So my geeky friends and I are watching "RAW Exposed", a retrospective of WWF/E's greatest moments from their Monday night programming. One of the highlights featured was great moments from the brief period when The Rock and Mankind were tag team partners, as "The Rock & Sock Connection." And since it's a montage of great moments from a professional wrestling tag team comprised of two modern legends, the music playing in the background was...the theme to "Pass the Buck."

I have nothing to add to that. It's just when I yelled "Hey! That's the theme to Pass the Buck!" my friends there looked at me like a cow fell out of my nostril. Thought I'd post it here where only a handful of people will react that way.

*stares at Adam*

Ok...now I'M going to be the one to get stared at....but is the only time that the theme to PtB has been played on RAW? If not...I need to start watching. I've never heard the PtB theme before.

I didn't know the PTB theme was stock music.....

Or was this the "suspenseful" music played first thing on the show?

That was the first time. Believe if it had been played before, you'd know.



It was the main theme. I guess what blew my mind was, as you said, it seemed to be stock music. It there something about theme music rights I don't know?

All you need to know is that Bob Stewart was cheap-assed.

Look at this list of some of his shows' themes...

Jackpot!: KPM Library (Jet Set)
$10,000 Pyramid: Exsisting Music (Tuning Up)
Pass the Buck: Stock Music (Don't know what it is)

The password is cheap, <ding!>

Great. A Bill Cullen connection to the WWE. Can we look forward to a new wraslin' section on Ottinger's website?

One word: WHOOOO!

The Jaws-like violin vamp that you hear during the intro Jackpot and Pass the Buck can be heard in the cult classic movie The Boob Tube, which helped launch Chevy Chase's career. There was a parody of the news featured in that movie, and Chevy would later borrow some of the schtick for Weekend Update

And let's not forget that "Love Experts" and the '84 "Jackpot" pilot used a Top 40 instrumental single called "Spring Rain" - which was also frequently used as background music when describing sporting event highlights back then.

And that's a stock cue--I remember hearing it in some short industrial film or another used as a filler on public TV once (it's been so long ago, but yeah, it's stock music).

However, "Ren and Stimpy" wouldn't be "Ren and Stimpy" without the brilliant use of stock library cues--including the use of the syndicated "T or C" theme in the pilot. Knowing John K.'s love of early Hanna-Barbera, I'm surprised he didn't try to seek out the John Seely-William Loose cues used in the early H-B shorts to use.

ObGameShow: Loose wrote "Merrill and Bob's Theme." You know it.

Oh, it doesn't stop there. Most of his early original efforts (Personality, Eye Guess, he Face is Familiar, Three on a Match) used pre-existing music for their themes. It must have been cheaper than having original music written.

I was thinking YEEEAHHHH!, but yours is good too.

BTW, I like to remind you whippersnappers that I actually attended Wrestlemania III, back when Hulk Hogan was merely middle-aged.

Why?

If that was "Why?" as in "Were you there on business or for pleasure?", I have the same question.

If that was "Why?" as in "Why would anyone watch that garbage?", I'll remind you that we all like GAME SHOWS. :)

Just as a fan of the phenomenon. It was also nearby, at the Silverdome near Detroit. Back then, Vince and the boys were enjoying their greatest mainstream success, much more than they have today, and I have always been a slave to popular culture.

It would've been awesome if Cullen turned heel on one of his shows and cut a promo :)

Hmmm...If it would have happened, how could he do it?

(Yes, I know he was playing around...but still,it intrigues me.)

Alright, so it's Joker's Wild, and they're doing the Face The Devil thing. The player nickels and dimes his way up to $900, and decides to take one more spin. And it comes up: $25....$50.....

...and the lamp in the third wheel burns out.

The contesant is confused. Bill then says "I tell you what, I'll go over there and see where that wheel landed." He takes a couple steps, turns...

...AND DROPS THE CONTESTANT WITH A BY-GAWD CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL!!!

At this point, Ric Flair comes out from behind the board (with appropriate WHOO!!-ing), brandishing the lamp from the slide projector, and the two of them proceed to style and profile as the show fades to black.

(Yeah. I can write that crap. :))

I like where this thread is going, lol.

And as long as I have an excuse to bring it up (it IS a wrestling/game show thread, for once) have any of the other wrestling/game show fans out there found it weird that Bill bore a resemblence to Gordon Solie, another broadcaster known as "The Dean" of his profession?

A photo of Gordon Solie. You be the judge.

