Flashback Friday – The Best Cheesy Theme Songs of 80s Educational Programming

10/08/2010 by

retro pbs logo 525x430 Flashback Friday The Best Cheesy Theme Songs of 80s Educational Programming

This Flashback Friday is brought to you by an endowment by the National Education Association and VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

The 70s and 80s were chock-full of educational programming. I remember very little of the educational parts, although I’m pretty sure  Sesame Street taught me 25% of the Spanish I still know today. What really stuck with me? The theme songs. Those funky, cheesy intros are indelibly etched into the nooks and crannies of my brain. And now they’ll be stuck in your head all day!

3-2-1 Contact

You’re in for a treat, because this version of the 3-2-1 Contact theme song has EXTENDED GUITAR SOLOS.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7S537b7saE[/youtube]

The Edison Twins

If you’re Canadian or your parents shelled out the big bucks for Disney back when it was a pay channel, surely you recall The Edison Twins?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CMAK0N3U8k[/youtube]

Reading Rainbow

I never got to review a book on Reading Rainbow and I’m still VERY UPSET ABOUT IT. Did you ever notice how all those kids were kind of, you know…um…ugly? Well, I was cute, and a total bookworm. I would have been perfect. Anyway. I still know the entire theme song by heart.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6j8EiWIVZs[/youtube]

Great Space Coaster

I didn’t remember Great Space Coaster, but the boyfriend kept shouting it out, and this theme song is indeed very groovy. Plus he sang along to the whole thing and gave me a massive fit of the giggles, so it made the cut.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dddm5bQeKvg[/youtube]

The Electric Company

If I were to rank these, The Electric Company would be #1 on the list because they really pioneered that whole tear-the-roof-off-the-sucka, funkified theme song fad that took late 70s/early 80s educational shows by storm. Is it possible that without The Electric Company theme song, we wouldn’t have had Schoolhouse Rock? Let’s not even entertain such a thought.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFYMijdQ_sA[/youtube]

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About Snarky Amber

Snarky Amber pursued a degree in interdisciplinary studies in order to obtain a well-rounded perspective, which she now uses to make fun of people who make more money in a week than she stands to make in a lifetime.


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Filed Under: 80s, Animation, Books, Flashback Friday, Nostalgia, Pop Culture, Rainbows, Technology, Television, Things That Are Awesome, TV Tagged With: 3-2-1 Contact, 70s, 80s, CBC, children's programming, educational programming, great space coaster, Nostalgia, pbs, public broadcasting, Reading Rainbow, the edison twins, The Electric Company, viewers like you

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  • http://Livefearlesslee.com Lee

    “Contact is the reason, its why everything happens, Contact, let’s make contact!” Thank you for getting THAT little ditty stuck in my head!!

  • http://fawnlikeadeer.blogspot.com Fawn Amber

    Wow…you just made me VERY happy!!!

  • http://butterbeanandcobra.blogspot.com/ beta dad

    I wonder how much coke they went through in the studio laying down the guitar track for 3-2-1 Contact.

  • http://kdiddy.org kdiddy

    I don’t remember the Great Space Coaster at all. Must have missed that one. All of the rest of them kick ass, though, particularly 321 Contact. That show was my jam. And The Electric Company wins for having Morgan Freeman as one of its stars.

    • http://mightyhunterin21stcentury.blogspot.com/ Mighty Hunter

      Really? You don’t remember The Great Space Coaster? Am I the only person of my generation to have seen this show?

      “No guh-news is good guh-news with Gary Gnu.” Come on! That’s classic!

      • Darcy

        I watched Great Space Coaster every single day. I still say “No g-news is good g-news.”

  • http://the-holmes.blogspot.com Holmes

    I used to sing along with Reading Rainbow every time I watched it. I loved that damn butterfly in the sky, even if I could fly twice as high.

  • http://www.melz-world.blogspot.com Melz

    YES! I used to watch the Great Space Coaster in the mornings! And that Edison Twins brought some MAJOR flashbacks to my childhood. Wow.

  • kari weber

    I too didn’t remember the Great Space Coaster… until I listened to it… then I started having flashbacks. Funny how those things work, huh?