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The Rockford Files (theme)

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1975 single by Mike Post
"The Rockford Files"
Single by Mike Post
B-side"Dixie Lullabye"
ReleasedMay 1975
GenrePop
LabelMGM Records
Songwriter(s)Mike Post, Pete Carpenter
Producer(s)Mike Post
Mike Post singles chronology
"The Rockford Files"
(1975) 		"Manhattan Spiritual"
(1975)

"The Rockford Files" is a 1975 instrumental by Mike Post and co-composer Pete Carpenter. The song is the theme from the American detective drama TV series The Rockford Files, starring James Garner. It appears at the opening and ending of each episode with different arrangements. Throughout the show's tenure, the theme song went through numerous evolutions, with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson.

The Instrumental features a blues harmonica solo, dobro guitar, an electric guitar solo heard in the bridges, plus a Minimoog synthesizer, heard in the refrains. This was one of the first popular song appearances for the synthesizer.

The song spent four months on the charts and in August 1975 became a Top 10 hit in the U.S. (#10, for two weeks) and in Canada (#8). It was also a Top 20 Adult Contemporary hit in both nations.

"The Rockford Files" won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.

The B-side track (or "flip-side"), entitled "Dixie Lullabye", was also composed by Post and Carpenter. "The Rockford Files" is also the music football team Tranmere Rovers run out to.

Personnel

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1975/76) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 90
Canadian RPM Top Singles 8
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 10
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 16
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 10

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Rank
Canada Top Singles 84
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 85

References

  1. "Rockford Files guitarist? : The Steel Guitar Forum".
  2. ""Songfacts - The Rockford Files Theme"". songfacts.com. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  3. ""The Rockford Files" 1974 45 single on MGM Records". discogs.com. 1974. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  4. Knight, Judson. Mike Post Archived 2007-08-13 at the Wayback Machine — at eNotes.com
  5. Post and Carpenter — Grammy.com
  6. [https://www.billboard.com/artist/mike-post/chart-history/
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 236. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-08-02. Retrieved 2018-03-10.
  9. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  10. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 190.
  11. "Cash Box Top 100 8/16/75". tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  12. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  13. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm Musicoutfitters.com

External links

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