I remember Gordon Solie from the really old WCW days. I was a fan in the 80s. The thought of Solie looking like Bill never crossed my mind. But they were both "deans" of their profession. However, I did have a professor who was also a "dean" of wrestling, Bill Mercer of Dallas based World Class Championship Wrestling.

As for how Bill Cullen could have done as a wrestler, it makes me long for Hannah Olson's old GSWF stories.

And WWE is a game show? Oh, never mind.

No, actually, I meant "Why remind us how old you are?" But the other way works, too, gramps.

(Ducks the flying Poligrip, knowing MO and I are about the same age)

Now that this thread has gone in a slightly bizarre direction:

It should be noted that game shows that used recorded music instead of live musicians didn't really do original themes until the 60s--everyone who didn't use organists or a band used existing music for their shows, whether it be stock library music or a commercial recording.

And even if there were live musicians, existing music could be used--after all, Harry Ruby and Burt Kalmar wrote "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" almost two decades before John Guedel and Jerry Fielding decided to make it the "You Bet Your Life" theme (for the Marx Brothers' "Animal Crackers," granted).

That theme was used on The CBS Morning News with Bill Kurtis and Phyllis George for one week about twenty years ago when the show was doing a special segment about.....oh, I forget. But I remember they used the Pass The Buck theme while announcer Bill Gilliand introduced the person being spotlighted (or is it spotlit?) in that day's segment.

Another Bill Cullen/WWE possible connection.

A handicap match featuring one wrestler vs a tag team. You'd have a Blockbusters match! Maybe John Hatten should referee (LOL)!

This has got to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard. What about the whole WWE against you? That's better.

Back on topic: I forgot those other uses of stock cues/recordings for Bob Stewart productions. Then again, Goodson/Todman did it a lot in the 50s, "Melody in Moccasins" comes to mind right off the bat (the opening for many years on WML?), but there are many more examples (The Price is Right, anyone?)

You don't read this place much, then. I've heard FAR stupider things, even from the same member.

Agreed. I just tend to lurk more these days.

Only if the WWE is compared to shows like Twenty-One and Dotto!!

Scripted and Rrrrrriiiiiiiiggggggggeeddd!

Hell, even Herb Stempel in 2005 can win a few RAW matches, though Herb still may not want to take a dive on the mat when asked to!

Well, I guess you could compare the isolation booths to a cage match...

They have something called the "Elimination Chamber" now. Ginormous round cage that goes over the ring, with an isolation booth at each corner. Two guys in each ring, a guy locked in each booth. At intervals, one at a time, the booths open, thereby releasing that contestant into the match.

I think they need headphones filled with loud music, but that's just me. Instead they just stand there and grimace a lot.

Sorry to dredge this one back up but I'm still intrigued by the news that the "Pass The Buck" theme, previously considered to be a mystery and/or missing-in-action treasure to many theme collectors, is alive and well and possibly finally now within our reach. I'll gladly do whatever digging/calling/begging/annoying and so on in an effort to at least obtain the song's title, composer/artist and perhaps even the library in which it resides but before I can begin, someone will have to pardon my ignorance and tell me just where this aforementioned "RAW Exposed" can be found 'cause this boy don't know nuthin' 'bout no rasslin' and I have no idea which direction to head towards.

Any info that anyone could provide would be appreciated. The "Pass The Buck" theme is one of only a precious few themes from the 70s still on my must-have list.

Thanks in advance...:)

Jake

I'm just imagining...

WWE Announcer: "And a pile driver, and it looks like the champ is almost out of it...
(PTB music starts)
Announcer: "What the ... omigod, that's BILL CULLEN'S music!"

Good Ol' J.R.: "IT'S BY GAWD BILL CULLEN!!"
Lawler: "Puppies!"

Turns out RAW Exposed was a special the USA Network did earlier this month to trumpet the Monday Night show returning to USA following it's several-year stay over at TNashvilleN/TNationalN/Spike. It is, however, pretty safe to say that USA had no part whatsoever in its production, it was prolly put together by the WWE's people, because that's how WWE rolls; they do most if not all of their own stuff. So you might start by placing a call to their offices in Stamford and trying to get the ear of their production department.

JakeT:

A quick check of WWE's corporate site lists two numbers that may be able to help in your quest.

WWE TV Production (Most likely place for an answer, either way.)
120 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, CT 06902
(203)-353-2900

WWE Corporate Headquarters
1241 East Main Street
Stamford, CT 06902
(203)-352-8600

Good luck! Hope that helped.
James

And on the radio front, it was also used as a traffic bed for NY's WABC in the late 70s.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")