{"id":72327,"date":"2026-09-09T13:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/09\/12-70s-tv-theme-songs-every-gen-x-kid-knows-by-heart\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:04:28","slug":"12-70s-tv-theme-songs-every-gen-x-kid-knows-by-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/09\/12-70s-tv-theme-songs-every-gen-x-kid-knows-by-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"12 ’70s TV Theme Songs Every Gen X Kid Knows by Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In the ’70s, a TV theme song had one job: set the scene and convince you to immediately return from the kitchen (where you’re getting a snack) and watch the commercials.<\/p>\n

For Gen Xers who grew up parked in front of the TV on Saturday nights (well, every night) these ’70s sitcom openers aren’t just nostalgic; they are permanently locked in as core memories. You can’t remember the name of the woman from accounting you’ve worked with for four months, but you can still sing every word of a theme song from a show that’s been off the air for four decades.<\/p>\n

Let’s put that to the test. We’ll give you a snippet of the lyrics from each theme. You see if the rest comes rushing back.<\/p>\n

Three’s Company (1977\u20131984)<\/h3>\n
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Come and knock on our door… (Come and knock on our door) \/ We\u2019ve been waiting for you… (We\u2019ve been waiting for you) \/ Where the kisses are hers and hers and his…<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201970s kids probably shouldn\u2019t have been watching Three\u2019s Company<\/em>, but hey \u2014 it was the \u201970s, and practically anything went. Every week brought one big misunderstanding, while \u201cCome and Knock on Our Door\u201d became an anthem for the ages. The music was written by Joe Raposo, a longtime Sesame Street<\/em> composer, with lyrics by Three’s Company<\/em> producer Don Nicholl.\u00a0Maybe that\u2019s why we loved it so much as kids: Raposo also co-wrote the Sesame Street theme<\/a> and gave us \u201cC Is for Cookie\u201d and “Bein\u2019 Green.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The Beverly Hillbillies<\/em> (1962\u20131971; Widely Syndicated in the ’70s)<\/h3>\n
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Come and listen to my story ’bout a man named Jed \/\u00a0 A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed \/\u00a0 And then one day, he was shootin’ at some food…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe Ballad of Jed Clampett\u201d did something\u00a0that a few of our picks below did\u00a0\u2014 it explained the show\u2019s entire premise, just in case you forgot. Written by series creator Paul Henning and recorded by bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs, the ridiculously catchy tune became a\u00a0“gen-you-wine” hit (as Jed Clampett would say). It entered the charts in late 1962 and reached No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s country chart in January 1963. It was the first bluegrass recording ever to top the country chart<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The Brady Bunch<\/em> (1969\u20131974)<\/h3>\n
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Here\u2019s a story \/ Of a lovely lady \/ Who was bringing up three very lovely girls \/ All of them had hair of gold…<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Probably TV’s most iconic theme song (also in a narrative style, like The Beverly Hillbillies<\/em>) was co-written by show creator Sherwood Schwartz. The song was sung by actual singers in season one’s theme, but the second season featured the Brady kid actors singing it themselves (featured above). It is obviously one of the most parodied TV themes \u2014 possibly even songs \u2014 of all time.<\/p>\n\n

Alice (1976\u20131985)<\/h3>\n
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Early to rise, early to bed \/ In and between I cooked and cleaned and went out of my head….<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This catchy theme was performed by the sitcom’s star Linda Lavin. While it wasn\u2019t common for cast members to sing their own theme songs, All in the Family<\/em> and the previously mentioned Brady Bunch<\/em> did it, too. Alice<\/em> was based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Laverne & Shirley<\/em> (1976\u20131983)<\/h3>\n
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One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight \/ Shlemiel, schlemazel \/ Hasenpfeffer Incorporated \/ We’re gonna do it…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMaking Our Dreams Come True,\u201d sung by Cyndi Grecco, was so aspirational that it made \u201970s kids want to chase their dreams \u2014 even if that meant moving to Milwaukee and working in a brewery.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a071 Rarely Seen Candid ’70s Celebrity Photos<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The opening chant \u2014 \u201cSchlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!\u201d\u2014 became a playground battle cry, even though kids had absolutely no idea what any of it meant.<\/p>\n\n

One Day at a Time<\/em> (1975\u20131984)<\/h3>\n
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This is it; this is life… \/ The one you get \/ So go and have a ball \/ This is it, straight ahead and rest assured \/ You can\u2019t be sure at all…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While we all assumed this boppy “This Is It” was sung by one of the sitcom\u2019s stars \u2014 it really did sound like Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips \u2014 it was actually performed by singer Polly Cutter.<\/p>\n

