Rainbow - Full Theme

[PhflyDan1]

The guitar riff is so coool....

[derekthesec]

I have loved rainbow as a child and adult.

[blackcountryme]

@dcm2221 LOL ROFL i use to sing that and got caught singing it and got the bollocking of my life...but it is "....out the window hit Bungle in the eye" crap i am now crying laughing... my ribs hurt. Nice one!

[blackcountryme]

no no no rainbows only frown if you are standing upright if you are on your head they are smiling, fancy you not knowing that!!!!! WOW @RonnyGreenberg deep man, and creepy, you have thought way too much about it. Top bloke :D

[diskochimp]

@EmperorMarcusNovius The best bit!

[TheKingmarshmaalo]

i miss this show

[1jadeamber]

omg! i remember watching this when i was about 5/6 and my mum telling me how she used to watch it then singing along :')

[ladyfantasy71]

What a fab most amazing tune !!! Early 70s rule !

[jimclashair]

even squarepusher was influenced by this.

[LimaLima95]

I can imagine them gathering at Woodstock on a hazy night back in the day.

[animationdude56]

damn this is catchy

[TheLizardmonkey]

Love the Skelton obituary! He was magnificent!

[MrComedy01]

@TheLizardmonkey yes a magnificent voice artist of Zippy, George and the Daleks :') 

[sgt7]

Love to hear this song as an entrance song to some mma fight -

[blackcountryme]

@sgt7 i laughed that much i have a nosebleed...LOLOL

[silentgreytiger]

wow, who knew it got all intense and donovan-like in the middle?

[duckman444]

Wow good old childhood memories.

was such a great show :-)

[hyderpotter]

This video remind me of the channel 4 idents.

[bogen1050]

aahhhhhhhhh Brings back some memories from 1990 i was 5

[ShockerHaloGuy]

LOVE IT

[rebusforever]

wow, epic

[5star555555555]

2 people watched this on a black and white set

[nw8000]

@EmperorMarcusNovius Do dum do da do da

[bazalmighty]

funky and trippy :)

[POKERInAFlash]

good memories from my childhood

[roguetrip99]

We could all paint our twangers!

[jazyuill1]

i luv this song brillant

[666DILLINGER]

YES!!!!!! zippy is the greatest!

[fanofangela89returns]

Nicely done. Dig that funky solo at 1:46 and again at 2:29. :-)

[ScottieWallace]

over all the streets and houses rainbow flying highhhh, bungle sticks his cock out the window and pishes in geoffereys eyes.!!!!! weeeeeeeeeee

[holmeschapelmouse]

It's easy to overlook how wonderful musically these old tv themes are. Great to hear the full version. Ta 4 post.

[shine01120]

can anyone remember the dance version of the song brought out in the early 90's? i used to love it but can't remember what it's called to try and find it

[PM1970]

There was a club track called It's A Rainbow by Rainbow and charted in 2002 ;)

[toalli274]

@shine01120 Yes your thinking of Shinehead's song Rainbow!! you can find it on Youtube Now :)

[Tommysgirl14]

@shine01120 It was by Solo and I think it was just called Rainbow :)

[conformistkiller666]

@0:43 sounds like something ledZeplin or some 70s rock band forgot to write!

[RaeRae914]

lol wel spotted

[davidedkins]

0:19 - So THAT'S where 'Eastenders' nicked the melodramatic drumbeat at the end of each episode from.

:-)

[stuh1975]

"See it smiling over the sky"... It's not, it's frowning. Rainbows frown don't they?.

[97channel]

stuh1975 - Yeah, that fact had been eating away at my subconscious for years.

But then I saw a photo taken in my city of an absolutely geniune, but extremely rare upside down rainbow!

So I figured that that's more than a good enough explanation for me. Along with the possibility that the singer was standing on his head.

[Adz599]

@stuh1975 You work in sales... don't you Stuh ? :D

[MrSkalisko]

@stuh1975 - that's because you are looking at them upside down

[conformistkiller666]

sounds like SpinalTap!

[LARUCUS]

NOW PLAY WITH YOUR TWANGER!!

[muskier]

anywun know the guitar intro/ending on 'this is your right' presented by lord winstanley? ta

[Carpomoo]

Play this for me baby every day . He loves it and does a little dance. Cheers !

[jjtreml]

WE LOVE YOU ZIPPY !!!

[peteq1972]

Excellent! cheers.

[peteq1972]

I`m sure there`s a bit of the solo missing. in the guitar bit. Sure it`s picking really fast at one point, but maybe just how i remember it. Takes me back though.

[97channel]

peteq1972 - Your memory hasn't decieved you. This is slightly different to the recording used in the show.

There are a few video's here on YouTube which contain the guitar solo which I presume you're talking about. It features heavily at the end of the video titled 'Rainbow - the first ever episode part 2'.

[TheDustpile]

...Not with the drums sounding like the floppy cardboard they are on the recording, surely?

[ITW84]

all the drummers watrching this secretly aspire to do THAT drum break at :20

me inculdued

[m9mike9]

Love the drum break-down at 0:20. I will never forget that!

[TheNightPoison]

thanks for putting this up!

[TechyMike]

does anyone know the song name and artist?

[hyderpotter]

The theme song for the show was actually a small part of the full version, also called 'Rainbow' and written by Hugh Portnow, Hugh Fraser and Tim Thomas of the band Telltale, who regularly appeared in the first series of the show. This was released by Music For Pleasure in 1973 with the B-side "Windy Day".

