Jack White, aka the only man in the world who can pull off a fedora, has penned a theme song for Maya and Marty, a new variety show starring your faves Maya Rudolph and Martin Short. It would be an understatement to say we’re going to watch the hell out of this, but White isn’t the only contemporary artist to write a theme song for a TV show. We take a look at the five best TV themes written by musicians below.
5. Timbaland, Dog On Fire, The Daily Show
[vimeo 152806329 w=640 h=360]
Okay, so Timbaland didn’t actually write Dog On Fire (that was Bob Mould), but he did rework it for new host Trevor Noah’s debut. It’s a fresh take on a theme that has been given new life plenty of times, but never felt quite this modern before. Timbaland arranged the track with the help of King Logan (Beyoncé, Mario), and it’s performed by none other than They Might Be Giants, who you might recognise from…
4. They Might Be Giants, Boss Of Me, Malcolm In The Middle
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4CVKbVtTsc]
This theme is so iconic that it won a damn Grammy. The whingey sing-song tone of frontman John Flansburgh inspired any kid who watched this show to torment their parents with the same. Sorry mum and dad, but y’know… life is unfair.
3. Jack White, Maya and Marty Theme, Maya and Marty
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266779400″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]
Obviously we had to include this. It’s the first time White has written for a TV show, and it seems like the man might have a gift (surprise surprise). The cut has that trademark Jack White syncopated groove we all know and love, and honestly the theme itself is just downright damn delightful. It was laid down with the help of fellow Third Man Records musicians Lillie Mae Rische, Dean Fertita, Fats Kaplin and Dominic Davis, with White himself on the drums. The show also includes Keenan Thompson and premieres in the US tonight on NBC. If you can find *some* way to watch it over here then more bloody power to you. Not that we encourage piracy…
2. Primus, South Park Theme, South Park
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoTs-M4_RqI]
Primus are sort of masters of writing irreverant, quirky theme songs for cartoons aimed at adults: they’ve done it for Robot Chicken as well as South Park. It’s an extremely specific niche to fill, but god dammit, someone had to do it – and we’re glad they did.
1. Will Smith with DJ Jazzy Jeff & Quincy Jones, Yo Home To Bel Air, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCqRmx3Dnw]
Press play and you’re guaranteed to suddenly start rapping along, because if you say you don’t know every single word to this then you are a LIAR. This is the big kahuna, the pinnacle of all musician-written TV themes, and the anthem for a generation. Which is a little odd, considering we doubt many people have actually experienced the turn of events the song describes, but whatever. It’s a fire theme so everyone loves it, co-written by three absolute masters: Will Smith himself, his long-time collaborator DJ Jazzy Jeff, and the one and only Quincy Jones.
Image: Lester Cohen/WireImage/Getty, Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC via Rolling Stone
While the days of crate digging rare vinyls are well behind many of us us, Jack White seems determined bring some of the mystery and eccentricity of collecting music back into the modern age.
For the completionists among his fans, there are no shortage of side projects and bootlegs to complement the rock heavyweight’s formidable discography. Further expanding upon his body of obscure recordings, White released a limited set of pre-White Stripes recordings in January via his Third Man Records label. Continuing to clean out the archives, Third Man has now announced a new album and DVD as part of the label’s subscription service.
The set captures two 2015 concerts performed following White’s Lazaretto world tour. Played across five US states, the micro-tour saw White form an acoustic four-piece and travelling to rarely visited locations. To add to the mystery of the unconventional tour, shows were only announced on the day and tickets were sold for as little as $3.
A double LP, Live In Idaho captures White’s at the Egyptian Theatre in Boise. The set also includes Live In Anchorage, a DVD of his performance at Anchorage Alaska’s Wendy Williamson Auditorium. Perhaps driven by White’s repressed need to lavishly reward kindred collectors, the pack also throws in a picture book and two prints of the performances.
Those looking to get there hands of Jack White’s latest can subscribe to The Vault series here before April 30th.
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Tracklists:
Live in Alaska
- “Just One Drink”
2. “Temporary Ground”
3. “Love Interruption”
4. “Machine Gun Silhouette”
5. “Offend in Every Way”
6. “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”
7. “Alone in My Home”
8.” You Know That I Know”
9. “We’re Going to Be Friends”
10. “Entitlement”
11. “Carolina Drama”
12. “You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket”
13. “A Martyr For My Love For You”
14. “Goodnight, Irene”
Live in Idaho
- “Just One Drink”
2. “Temporary Ground”
3. “Hotel Yorba”
4. “You Know That I Know”
5. “Inaccessibly Mystery”
6. “Do”
7. “Alone in My Home”
8. “Carolina Drama”
9. “Love Interruption”
10. “A Martyr For My Love For You”
11. “Sugar Never Tasted So Good”
12. “We’re Going to Be Friends”
13. “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”
14. “I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)”
15. “Blunderbuss”
16. “You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket”
17. “Goodnight, Irene”
Image: Rolling Stone
Last week, we reported the amazing news that none other than Jack White would be joining The Muppets show for an episode. Although it’s hardly a consolation for his ongoing touring hiatus (which came into play before he could return to Australia), it definitely helps the burden a little bit, and helps our wounds heal.
