Theme Music

Throughout it's run, "Mike and Angelo" featured three different theme tunes - some more iconic than others. This article is an in-depth look at them.

## The First Theme (1989)

### Amount of Episodes

20 episodes

The first theme tune for Mike and Angelo was written by Jim Parker, and was only used in the original airings of the first two series.

This particular theme is noteable for it's sudden replacement with the second theme in repeats of the series in 1990. The exact reasoning behind this is unknown, but it is often theorised that it was part of an attempt re-market the show as a sitcom. A laugh track was also added and retained from this point onwards.

### Variations

The theme has two major variants - an intro version and an outro version. There are also uses of short transition music featuring a similar composition throughout episodes of the show:

#### Intro Version

The intro version features an introduction for Angelo's ship. It is distinguished by it's "mysterious" intro to set up the enigmatic origins of Angelo, before going into the lighthearted main section of the piece.

#### Outro Version

As heard in "Angelo's Big Break" (S2:E6), there is a different, extended mix of the theme used over the credits. This may have been used for nearly all original Series 1 - 2 episodes of "Mike and Angelo" - but because the only other original-edit episode online features another piece as it's ending theme, it's use in other episodes remains unclear.

## The Second Theme (1990-1991)

### Amount of Episodes

23 episodes (+ 20 for reruns)

The second theme tune was written by David Stafford - replacing the original theme in both the newly-released episodes and reruns of Series 1 and 2.

David Stafford was also the composer of the Spatz theme tune.

### Variants

Much like the first theme, this theme tune has variants which appear at the start, the end and as transitions:

#### Intro Version

The Intro version is noteable for a few reasons. For one thing, it features an American Sitcom-style voiceover by Matt Zimmerman - the only "Mike and Angelo" theme to do so. The transcript of this is as follows:

> "He came from another dimension, a different universe beyond infinity and he fell to Earth with a bump - into Mike King's wardrobe. It's not easy stepping out into an alien world where anything can happen.
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> But who is the mysterious stranger who answers to the name of Angelo? Ask Rita King. Better still ask her son Mike, whose world is turned upside down when Angelo comes to stay.
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> Watch the show - it's Mike and Angelo!"
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> - Intro Narrator, Series 3 - 4 Intro

With the departure of Matt Wright's Mike King in Series 4, his section would be cut out of the intro. Instead the voiceover says "Ask Rita King, whose world is turned upside down..." and so on.

Much like the first theme, there is also an instrumental introduction before the main "chorus" of the song - for when Angelo's ship appears. It can also be heard in the second making-of documentary for Mike and Angelo, uniquely without Matt Zimmerman's narration - however instead includes other voiceover. No version of without any voiceover publically exists.

#### Outro Versions

There are numerous variants of the outro version of the second theme - usually with involving an extended "chorus". However, one episode features a unique extended intro instead.

## The Third Theme (1993-2000)

### Amount of Episodes

80 episodes

The third theme tune for Mike and Angelo is by far the most iconic and well-known of them all. Composed by Alan Coates and Kim Goody, it has gained affectionate nicknames as the "Banjo" or "Acoustic" theme.. Despite only being introduced in Series 5, It has overshadowed the other two themes in terms of it's popularity.

It was reportedly composed using a Roland SC-55 MIDI sound module.This particular device was commonly used in Coates and Goody's TV series' compositions.

It has also been occasionally been used in minor memes, famously one such example being Roy Hodgson's Musical Walkabout.

### Outro Variations

Unlike the two which came before it, there is only one version of this theme. However, there is a few instrumental motiffs from the theme used in transitions.

Despite this, there are two very minor variations.in the outro in two particular series:

#### Series 6

Series 6's outro is noteable for it's use of extra notes over the Carlton endcap.

#### Series 11

Series 11's outro features sound effects over the music, placed to accompany a montage of moments in the series.

## References

1. ↑ Original Transition Music, still present in the re-edit of "Mike Meets Angelo" (S1:E1) - https://youtu.be/cczuQehzc6A?t=932
2. ↑ Series 2 Original Intro - https://youtu.be/XNQ3APeiSi0?t=8
3. ↑ First Theme Outro in "Angelo's Big Break" (S2:E6) - https://youtu.be/SAHSm5bzr24?t=1163
4. ↑ Series 3 Intro - https://youtu.be/O25gPt6F1IM?t=175
5. ↑ Re-edited Series 1 intro with the second theme - https://youtu.be/cczuQehzc6A?t=16
6. ↑ Second Theme Transition Example - https://youtu.be/Tj-bNC85FH0?t=625
7. ↑ Series 4 Intro's post-Mike 1 edit - https://youtu.be/jl0\_RknElrc?t=197
8. ↑ One of the Second Theme Intro's appearances in "Middle English: Making Television" - https://youtu.be/pwWm29Cga1E?t=9
9. ↑ Series 4 Episode 7 Outro Variation - https://youtu.be/YDSnHWyAQbY?t=1281
10. ↑ Series 4 Episode 5 Outro variation - https://youtu.be/MopGHb\_JE6g?t=1159
11. ↑ Series 8 Intro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN35iu5IlbU
12. ↑ Notable users of the Roland SC-55 on Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland\_SC-55#Notable\_Users
13. ↑ Series 6 Carlton Endcap variation - https://youtu.be/EVTnLhkoZCc?t=1195
14. ↑ Series 11 Outro - https://youtu.be/Q5kS52dRC3k?t=1168