a host of sultry, swampy TV show theme songs...

The first time I heard the theme song to "Peter Gunn" I was hooked: it was the best thing on TV back in the day. Since that time I have become a connoisseur of sultry, swampy TV theme songs.

Nobody besides Elvis wore eye make-up better than Raymond Burr in "Perry Mason" and his theme song always set the stage for one hour of pure bourgeois 1950s noir television complete with horns and piano triplets.


Four others have become favorites since that time: the various incarnations of each season of "The Wire" brought new interpretations of a killer theme song. The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, The Neville Brothers and Steve Earle all gave superlative takes on this winner.

The Canadian police procedural, "Da Vinci's Inquest" had a real winner with its sultry horns and syncopated groove. It was a show I couldn't get enough of for a variety of reasons...

By now it should be abundantly clear that I am a sucker for noir trumpets, moody piano and a downbeat groove for a TV theme song. And the 1988 show, "Midnight Caller," always caught my attention.

And the current winner, in my decidedly skewed world, is the theme song from the British show, "Luther." 
There may be better theme songs but none are as edgy, sultry and swampy as these (save those I posted yesterday.)