The season finale is set to air this week, and now a teaser trailer has emerged in case you just weren’t excited enough already. The 1-minute clip sees Kermit The Frog driving along singing Frank Sinatra‘s Bein’ Green, when he pulls up at a light beside White. The two have a bit of back and forth, when Kermit explains how serendipitous it is for this to be happening when he is “scrambling” for a musical guest and is still dealing with Miss Piggy-relationship turmoil. They then pull over and White jumps in the car to belt out a few lines of The White Stripes classic, Fell In Love With A Girl, a liberating and therapeutic experience.
The episode is set to air this Tuesday in the US, and follows on from when Dave Grohl appeared on the show. Does this mean White is here to save the day and get Miss Piggy and Kermit back together? Can Kermit win her love back through the power of song? All will hopefully be revealed this Tuesday, but if it’s not- at least we will still get some Jack White action!
Image: Stereogum
Jack White may be on a break from his hectic touring schedule, but he’s stepping back into the limelight for a moment to appear on the season finale of The Muppets. As you probably know, the ABC show shocked fans last year with the announcement that Miss Piggy and Kermit The Frog’s relationship was on the rocks. Well, step aside – because Jack White is here to help.
White will join a long string of musical guests who have graced the show over the years, including Joan Baez, Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper, Elton John and many, many more.
The news was announced via his label, Third Man Records‘ Instagram:
White released an album with The Dead Weather last September – Dodge And Burn – but considering its initial release was largely shrouded in vinyl-only and Tidal-only exclusivity, despite being really well received, as a whole it didn’t really cause many waves in the industry nor the blogosphere. White spent the majority of 2015 touring in support of his 2014 sophomore solo album Lazaretto. Most recently, Third Man Records have announced that they will be releasing a collection of some of Jack White’s earliest musical output, including solo work, covers, live recordings, early White Stripes tracks and plenty more.
It’s been over two decades since the breakthrough success of The White Stripes, but before rock heavyweight Jack White entered the limelight, he was moonlighting as a furniture upholsterer while earning his musical chops in native Detroit.
Known for excavating obscure vinyls and musical oddities, White’s Third Man Records is now offering insight into the musician’s earliest days. As part of their ‘Vault’ subscription service the label will release a 3 LP box set featuring music from three of White’s earliest projects.
Each LP will be composed of unreleased live recordings captured at defunct Detroit music den Gold Dollar between 1998 and 1999. The first captures an electric set from Two Star Tabernacle, a duo White formed with Blanche frontman Dan John Miller.
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The second showcases a performance by lo-fi rock outfit The Go, whom White briefly played guitar with. The band went on to sign with iconic label Sub Pop.
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The third LP contains a set from Jack White and The Bricks, which also featured White’s future Raconteurs bandmate Brendan Benson. The performance has been taken from an opening set for influential underground two-piece Royal Trux in 1999.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/240371487″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]
Perhaps the most exciting tracks we’ll be hearing are some of the earliest, grittiest garage renditions of White Stripes tracks including Candy Cane Children, You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket, Hotel Yorba and Dead Leaves & the Dirty Ground.
Third Man are also throwing in a 7” from White’s current project The Dead Weather. The 7” includes tracks Let Me Through and Be Still, both tracks from their third LP, 2015’s Dodge and Burn.
As with all releases in TMR’s The Vault series, fans only have limited time to get their hands on the release. It will only be available until January 31, so we highly recommend you subscribe as soon as you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLiYeSGTNL8
Read more: Courtney Barnett and Jack White Have Got the “Boxing Day Blues”
Jack White has opened a second Third Man Records location in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. This comes seven years after the the first Third Man location opened in Nashville, Tennessee.
According to Billboard, the store (a retail outlet for his label Third Man Records and related goods) was previewed at an invite-only preview party on Thanksgiving night, and the store was officially opened to the public on Friday. Much larger than its Tennessee counterpart, the 4000-ft space allows room for all sorts of musical music. Like a hipster fun fair, the store also sells turntables, guitar effects pedals, Polaroid cameras, a Voice-O-Graph recording booth, a listening booth, a photo booth and a Mold-O-Rama Machine, in addition to memorabilia, and, of course, records. The walls themselves are reportedly adorned with photos of the White Stripes, the MC5 and the Gories.
The Thursday night preview sounded pretty amazing, with performances from Danny Kroha and Margo Price. Keeping in with the Thanksgiving spirit, it’s reported that White’s own mother, siblings and their own families were all in attendance, along with a variety of Detroit-based artists.
