Speed Racer is my favorite TV cartoon ever. The theme song always takes me back to watching this show after school at a friend's house in the fourth grade, so around 1976 or 1977. Sitting in front of the TV with an ice cream sandwich, I wondered what sort of adventures Speed and his family were going to have this time around.
The theme kicks off dramatically with a burst of horns and a clickety clicking cymbal and keyboard, followed by the sound of a race car revving its engine. Soon after, some happy mariachi-like horns play a rising flurry of notes and we are off into the main part of the song: "Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's a demon on wheels...." A walking bass line and some light piano chords accompany the vocals at first, eventually joined by strummed guitar.
As this is the theme from a TV show, there are visuals going on as the music plays. Cars race around a track, morphing cartoonishly into each other as they take the turns. The wildest part during the opening occurs when a car crashes through a guard rail and careens into the air high above the track, above the cars still on the road, before falling away out of view and exploding in a massive fireball.
Memorable moments:
1:58 - "adventures waitin just aheaaaad..." So get ready kids!!
This is a recognizable tune from my youth. I recall Speed being on WFLD channel 32-but could also have been the eclectic Channel 44. The broadcast time seemed to change a lot, so I had to do some planning. I recall pouring over the Tribune's TV Week looking for Speed Racer as well as Spiderman (Da da da DA) This was a stark and dark show with lots of action-one scene that still conjures up scary images is the part where the long train like "car" which turned out to be made of stolen gold, was racing across a jungle chasing Speed, knocking down trees and at one point forming a circle around him in the Mach 5-I think in that same episode a tiger jumped into a river after a fish and was eaten by Piranha's-only to have his skeleton still intact-surface and float away.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great piece of rock! As far as the images go I gravitate toward the end, where Speed jumps out of the Mach 5, freezes and then the entire picture rotates 90 degrees...that is great graphics.
This is a link to the very different Japanese version:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YTq7AJm_GI
A bit more violent and with a pink elephant!
Yeah, Speed Racer, Prince Planet, Johnny Sokko, that show with the giant flying gold robot. White Sox games with Harry and Jimmy Pearsall. Have you ever watched the Disco Demolition with Steve Dahl on youtube? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1CP1751wJA
Deletecrazy stuff! The long train car was the Mammoth Car, a three part episode. And yeah, the piranha scene used to freak me out, man.
Also, at least on our TV, channel 44 could be kinda fuzzy, and tuning in for the clearest picture could mean having to constantly adjust the fine tuning control knob. But yeah, really cool and weird station.
DeleteMy favorite after school cartoon. Speed is a classic hero.
ReplyDeleteYes, a hero and a gentleman, and a great competitor.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching it after school but tv station was fuzzy we sometimes could get it on the UHF and Univision station but no subtitles :)
ReplyDeleteEl Mach-Cinco!
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