly fun and delightfully silly. Critics called it lowbrow, but Three’s Company mastered turning simple scenarios into laugh riots.
5. Hawaii Five-0
The surf rock brass blast that made crime-fighting cool.
Morton Stevens composed this theme that mashed up surf rock and brass with such swagger, The Ventures’ cover version reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the kind of tune that makes you want to solve crimes in a pineapple shirt, maybe with Jack Lord’s questionable wig.
That iconic guitar riff hits and suddenly you’re dodging bad guys on Waikiki Beach. This wasn’t just a theme song—it was a weekly shot of Hawaiian sunshine mixed with gritty cop action. “Book ’em, Danno” belongs in the TV catchphrase hall of fame, right next to “Nanu nanu.”
4. Sanford and Son
Quincy Jones knocked out this funky masterpiece in under 30 minutes.
Anyone who’s heard a junk truck rumble knows certain sounds scream “inner city” like a blues harmonica at midnight. Redd Foxx’s Fred G. Sanford and Demond Wilson’s Lamont perfectly captured their scrappy life on this NBC hit from 1972 to 1977.
Quincy Jones, yes that Quincy Jones, composed the theme. Officially titled “The Street Beater,” Jones reportedly wrote and recorded it in under 30 minutes. Next time the landlord comes knocking, blast this track and remind them who’s really running things.
3. Good Times
The gospel-infused groove that didn’t sugarcoat poverty.
Unlike bubblegum-sweet sitcom themes, CBS’s Good Times opening didn’t sugarcoat reality. Co-written by Dave Grusin with Alan and Marilyn Bergman from 1974 to 1979, the gospel-infused groove addressed poverty and perseverance in a Chicago housing project.
That raw honesty, paired with uplifting vocals from Jim Gillstrap and Blinky Williams, resonated deeply with families. You were getting reality with a side of hope—peak television, even if grandma always changed the channel after Florida Evans delivered her weekly pep talk.
2. The Rockford Files
The Grammy-winning instrumental that made TV soundtracks cool.
NBC viewers from 1974 to 1980 might remember Jim Rockford as the ex-con turned private investigator who bent rules and busted heads. But even if you don’t recall the plots, you’d recognize those harmonica wails and synth grooves instantly. Mike Post and Pete Carpenter’s composition cracked Billboard’s top 10 in 1975, then swaggered off with a Grammy for best instrumental arrangement.
Picture a car chase through L.A. at sunset—this theme kicks in like the sonic equivalent of a perfectly timed punchline. “The Rockford Files” theme understood the assignment: mood-setting ear candy that still sounds fresher than most stuff clogging streaming playlists today.
1. Baretta
Sammy Davis Jr.’s soulful vocals made this theme unforgettable.
Robert Blake starred as Tony Baretta on ABC from 1975 to 1978, but Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames wrote the theme that added extra grit. The kind that sticks like gum on hot sidewalk.
Sammy Davis Jr. delivered vocals that could make a stone statue feel something. Rhythm Heritage’s disco version even hit number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Cruising down neon-lit streets, chasing bad guys—Baretta‘s theme wasn’t just music; it was a soulful pulse in the city’s concrete veins.
