Barney Miller Intro

[jandrews270]

Tommy!

[MrSloika]

That's a funky ass bass line.

[Loobs666]

What was it with these hefty 1970's TV theme tune killer Basslines? What with the 'All New Pink Panther Show' and 'The New Avengers' et al we were spoiled for choice. Fuckin' Funkaay!

[mierecords]

the bassline, those drums coming in, and the picture of the new york skyline with the towers still standing, is just perfect.

[MrSloika]

@mierecords The towers were only a couple years old when this show started.

[RVCA91]

Fresh bassline!

[1skullduggery]

i prefer this intro to the earlier one. the other seems more like an exit.

[tallthinwavy3]

Nice bass intro. remember watching it

[MsTVRetro]

Back when the actors really looked like cops unlike these pretty boy posers these days.

[rowdy8888]

@MsTVRetro Or highlighted hair ...

[97bruin]

how awesome was this theme music !?

back in the 70's..alot of shows had truly heinous theme songs where every aspect of the plot was spelled out in the lyrics... some of the worst offenders were lame shows like chico & the man, welcome back kotter and maude(!!!!)...

barney miller's is timeless

[MusicRater01]

Back when jazz music was good for tv theme's

[heyitsart]

This, and the show "Night Court" have the best tv theme basslines.

[Hyman74Roth]

I LOVE this show when this came on TVLand, I always thought this was New York's version of the Andy Griffith Show, because the criminals of NY were just as colorful and memorable as the ones in Mayberry.

[plumlogan]

My dad watched this, so I did too. I was like five at the time and the only thing I understood was the intro.

[curtpollmann1]

My parents watched Barney Miller when I was a kid and the only thing that kept me in the room was that opening bass line.

As of 11/7/11, seven people were not giving it up for Hal Linden.

[Jessev1234]

Thumbsup if Adam Carolla/Mike Judge sent you

[bertonglacy]

Abe motherfucking Vigoda!! 

[JazzKeyboardist1]

didn't wojo play piano?

[musicianforlife22]

I used to watch re runs of this show when I was like 2... lol

[AlannTH]

Funk me thats good.

[crysjumar1]

@AlannTH It will funk you right on up.

[swatch71]

Man, my dad watched every episode of this 10 times.

[WSenator1]

@swatch71 - Your dad is a smart man. (And I did the same thing he did!)

[StringFever1]

Love this! Made me want to play bass at the age of 6!

[beezilla87]

the funkiest theme of ALL TIME

[ufuckfacesonofabitch]

Epic drum breaks

[antediluvian99]

Yo, uh - uh - yo - yo, check it - I gotta... Wait, waitaminute engineer, play it back again. [achrem] Start from the top, I forgot my lines.

[chandlerherbert2]

I love the song! Never really watched the show!

[AVIDONVON]

I absolutely love this song.

[stevenchudobiak]

bloooooooooolll

[kedk200]

wish they'd actually play THIS on nick at night or something.

[mrmoore1972]

One of the best shows ever! This and Hill Street Blues were great cop shows.

[alkeyman94]

damn that theme music is the funkiest tv theme ive heard in my life

[GMan1402]

I would love to hear the song up to the 12 second point and just repeat. It's got a great beat...

[Raven7176]

ohh man, the last time I saw this I was a little kid in the 70's

nah, was just humming to myself this theme and couldn't remember where it was from.

Good show.

[asianformusic]

no bass no barney miller theme!

[paulcarrollmusic]

Tom Scott did the theeme for this from what I heard

[cetteferge]

@paulcarrollmusic Wrong!...As a kid, I was under the piano, listening to it being created...RIP dad (Allyn Ferguson)

[aussiejhn777]

My dad was a cop in Australia he loved this show....he thought it was very real...great show I thought to we used to watch it together

[wmakiling805]

Was Steve Gadd the drummer on this track?

[jawharp1992]

I miss Jack Soo!

[terrydribble]

Some funky ass bass

[terrydribble]

Awesome

[woodmaster333]

Dopest theme song of all time.

[azbatz1]

the twin towers!



[mminer58]

@azbatz1 Weren't they beautiful! Heartbreaking to see them standing there.

[missjacko1]

Funkayyy

[chikkengrease]

I know this was a show about cops, but when I hear this theme music, I just have the urge to scream, Where my bitches

[Kelski1998]

That bass at the beginning is still something else and this show has been off the air for close to 30 years now!

[leftcoast67]

When TV hired actors based on talent, not if they look like models.

[logos122]

@leftcoast67 Obviously...j/k...I agree.lol...I had to take a jab

[johnissoevil]

@leftcoast67 I agree. I always saw King of Queens as the last of a dying breed of great sitcoms.