The premise was pretty groundbreaking for 1975: a divorced single mom raising two teenage daughters. That made perfect sense, since it came from Norman Lear\u2019s socially aware sitcom canon, alongside All in the Family<\/em>, Maude<\/em> and The Jeffersons,\u00a0<\/em>among others.<\/p>\n\n

The Jeffersons<\/em> (1975\u20131985)<\/h3>\n
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Well we’re movin’ on up \/ To the east side \/ To a deluxe apartment in the sky \/ Movin’ on up…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fun fact: This iconic theme was sung by Ja\u2019Net DuBois, who played Willona on Good Times. The song quickly became an anthem for anyone dreaming of something better. All you had to do was hum it and hope for the best. Did it work? No. But it made you feel instantly better.<\/p>\n

The opening was filmed outside a luxury apartment building on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side \u2014 but the moment they walk through the doors, they\u2019re suddenly entering an entirely different building in California. You can see both in our look at famous TV homes and what they look like today<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

All in the Family<\/em> (1971\u20131979)<\/h3>\n
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Boy the way Glenn Miller Played \/ Songs that made the Hit Parade \/ Guys like us we had it made \/ Those were the days…<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThose Were the Days\u201d was performed on camera by Carroll O\u2019Connor (Archie) and Jean Stapleton (Edith), who played the piano as they sang. Its wonderfully tinny, unpolished sound perfectly set the tone for the show\u2019s unfiltered approach to family life and social issues.<\/p>\n

How perfectly was it executed? Until creating this list, I thought the song was an old standard from the \u201940s or \u201950s. Nope \u2014 it was written specifically for the show.<\/p>\n\n

Happy Days<\/em> (1974\u20131984)<\/h3>\n
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Sunday, Monday, Happy Days \/ Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days \/ Thursday, Friday, Happy Days \/ Saturday, what a day \/ Rockin all week with you…<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While the first two seasons of Happy Days<\/em> opened with Bill Haley & His Comets\u2019 legendary \u201cRock Around the Clock,\u201d Season 3 introduced the custom-written \u201cHappy Days\u201d theme performed by Pratt & McClain. Deliberately styled after the doo-wop and early rock \u2019n\u2019 roll of the show\u2019s era, it endlessly confused a generation of children who assumed Happy Days<\/em> had actually been made in the 1950s. The song even became a hit of its own, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976.<\/p>\n

The theme song wasn\u2019t the only major change. The first two seasons were filmed as a single-camera comedy with a laugh track added afterward. Beginning with Season 3, the show switched to a three-camera setup before a live studio audience. Fonzie was also a supporting character in the early episodes and often wore a light-colored windbreaker instead of his iconic black leather jacket<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970\u20131977)<\/h3>\n
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Who can turn the world on with her smile? \/ Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? \/ Well, it\u2019s you, girl, and you should know it…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cLove Is All Around\u201d sounds like an existing song repurposed for TV, but Sonny Curtis wrote it specifically for The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em><\/a> after\u00a0seeing only a brief description of the series. Beginning with Season 2, its lyrics about whether Mary could actually make it on her own became a more confident\u00a0statement that she was<\/em> going to make it<\/em> after all. Curtis was a former member of Buddy Holly and the Crickets and died in 2025. He also wrote “I Fought the Law.”<\/p>\n\n

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Gilligan’s Island (Widely Syndicated in the ’70s; originally 1964\u20131967)<\/h3>\n
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Just sit right back and you\u2019ll hear a tale \/ A tale of a fateful trip \/ That started from this tropic port…<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Co-written by creator Sherwood Schwartz (who also did the same for The Brady Bunch<\/em>), it’s hard to believe this show was actually a ’60s series, since it was everywhere in the ’70s, particularly after school. Like The Brady Bunch<\/em> and The Beverly Hillbillies<\/em>, the entire story was told in the song. Super fans will know that\u00a0the first season cut some of the castaways from the opening, just saying “…and the rest” (rude), before they were later added in with “the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan’s Isle.”<\/p>\n\n

WKRP in Cincinnati (1978\u20131982)<\/h3>\n
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Baby, if you\u2019ve ever wondered \/ Wondered whatever became of me \/ I\u2019m livin\u2019 on the air in Cincinnati…<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The WKRP in Cincinnati<\/em> theme is a bit unusual in its own right: there was a rumor going around (heck, it’s still around today) that the song was actually sung by Richard Sanders, who played Les Nessman on the series. It does sound like him. It is, however (officially, at least), sung by Steve Carlisle. Another noteworthy piece of trivia \u2014 true to WKRP’s rock-leaning format, the end credits feature a completely different song<\/a>, a hard-rocking, mostly unintelligible track written and\u00a0shouted by Jim Ellis.<\/p>\n

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UP NEXT: Every 1970s Living Room Had These Things<\/h2>\n
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Gather ’round the TV console, admire the wood paneling, and marvel at everything that made ’70s living rooms the place to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n