Alt-folk auteur Andy Cabic (Vetiver) recorded the delightful cover above of the 1982 theme from "Newhart," originally composed by the great Henry Mancini! The track will be featured on Stay Tuned: Season 2, a compilation of many indie artists covering TV songs, as curated by the Perpetual Doom label. Listen below. Limited edition cassette on its way!
Here's what Andy says about his song:
The slow, deadpan humor of Bob Newhart always intrigued me. As a young kid, Newhart seemed so incongruous amongst the other sitcoms, with strange characters just being themselves, everyone in a state of confusion, stuck in their ways. Nothing much seemed to happen or be that funny, yet the laugh track was so persistently loud and unsettling. In contrast, the theme music is a cheery number by Henry Mancini that feels windswept and reassuring, a wonderful accompaniment to the pastoral drive behind the opening credits and a perfect TV show theme from a prolific master. I thought it would be fun to follow the melody, its changes and arrangement, dig into some composing tools I'd been meaning to explore and reconnect with that cheery, unsettling calm I felt in the basement, on a boring school night in the 80's.
