Tuned in... with drivetime DJ Andy Walker

Is there a better TV theme tune than The Littlest Hobo? This was the question recently on kmfm Drivetime as we celebrated the return of cult TV show Dallas.

Dallas had a great opener. The new one is the same just with added bass guitar, so it wouldn’t matter if you were out of the living room and hear the music you know what show is starting.

That is the key ingredient to a memorable TV theme tune isn’t it? That is why I said The Littlest Hobo stands out for me. I remember watching it every day during the school holidays when I was a boy. If you have never come across the show, it was about a German Shepherd dog named Hobo who went from town to town helping people out and saving them. It was a touching story every week and homed in on dogs being man’s best friend.

For me, it was all about the theme tune. Emotional, happy, sing-along and now legendary.

“There’s a voice that keeps on calling me, down the road that’s where I’ll always be...” Beautiful.

As you were driving home though there were a lot of different suggestions being sent in.

: Dr Who made kmfm listener Karen Budkiewicz “freeze every time it came on”.

: Colin Parker suggested Murder She Wrote. Oh, that was a good one. The murder that was always solved by crime writer Jessica Fletcher and made the cops look like fools.

:Kerry Ward said Grange Hill was “the best”.

: Debbie Barnes opted for Dangermouse.

: Neil Taplin said Only Fools and Horses. A classic of course, and again iconic and from the greatest TV comedy of all time.

I have this theory that if you have had a bad day at work you can come home and play The Littlest Hobo theme tune and it will put you back into a happy mood. Try it next time your boss has annoyed you, then send me an email to say it worked. I bet it does.

I think that theme tune is the solution to late night scuffles in the streets at the weekend after too many Campari and lemonades.

If you played them the theme tune they would stop and embrace each other, apologise for being drunken fools and walk off home reflecting on the lyrics.

I’m serious. How can anyone not be drawn in by the line, “So if you want to join me for a while, Just grab your hat, come ravel light, that’s hobo style.”

I even have a Littlest Hobo T-shirt I am that much of a fan. Watching it now on YouTube as an adult though the acting is awful, but it was not about that, it was about the story and the message. That is why The Littlest Hobo is the greatest TV theme tune of all time.

Have I missed one? Email me at andy@kmfm.co.uk