[johnissoevil]

@leftcoas67 Don't get me wrong, this show was better, of course.

[whitbyjet65]

@leftcoast67 A truer word has never been said, sir! I agree with you 100%.

[ClassicTVful]

@leftcoast67 For real! These guys really looked like detectives unlike these pretty plastic people these days. Seriously how many cops look like super models?

[TheMashwatcher585]

if Obama can bring back 70`s/80`s tv back on the national  networks, he`ll finally do something right.

[mminer58]

@TheMashwatcher585 Lol!!

[castingtherunes]

I say bring back the dirty, filthy New York. Fuck families!

[UMAMIMAMU]

@castingtherunes So true. What ever happened to the days when it was cool to be a scumbag?

[jalcafaras]

whos Allyn Ferguson?

[Scottthewolf]

I think I just made some coffee that is as bad as Sgt Yemana's coffee.

[vikings844]

The gritty New York was bad ass, the city now is cleaner then skeeter's peter!!! with the NYPD ruling it with an iron fist.

[cleoo2010]

I vaguely remember Barney Miller, but some of it I do. My parents watched this show religiously when I was young. I'll always remember the little asian guy. I always thought he had the saddest looking eyes I had ever seen.

[msromo]

Even though I was just a kid, I loved this intro, I thought it was so cool the way it started off with that awesome bass line.

[itisnttoohard]

Crazy ass shit yo

[captainimij]

Thirsday nights 9-9:30 on ABC/channel 7

[vincelavalle]

Yep.. good ol Allyn. he and Jack Elliott collaborated on the Charlie's Angels theme. Who's Jack Elliott you ask? Think 'Night Court'

[morgan8757]

I would of liked it if they did'nt get rid of chano

[philosovitz]

classic theme song, and classic show about the long forgotten hard times in NYC...it was a very different city back then..I loved this show..watched it all the time as a kid. I especially loved the closing credits part of the theme song!

[janemacdonnell1]

@philosovitz NYC was gritty and dirty back then-- could walk down the REAL Times Square,Porn theatresand all the seediness that came with it. Now its friggin Disneyland.I walk out of the P.A. onto 8th , and still cant believe i am in the city i grew up in. '77 blackout--Yankees win again!-Son of Sam. Hot dirty summer man.Boogey Down Bronx,125 and Lex.,E.Village-The Beginnings of diff music-Sugar Hill Gang,Grand Master Flash,Punk Rock-CBGB's.Yeah man and plenty of other things not to be typed!!

[vikings844]

@janemacdonnell1 I would have to say movies like Death Wish,French Conection,The Worriers,gave people a taste of a gritty NeW YORK.

[mminer58]

@janemacdonnell1 Man, what an interesting childhood you had! You must cherish those days so much. That's why I love shows that depict the 60's and 70's when people were real, and causes were real, and you had to earn it if you wanted it.

[qwandiddy]

Wow!! how many people passed from this show???

R.I.P Barney Miller!! He died this past Tuesday.

[DAngelo136]

@qwandiddy James Gregory (2002); Jack Soo (1979); Steve Landesberg (2010); Ron Carey (2007); Florence Stanley (2003); Jack DeLeon(2002); Danny Arnold (1995); Noam Pitlik (1999) as of this writing: Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Ron Glass, Max Gail, Gregory Sierra and Barbara Barrie are still living.

[ForceFagerstorm]

@qwandiddy Hal Linden is still very much alive. He is 80 now. I hope I didn't just jinx him.

[frankdrac]

R I P Steve Landesberg

[studmufinn]

The Twin Towers in the background are brand new, only about a year or two old from when they opened. Amazing.

[cybercat29]

@studmufinn Yeah :-( Hard to believe they are no longer there :-(

[lasquid]

R.I.P. my homie.

[hyppychik67]

RIP Steve Landesberg

[GreenGreenMauvePink]

RIP Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich

[vikings844]

My kind of peeps,blue collar cops from the mean streets of NY.kICKING ASS and the glue that keeps america up and running! Office people in suits dosen't work for me. 

[majinish]

im 19 and watched this on outta sight retro night on WGN. this show is freakin awesome & i saw every episode :)

[lowaces]

funniest show about fucking pigs ever

[MiGrm9]

Catch the re-runs on Hulu to get your Barney Miller fix!

[pennsy6000]

Barney Miller was da bomb!!!!!

[skydogz1]

Jim Hughart bass is awesome.

[handymandan100]

@skydogz1 HEY! He played with Tom Waits! ;^)

[WeedVulva]

@skydogz1 i heard it was chuck berghofer

[BreezesofConey]

My god I loved watching this show! Bring back the real comedy.

