What's the Black Sheep Squadron intro song? The theme music, explained
If you've watched even a single episode of Black Sheep Squadron, the theme tune has almost certainly lodged itself in your brain.
It 's brassy, swaggering, and immediately sets the tone for a show about a band of misfit fighter pilots in the Pacific during the Second World War.
Who wrote it
The theme is an instrumental — there are no lyrics. It was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter, one of the most prolific duos in American television music. If the name Mike Post rings a bell, it should: he's the man behind the themes to The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, Law & Order, and NYPD Blue, among many others. Pete Carpenter was his regular collaborator from 1973 until Carpenter's death in 1987. Together, they essentially defined what American TV sounded like in the late 1970s and 1980s.
A bit about the show itself
The series originally premiered in 1976 on NBC under the title Baa Baa Black Sheep, then was renamed Black Sheep Squadron for its second season. Created by Stephen J. Cannell, it starred Robert Conrad as Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington, loosely based on the real-life Marine Corps aviator of the same name who led the famous VMF-214 "Black Sheep" squadron. The show ran for 2 seasons and 36 episodes before being cancelled in 1978.
Both the show's title and its lead changed, but the theme stayed the same — and for good reason. It remains one of the most recognisable military TV themes of its era.