Yesterday I had this idea for a really cute t-shirt and somehow that idea led me to researching various cartoons from the 80’s. Among other things, this brought up a plethora of memories from my childhood, including the delightful Paddington Bear. Thanks to 80scartoons.co.uk I was able to download a bunch of theme songs from these great old shows, including that loveable bear in the cute yellow wellington boots. It was great fun hearing the themes to such favorites as Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, Muppet Babies, My Little Pony, Thundercats, MASK, and I even found a pretty rockin’ Punk cover of the Fraggle Rock theme! But as fun as it was hearing all these again, the theme song to Paddington Bear has brought up a quandry that has been plaguing me for ages. Since I was ten years old, in fact.
The Paddington Bear theme is of a certain genre that as of yet I have been completely unable to name, despite doing quite a bit of research. So far all I know about it is that it’s from the 1920’s and 1930’s, has been used as the soundtrack for multiple movies (most memorably, the cult classic ‘Cold Comfort Farm’), it features some kind of warbly horn, and I love it oh so very very much. Whenever I hear it I imagine it being played on one of those great old phonographs with the big bell speaker, and there are inevitably several men in tuxedos and women in long-waisted silk gowns dancing around with champagne flutes in their hands.
But what the heck is that music called?! Arrgh! I want to download it, I want to wear a long dress and dance around like that, but alas, I do not have the soundtrack for it. Except, of course, the one minute of heaven found in the Paddington Bear theme.
I need your help! I’ve uploaded the Paddington Bear theme to my server, it’s only 475k, so please, download it, give it a listen, and if you know the name of the genre it belongs to, please tell me! Or, if you know of any artists from way back when who produced such music, give me their names. If you can solve this quandry for me, I will love you forever, and that’s a promise.
Sounds like the music they used in silent films. See if imdb or something has a listing of songs used in those early Charlie Chaplin films or those types of movies.
Hi Heather! Yes it does sound a bit like silent film music, but I think it goes back a bit further than that… It’s a bit modernized, but to give it a name, I’d say it’s Vaudeville or Music Hall type music.
I’m not too familiar with examples from back then, but the Beatles did a couple of songs in this style — “Honey Pie” and “When I’m 64”.
This is definately ragtime music. It’s a little slower than what we traditionally think of as ragtime. Can’t you just see a guy in a vested suit doing a soft shoe dance with a cane. Paul and I have decided it is probably from the late 1800’s. In the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, there are a number of music pieces that have similar beats. Hope this helps.
did you ever find out the composer of this theme tune?