[nudracr]

my nanny (grandma) always thought he was so handsome, my the time slips

[jerseyjamrock]

Always nice to see the Twin Towers so sorry I took them for grantide assuming they'd always be there.

[moonsault2506123]

i always watched this 1978,steve lukather(toto)plays guitar.

[HFsX]

@MrUSAJAY It was from the first 3 seasons. It had nothing to do with the episode (surprise, surprise) so I don't even remember which episode it came from.

[HFsX]

@MrUSAJAY Family Guy did something along those lines. Cleveland says to the guys one day "You guys remember that old show Fish? They should have put that on right before CHiPs, the marketing practically writes itself"

[SargentMugen]

Can you get me off the hook, Tom? For old times' sake?

[bshen88]

Can't do it, Sally.

[lenarends]

I just wanna know the caveat to what the doctor said was "OK"!

[HFsX]

@lenarends Fish collapsed at the office and wanted to go back to work immediately afterwards. 

[lenarends]

@HFsX Good info ... what's amazing is that Abe Vigoda could play a feeble old man in the LATE 70s and here we are a decade into the 21st Century, and he's still at it!

[brushfour44]

@lenarends Never thought about that....but you're right. He wasn't excatly a young non-feeble man in the Godfather which was filmed in the early 70's. Has he EVER been young?? I think not.

[p90x4lifewaswr0ng]

POOSY. ur mad cuz me hacked p90waswrongs chan! haha!

dxvanedf

[cast390]

Anyone know who played bass on this? I heard years ago Gadd played drums but nothing else.

[mrsag088]

I'm very fond with the opening theme.

[jpd782]

Damn. I haven't seen this opening in years. I remember my Parents/Grandparents watching this around 1979-1980 or so. I was about 5. At the time the only police show I knew was CHIP's. So, I could not grasp the concept of detectives in an office. I was waiting for a police chase. 

[mpower6428]

@jpd782 i had the same problem. we're about the same age.  maybe is was a little too "realistic" for us.

[avxdot]

Hey wasn't Gregory Sierra also Hulio on Sanford and Son?? I love how fat the drums sound once they come in.

[Shotgunnova]

Even a lobotomy wouldn't help y'forget that bassline, man.

[stupidblackphantom]

o man... the good old days... i used to watch this show everyday after school when i was 13 and now im 40 but nonetheless one of the best shows i have ever watched

[khaliamoon]

And to think, no one has ever sampled this for a rap song. One of the sickest bassine ever!

[zoloftboy]

@khaliamoon its been sampled.

[bradchaz]

Back when TV shows had good themes...and better writing.

[majinish]

@bradchaz i agree. im 19 and i love this show. i dont get y ppl dont like old shows. theyre the best

[Minorthing792]

@majinish I think a lot of people do like those shows, however they don't wanna admit it cuz those shows are old...or it's just like how a lot of people listen to rap and say that Led Zeppelin suck even tho they have never listened to them and say so just because of peer pressure of because of their stupidity...and no I"m not saying that rock is better than rap haha

[majinish]

@Minorthing792 yeah that sounds about right. its kind of odd though since people admit to watching Sanford and Son

[BadRonald1]

look at the twin towers. whoa....

[Psymaj]

This is one of the coolest theme songs...just sayin.

[TOMMYOLA1]

wow

[Kelski1998]

Great theme song even with just the bassline going through it. Great cast great show Abe Vigoda and Jack Soo made that show their own!!!!

[JoyGrenade]

I like how the two "ethnic" guys are relegated to the same title frame.

[UncleMikeNJ]

On "Life On Mars," I kept waiting for Gene Hunt at the 1-2-5 to take a sip from his coffee, and ask, "Who made this crap?" And then see lookalikes from The Old One-Two walk in. Except for Fish, who would be played by Abe Vigoda himself. After all, he hasn't aged a day in 35 years!

[barfnaruto56]

You know what the name of this episode was this from?

[rg65]

R.I.P. - Allyn Ferguson (1924 - 2010)

Google BEFORE you ask.

[epics7]

@rg65 composer for the theme song.

[knightflyte]

@rg65

I googled. Thank you Allyn. Great theme song which is still memorable after thirty five years.

[614Spider]

@rg65 Who's that?

[cetteferge]

@rg65 Thanks! He was a great dad!

[rg65]

R.I.P. - Allyn Ferguson (1924 - 2010)

Google BEFORE you ask.

[TrinaLOVEStheRIGS]

What ever happened to Hal??

[cityofwalls]

@TrinaLOVEStheRIGS He is currently the national spokesperson for the Jewish National Fund

[angellguardiandl0111]

classic show, great cast!

