(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Rhythm Heritage - "Theme from S.W.A.T."
Hit Number 1: February 28, 1976
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
It doesn't happen much anymore, but TV show theme songs could sometimes become huge hits. I couldn't tell you why that was a thing for a while. I don't know if those theme songs were just better than the themes from today, or if the shows were better and more people tuned in to the shows, loved the theme song and wanted to buy a record of said theme song. This era lasted for about 20 years, but I wasn't alive then to tell anyone why this was a thing. Today, I think it's yet another interesting point in pop music's history. One of the better theme songs that came out from this era was a song from a show that didn't even stay on air for that long. This was the theme from S.W.A.T., and as you may have guessed, the show surrounded a S.W.A.T. team based somewhere in southern California. S.W.A.T. was a spinoff of the show The Rookies, a show which ran for five years about three rookie cops in the same area S.W.A.T. would take place in.
The most interesting thing about the song that made it to #1 is that the #1 hit is not the same song that ran as the real TV theme. Barry De Vorzon is the songwriter for the song, and he had his own orchestra record it, which is the version you'd hear if you watched any old S.W.A.T. episodes on YouTube. Rhythm Heritage was a group basically put together by a bunch of random session musicians, and they recorded the theme songs for S.W.A.T. as well as Baretta. The band didn't take themselves too seriously, and by all accounts, only wanted to have some fun by putting a disco twist on TV themes and making them into singles for potential radio airplay. Nobody saw the success of their "Theme from S.W.A.T." coming. It's weird to me because S.W.A.T. wasn't some overwhelming TV sensation. It ran for a couple of seasons and was done. I think most of the song's power comes from its heavy disco inspiration, which is clear to hear. The song is strictly an instrumental, as is the real TV theme, so it rolls with the same formula the whole time: rich horn sections, gleaming strings and catchy hooks. It's nothing new as far as disco's concerned. It's fun to dance to, I'd imagine, and I can actually picture intense police chases going on while the song is playing. Today, it's simply just a song to vibe too. It bangs hard enough and keeps the listener entertained. That's all you can really ask out of an instrumental, let alone a song that was a re-recorded TV show theme song.
Because of all that, the song was an out-of-nowhere success, and suddenly Rhythm Heritage had to really think about becoming a true band instead of just an experiment. Since people were starting to get into their music, they were getting ready to become a band that toured and did live performances, but strangely that never happened. Well, it kind of never happened. Different musicians were selected to go on these tours than the ones that really did these recordings, and I have to be honest, I don't understand what the damn point of that was. I get that they could easily get away with it, as this was before music videos, so no one knew what these musicians truly looked like that were doing these songs, but come on. It's just being cheap if you ask me. Later, some might say unsurprisingly, the "Rhythm Heritage" shows ceased, and the whole Rhythm Heritage thing went away with it. It's believed that this was because the replacement musicians weren't as good as the real Rhythm Heritage. The band lasted about as long as the show S.W.A.T., which of course, wasn't long. But one of those session musicians, Ray Parker Jr., will find his way back in this blog sometime down the road.
GRADE: 7/10
IN POP CULTURE:
LL Cool J sampled Rhythm Heritage's "Theme from S.W.A.T." on his 1987 song "I'm Bad." Here's the video for that:
(Though "I'm Bad" peaked at a very low #84, it's still an 8. LL Cool J will appear in this blog as a featured rapper)
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