Todd’s Movie Blog

When it comes to cool theme songs everybody has a favorite; Shaft, Halloween, James Bond, the list goes on. But for me, the coolest theme song ever is Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn, with its driving base line and blaring horns. Many others must agree as it’s been covered more times than just about any other song. A short list of artists includes Ray Anthony, Duane Eddy, Bobby Hackett, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (with Rick Emerson’s synthesizer being the whole show on that one), The Blues Brothers, The Art of Noise (with Duane Eddy), and even The Monkees. An unreleased version from their Headquarters album sessions was finally released some ten years ago on a reissue of the album. It is a psychedelic romp that has to be heard to be believed with Mike Nesmith doing some….interesting steel pedal guitar work in place of a jazzy horn section. Heck, even Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac is really just a remake with lyrics added, right down to a spine shiver inducing sax solo from Clarence Clemons. The best use of the song has to be in The Blues Brothers as they are walking to their rundown rooming house, with the song stopping and starting as part of the joke when they escape the first of Carrie Fisher’s many attempts on their lives. If Jake and Elwood hadn’t been cool enough already by this point, their stoic, dead pan reactions with that music pumping underneath cemented their ubercoolness to movie fans for all time.