This Day in Music History: Rhythm Heritage and the Theme from 'S.W.A.T.'

TV has proven over and over again that it can produce big hits. From Ricky Nelson to the Monkees to American Idol. So it is no surprise that on this day in music history, February 28, 1976, the Theme from ‘S.W.A.T.’ by Rhythm Heritage was the #1 song on the Billborad charts for one week. The song was Written by Barry DeVorzon and produced by Steve Barri and Michael Omartian. The TV show had been on the air for one year when the song hit the #1 position. Steve Barri’s son was a huge fan of the show and asked his Dad if there was a record of the theme. He wanted to get a copy of it for his son but found no recording of the song. He thought if there was a dance version of the theme it might be a big hit. He got Michael Omartian to do the arrangement and got Rhythm Heritage, who also recorded “Baretta’s Theme (Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow)”, to record the song. He also used some studio musicians on the song. Two of them went on to have #1 hits. Jeff Porcaro had the hit Africa with the group Toto and Ray Parker Jr. had a #1 hit with a movie theme…Ghostbusters. Having a hit with TV theme songs was not new for Steve Barri. He and his songwriting partner P.F. Sloan had a #3 hit in 1966 with the song Secret Agent Man. It was the theme for the TV show of the same name and sung by Johnny Rivers. The TV show starred Steve Forrest and two other future TV stars. They were Robert Urich ofVegas and Spencer for Hire and Mark Shera who went to co-star in Barnaby Jones. The S.W.A.T. series was the focal point of the violence in TV controversy that heated up in the 1970’s and helped lead to its early cancellation. Years later the series would be the basis for a movie starring Colin Farrell. You can click on the video link above to view the opening of the show.