[handymandan100]

"I'm not dead yet, Barney!"

[RantovRizzia]

hats off to the bass player!

[rx2411]

These themes I think were usually played by all these LA heavy session dudes and that's why (along with the writing of them) they sound so good. So much better than the rubbish today - a lot of producers today are too cheap to spend money on a real band (except perhaps simpsons, family guy, and a few others I'm not aware of).

[doelstu]

That's when a show had a theme song (and the shows where good). TV has little sound bytes now. I can play 5 seconds of this at practice and everyone from mid 30's on knows it instantly.

[nicka727]

About the episode Stormy weather, the deaf person in this episode while all deaf guests communicating only in sign language, it had no subtitles. For many watching the original ABC run, reruns on WDIV during the 1980s, TV Land in 2001, and WGN America, they didn't undestand what they're saying without subtitles.

[Lyrikk09]

This bass line is fucking beast. Too funky for my blood. What do you young bloods nowadays know about this ? This theme is where it all started. Never will you hear good shit like this again in your lifetime as far as show themes.

[howeverclever]

this is just waaaaaay too funky. that bass line is angry!

[jlomax]

I love this theme intro...I always wondered what the police officer told Hal lInden that made him laugh!! LOL!

[michaelq28]

@jlomax He told him "the script says to laugh now"

[BRDotson1]

@jlomax the cop told him all the doughnuts were gone...hal thought he was playing.

[jlomax]

@BRDotson1 LOL!!!!!! Most likely! :)

[charlestonchewy]

@jlomax I like to think the officer told Barney that Fish accidentally locked himself inside the bathroom.

[guitarslim56]

@jlomax, He said, "I slept with your wife!"

[jlomax]

@guitarslim56 LOL!! Did you ever see his wife on the show?? That WOULD make him laugh! :)

[HFsX]

@jlomax "the mayor just called, he said we're all getting big raises!"... "the Mets are gonna win it all this year, you just watch!"... "we made coffee, get up there quick before it runs out and ya gotta drink Yemanas stuff"

[siloe103]

@jlomax "i'm black and i love white women, you're white and love white women...looks like you're fucked cracker"

[charlestonchewy]

@jlomax I'd like the think the officer joked about Sgt Yamana's coffee.

[RXTVonline]

@jlomax He said damn nigga u ever brush yo teef?!

[weitulong]

@jlomax "My fly has been open all day."

[fanotv]

@ bigrene2

What the hell is your problem?

[JacRab25]

I agree with Jayhawk. That shit is tight.

[tfronauer]

The theme is by Jack Elliott. He also wrote the theme for the spin-off, "Fish."

[waveali]

Damn they dont make theme songs like this anymore. What a wicked bass line.

[myvinylweighsaton79]

Nice post! This theme song is straight up nasty! Peace.

[PositiveLastAction]

All time most depressing TV show in history.

[DixieRected]

I think just about any fucking reality show takes that title.. "Flavor of Love" could probably be used to make Al Quada terrorists confess to anything. Fuck waterboarding.. a forced sit through American Idol or The Bachelor would have them weeping at our feet.

[54thstjayhawk]

It may be depressing but it has the best theme song ever....Listen to that opening bass line. Pure funk

[12groney]

Isn't That Tom Scott?

[vikings844]

Abe Yagota's super bowl commercial had me laughing so hard i was crying.Its amazing he is still alive.

[Saltheman139]

its vagoda jackass

[DixieRected]

Actually it is VIGODA.

[bigrene2]

It's Vigoda, you punk.

[bradchaz]

I love this theme--both the early seasons and later seasons. It's got the one of the best bass lines EVER!

[jsilence418]

It doesn't matter who played the bass, the line was written any studio bassist would play the same thing and who the fuck is chuck hossenfeffer???

[Alkeoholic77]

THat bass line is SICK!

[bigrene2]

Oh, I loved MaCock Miller! Great cocky show, my fellow cockheads!

[circlejosh]

cockheads...what? buddy...im in the band foxycock and that is what we call our fans...you rule!

[bigrene2]

Whatever...cockhead!

[circlejosh]

whatever...alright! way to be sort of dicky....

[bigrene2]

MaAsssshole!

[Clevinger67]

Always liked this show and the theme music. I remember watching the final episode too. Everytime I see footage of New York with those twin towers I think, "If they only knew."

[derekmimi]

Max Gail...mmmmmmmmmmm

[awbjr9871]

I also LOVE the drums in this.

[awbjr9871]

I also have noticed that there seem to be many versions of this that are on different Barney Miller shows. It's odd to think they re-recorded the theme song so many times.

Best tv theme song ever. Funky, fat-ass bass. Love it.