[MakiTwin]

Brings back childhood...:)

[DPFIREBIRD]

fantastic theme tune the oldies are the best

[brad42948]

wow... don't remember the middle8 at all. still the best kids' tv show theme.

[roryfromlondon]

I like the west coast trippy middle eight.

[MALOSINZ]

AWESOME! 1982 holidaying in Otaki at grandparents place...wow...27 years. :)

[MrTvfreak2008]

7inch version. The full ending  (instrumental) was only ever played twice

[stormmine]

Do you know which episodes?

I think the 7 inch version sounds flat in comparison with the cut used for the theme.

[MrTvfreak2008]

One was an outdoor episode. Sorry can't be more specific. The 7 inch was recorded afterwards. Same as Magpie really, The Murgatroyd Band (aka Spencer Davies Group) recorded it on 7 inch after the studio cut at Thames.

[stormmine]

Yeah - same for a lot of television shows. The 7 inch release tends to be a re-recording.

Would I be right also in saying that most 7 inch cuts would have been in stereo, whereas the broadcast television cuts would have been heard in mono?

Was listening to the 7 inch cut of the Blake's 7 theme tune and marveling at the orchestral scale of it.

[RonnyGreenberg]

Ahhh when kids TV was still fuelled by the 60s/70s LSD fallout. Now all kids get is corporate indoctrination and taught how to be an economic components instead of human individuals. This song is a haunting echo from the past reminding us of what could of been and what still may be...

[wilkes85]

Your comment BLEW MY MIND!

[artstuX]

My sentiments exactly RonnyGreenberg.

We must be on the same wavelength. :)

[repo136]

You've really nailed it with that comment, Ronny!

[pixie1xxx]

oh my god thats amazing ha ha, i loved rainbow. i want my children to see all of the old programmes so much better than the new stuff.

[ranchdressing]

Now we just need Chrono with his Rainbow Sword. :D

[stuartforbes]

This is the first time I've ever heard the full version... It's amazing.

Far out man

[AnthonyUK]

colours are fading the fields are dark and still,take some green from a forest blue from the sea find a misty pot of gold and mix them colouredly paint the whole world with a rainbow! All along the streams and rivers shining in the lakes see the colours of the rainbow as the morning breaks,paint the whole world with a rainbow! Red the colour of a sunrise white clouds floating in a sky of blue green for the rivers gold for the cornfields the day is shining new(repeat first verse and final linex3)

[AnthonyUK]

Up above the streets and houses rainbow climbing high everyone can see it smiling over the sky paint the whole world with the rainbow!All along the streams and rivers shining in the lakes see the colours of the rainbow as the morning breaks paint the whole world with the rainbow!red the colour of a sunrise white clouds floating in a sky of blue green for the rivers gold for the cornfields the day is shining new!Red the colour of a sunset grey shadows breathe across the hills the sun is sinking..

[vasquez109]

Anyone know who singing/playing it?

[97channel]

vasquez109 - It was written and performed by a group called TellTale, who were the original house-band on the first series of Rainbow.

TellTale were replaced by Rod, Jane & Matthew (later Roger, then Freddy) but the TellTale theme tune was retained.

[anthonythirteen]

DOn't forget Julian, Karl and Charmaine, who came after TellTale for a series or two (they can be seen singing 'horses' on youtube)

[97channel]

anthonythirteen - Really? I wasn't aware of them. I'll have to go take a look at that clip.

[WeternExperess]

Can't find them, do you have a link?

[theEvo77]

woa!!! far out man, zoning back to my child-hood. Loved rainbow so much, especially when they Zipped Zippys gob up!

[toalli274]

I have this as my Ringtone.

[butiamthedoctor]

That was really well done, especially just using the two title sequences.

[jamesdelboy]

I know it's not Rod Jane and Freddy but most pepole say that Rod Jane and Freddy sang the theme

[weegerri1sm]

hmmm... goes all kind of 'flower power' in places doesn't it?

[matafuko]

yeah it sounds like the byrds!

[EStar7580]

Turn! Turn! Turn! lol

[am9224]

Rainbow is now on Nick Jr Classics.

[motorokruk]

incomplete without the THAMES TV logo at the beginning.

[thefrecklepuny]

I was a Rainbow kid...Playschool was just too BBC and well...middle class

[RegardeLaMer]

AHH!!! I love "Rainbow". I miss this show SOOOOOOOOOOOO much!

[squatch1983]

all i can say is... oh my god!

[tonymontana1974]

far out man lol

[999hitchhiker999]

I guess this is why so many of us got hooked on breakbeat and funk :) - Excellent, perfect, so good to hear again..

[projektcancer]

I used to watch this too...found it on the first search..i feel young again....

[neildjreid]

i'm amazed there is a full version...lol sounds like a hippie song lol

[leolodreamland]

rod jane and freddy progging out!

[TroubadorTomRonson]

It's not Rod Jane and Freddy, it's a group called Telltale who appeared in the early 1970s episodes.

[anthonythirteen]

Telltale = Hugh Fraser, Fluff Joinson, Tim Thomas, Hugh Portnow, Chris Ashley and Ted Richards

[carlene23]

eeeeeeee! i used to love this =D!

[PCJoejoe]

lovely - childhood again!

[xentrix66]

Thx for this full version takes me back a long time ;)

[TheWomble001]

Brings back memories.

Thank you.