Theme from Cheers (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)

Infobox Single
Name = Theme from Cheers (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)


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Caption = 1983 7" vinyl single (UK)
Artist = Gary Portnoy
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Released = 1982
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Recorded = 1982
Genre = Pop Theme song
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Writer = Gary Portnoy Judy Hart Angelo
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Last single =
This single = "Theme from "Cheers" (Where Everybody Knows Your Name)" (1982)
Next single = "Theme from Punky Brewster (Every Time I Turn Around)"
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"Where Everybody Knows Your Name" is the theme song from the 1980s television sitcom "Cheers". The song was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo and performed by Portnoy. Shortly after the premiere of "Cheers", Gary Portnoy went back into the studio to record a full-length version of the song that made the US and British pop charts. It was not until the release of Portnoy's album, "Keeper" (2004), that that version was made available on CD (and shortly thereafter on iTunes).

History

By 1981, New York songwriter Gary Portnoy had already written songs for the likes of Air Supply ("I’ll Never Get Enough") and Dolly Parton ("Say Goodnight"). One night in the summer of that same year, his friend Judy Hart happened to be seated next to a Broadway producer at dinner. Upon finding out that Hart was working for a music publisher, he asked her if she could recommend someone to compose the score for a new musical he was producing. On a whim, Hart, who had never written a song, approached Portnoy, who had never written for the theater and, together, they set out to compose the words and music for the musical named "Preppies". [Gary Portnoy's official website [http://www.garyportnoy.com] ]

In the spring of 1982, Judy (now using her full married name) Hart Angelo sent a tape of "Preppies"' opening number, "People Like Us", to a friend in California, who then passed it on to television producers Glen and Les Charles. Upon hearing it they each felt that, with a lyric re-write, "People Like Us" would be the perfect theme song for their upcoming NBC sitcom Cheers.

Upon learning that "People Like Us" was legally bound to the musical Preppies, the Charles Brothers asked Portnoy and Hart Angelo to take a shot at composing a theme specifically for Cheers. The song that resulted, "My Kind of People", was somewhat of a reworked version of "People Like Us". It was subsequently rejected.

Portnoy and Hart Angelo then wrote and submitted two more potential themes for Cheers. One of them, entitled "Another Day" contained a lyric line "There are times when it's fun to take the long way home" that greatly appealed to the Charles brothers. But, overall, the song missed the mark and was passed on.

The fourth song began with a catchy intro followed by simple, alternating chords on a piano. The opening verse lines, both musically and lyrically, were something of a lament. The verse then transitioned into a soaring refrain that seemed to capture the essence of why people might want to go to a place like “Cheers”… a place “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”.

The two songwriters recorded a simple piano/voice demo of the new song for the Cheers producers. Upon hearing it, the Charles Brothers gave it their stamp of approval and, once Portnoy and Hart Angelo had complied with a request for a few lyric changes intended to broaden the song's appeal to a more general audience, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” was officially designated the “Theme From Cheers”.

(Specifically, the opening lines…

Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose
It’s a crisis in your life
On the run ‘cause all your girlfriends
Wanna be your wife
And the laundry ticket’s in the wash

Were changed to…

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away) [Gary Portnoy's official website [http://www.garyportnoy.com] ]

After several months of mulling over possible outside (famous?) singers, the producers eventually asked Gary Portnoy to record the vocal for the opening credits of their new series. (The chorus of the song is six of Portnoy’s vocals that he recorded one on top of the other to create the “group sound” of the hook.) It was also decided to maintain the simple feel of the New York demo in the TV version by keeping the number of instruments to a minimum. The final Cheers Theme was recorded on August 13, 1982 on the huge scoring stage at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, California.

Charts

Outside Cheers

*In 1985, Crystal Gayle sang "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" on the Emmy Awards.

*In October 1991, the cast of Cheers performed the Cheers Theme as part of host Kirstie Alley’s opening monologue on Saturday Night Live. (When Alley again hosted SNL the following year the opening skit was repeated, this time with SNL cast members parodying the various Cheers cast members.)

*In 1991, the theme from Cheers was parodied (“At Flaming Moe’s”) in an episode of The Simpsons entitled “Flaming Moe's”.

*On May 20, 1993, Gary Portnoy, Judy Hart Angelo and the cast of Cheers sang “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno live from Boston following the airing of the final episode of Cheers.

*In 1993, Portnoy adapted and performed the Cheers Theme for an episode of the PBS series Bill Nye the Science Guy.

*In 1994, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was featured in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Fear Of Flying".

*In 1994, the Theme From Cheers was featured in a skit on the Canadian comedy troupe series The Kids In The Hall.

*In 1995, it played in an episode of the Nancy Travis sitcom Almost Perfect.

*In 1998, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was featured in an episode of Friends entitled "The One With Ross’ Wedding" in which Joey becomes homesick while watching an episode of Cheers in his London hotel room.
*In 1998, it was featured in a scene from Will Ferrell’s movie A Night at the Roxbury.

*In 2002, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was performed in an episode of the television series Ally McBeal.

*In 2002, UPS used the Cheers Theme to pay homage to their drivers in a holiday commercial called “Driver Celebration”.

*In 2002, the casts of NBC hit shows past and present sang the Cheers Theme on a live special celebrating that network’s 75th Anniversary.

*In 2003, the school choir in Everwood performed a portion of the Cheers Theme in the episode “The Miracle Of Everwood.”

*In 2003, host Jack Black performed the song in a skit on Saturday Night Live.

*In 2005, the Cheers theme was used in an episode of Scrubs in which the discovery that his latest patient is a comedy writer tips J.D. into a sitcom fantasy.

*In 2005, the Theme from Cheers was the focus of an episode of the PBS series "The Piano Guy with Scott Houston".

*In 2006, a portion of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was used on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother during the episode "Swarley". (Barney enters his regular bar to be greeted by his hated nickname "Swarley" after which the bartender plays the Cheers Theme and the end credits use the same font as Cheers.)

*In 2006, a video of Shaquille O’Neal disparaging Vlade Divac to the tune of the Cheers Theme ringer on O'Neal's cell phone was posted on youtube and has been viewed over 900,000 times.

*In 2006, Gary Portnoy performed the Cheers Theme on the 2006 TV Land Awards.

*In 2008, the song was featured in a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial (USA) and a Kelsey's commercial (Canada).

*In 2008, the Cheers theme was featured (non-vocally) at the end of a TV Theme medley performed by Josh Groban on the 2008 Emmy Awards.

References

External links

* [http://garyportnoy.com Gary Portnoy's official website] - includes a detailed, biographical account of the story behind the Cheers theme (including recordings of rejected earlier efforts), the original demo recording, and full lyrics.