In a touching speech, White explained why he was so proud to open up a store in his hometown, nearby to where the White Stripes played their first ever gig: “It’s such a wonderful thing for Third Man Records to be here in the Cass Corridor, where so many of us made our bones and so many people from Detroit and our community did so many artistic things,”
“Everything about this neighbourhood to me seems like the perfect place for the renaissance, the rebirth, the growth from the ashes that Detroit’s gonna rise from.”
Much like it’s Nashville counterpart, the store plans to hold regular live performances, signings, book readings and more – including a 10 000 square foot vinyl pressing plant, in case you didn’t already realise that White was serious about his records.
The store has already proved a success for interstate record collectors, with visitors from Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio lining up outside the store on Thanksgiving morning. These lucky fans were even brought pizza and a full Thanksgiving dinner by the store staff.
Of course, the store opened on a smorgasbord of sales and deals on TMR and related vinyls, notably including 7″‘s by Marvin Gaye and The Supremes, as well as ranges from Sun and Paramount Records.
The opening has been a long time coming, with Third Man’s Ben Swank explaining that the cogs began turning after White played two hometown shows in July 2014. “We just saw a sea change of people really working hard to make some positive changes in this town,” Swank said. “There was a real kind of artistic upheaval going on here, a lot of cool things happening. It felt like we could come back and do something here. A lot of the way we work is pretty instinctual. We just trust the moment and go with that.”
White’s 2014 album Lazaretto was the highest sold vinyl in two decades. He’s personally responsible for a lot of the international resurgence in vinyl interest, and considering that the first half of the 2015 financial year closed with vinyl sales at a 26-year high, there’s no shortage of wax lovers right now.
Check out some more photos, all courtesy of Detroit News:
Jack White is a deeply enigmatic man, who, although many people (myself included) idolise him at a godlike level, kinda comes across as a bit of a snarky asshole at times. Now it seems like he might be trying to tone his aura of mystery down a tad, however. Or maybe he just needs to borrow some salt.
This week, White ventured out of what we can only assume to be a haunted mansion in Tennessee, to visit his neighbourhood potluck. Although the potluck has been taking place for more than a decade, it was his first ever visit.
Almost nobody recognised the legendary White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather musician. But luckily for us, someone did, and that someone had a little tool for global communication, Instagram. The incredibly well-named Jedidiah Jenkins shared this incredible image of White and his new friends, alongside the full story:
“My mom helps host a neighbourhood potluck in front of my childhood home. Our little dead-end street is populated primarily with elderly and quiet people. The houses are modest and suburban. My mom has been doing this potluck for over a decade. At the bottom of our street, there is a large gated historic home shrouded in trees. We’ve never really spotted that neighbour. But we have from time to time heard guitar coming from the garage. This year, without warning, the occupant decided to come mingle with the neighbours. Of course they had no idea who he was. ‘Jack White, nice to meet you.’ He apologised for traveling so much and missing out over the years.”
Of course, the question on everybody’s lips is: did Jack bring his own dish? The general consensus, as you’ve probably already guessed, is that he must have surely brought along his world famous guacamole.
The resurgence of vinyl collecting has over the last few years become more and more widespread. While the older generation has had collections of their own, younger people have had to start from scratch, especially those that were born in a time where vinyl was not the norm – but this takes it to the next level.
Jack White and his label Third Man Records, alongside fellow label Light In The Attic, have teamed up to release a record player and vinyl aimed at young children. Due out November 6, the portable turntable comes with built-in speakers, inputs for headphones, speakers and USB, while Third Man have provided a physical children-themed vinyl.
Like those old children’s books, the record’s title This record Belongs To ______, encourages kids to personalise the record and write their name on it. It’s a compilation of children’s tracks by artists like Vashti Bunyan and Kermit The Frog. There’s a “daytime dancin’” A-side and a “bedtime lullabies” B-side, and an original book by Jess Rotter which follows a bunch of animal friends who discover a record in the forest and proceed to learn all about vinyl.
Check the tracklist below, some more images of the player, and hit up Third Man Records to preorder it just in time for Christmas – start your child’s collecting real early.
This Record Belongs To ______ tracklist:
01. Shel Silverstein – ‘Invitation’
02. Van Dyke Parks – ‘Occapella’
03. Carole King – ‘One Was Johnny’
04. Harry Nilsson – ‘The Town’
05. Harry Nilsson – ‘Me And My Arrow’
06. The Pointer Sisters – ‘Pinball Number Count’
07. Woody Guthrie – ‘Dance Around’
08. Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – ‘Jenny Jenkins’
09. Roger Miller – ‘Oo-De-Lally’
10. Bobby Bare – ‘Daddy What If’
11. Ella Jenkins – ‘Pretty Trees Around The World’
12. Nina Simone – ‘You Can Sing A Rainbow’
13. Vashti Bunyan – ‘Diamond Day’
14. Donovan – ‘The Mandolin Man And His Secret’
15. Miss Abrams & The Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class – ‘Running In The Garden’
16. Kermit The Frog – ‘Rainbow Connection’
