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2000 Great Songs #1342: The Rockford Files

Breaking a few of my rules here--I've tried to minimize instrumentals, not to mention kitschy guilty pleasures that I don't actually listen to with any regularity--but it's not like this is the first 70s tv theme to make the cut. And damn, what a banger! Written and performed by Mike Post (who wrote a gazillion tv themes, including Hill Street Blues and Law & Order), with various studio musicians, including Jim Gordon (best known as the drummer for Derek & The Dominos, who became mentally ill and killed his mother, ugh), it's got a little of everything, from moog synths to rockabilly guitar solos.

Now, frankly, I never watched the tv show. But the song was released as a single in 1974, and ended up charting in 1975, still getting some airplay on the local AM station when I first started listening late that year on the heels of "Convoy." And that hook, just a drop-dead savage classic, permanently stuck in my brain. I mean, sure, I've got the track on some 70s compilations, but it's not like I hang out at home listening to "The Rockford Files," yet I'll find myself humming it like ALL the damn time for no reason at all.

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Comments

  1. Anonymous27 May 2026 at 09:43

    That's certainly a good shout. I would suggest that the Hill Street Blues theme is even better though. I have to confess to having watched both shows avidly as a kid and to me HSB wins that one as well!! Love this list by the way. Only discovered your blog recently. BIG overlap with my own very varied tastes. Norma's Country Catering is an excellent find as well

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    1. Jittery White Guy27 May 2026 at 10:09

      Thanks, glad to have you here! I agree that HSB is probably the better song musically (and I watched that show religiously, while never having seen the Rockford Files). Still, the Rockford Files theme was something I heard on the radio just as I was getting into pop music and made its way into my subconscious in a big way; whereas Hill Street will always sound more like a great tv show theme than a "rock song."

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