DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Don't you think every great story is enhanced by some great theme music?
(SOUNDBITE OF ENNIO MORRICONE'S "THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY")
GREENE: Right? Like, Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns just seemed more epic. And also this.
(SOUNDBITE OF "THEME FROM 'SHAFT'")
ISAAC HAYES: (Singing) Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about?
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Shaft.
HAYES: (Singing) Right on.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Richard Roundtree became more of a bad mother.
(SOUNDBITE OF "THEME FROM 'SHAFT'")
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Shut your mouth.
HAYES: (Singing) But I'm talking about Shaft.
MARTIN: And Ross and Rachel.
(SOUNDBITE OF "I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU")
THE REMBRANDTS: (Singing) So no one told you life was going to be this way. Your job's a joke. You're broke.
MARTIN: Like good friends, good theme songs are always there for you.
GREENE: And that has certainly been the case here at MORNING EDITION. For 40 years, we have basically had the same theme song, though it has gone through many changes.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)
BOB EDWARDS: Good morning, and happy New Year. We have 364 days to work out that millennium bug thing. I'm Bob Edwards. Today is Friday, January 1. And this is NPR's MORNING EDITION.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Truly a different era. Since then, the news has been different every day. But the song has stayed the same until now.
(SOUNDBITE OF MORNING EDITION'S "BILLBOARD (2019)")
MARTIN: Can you hear it? The classic melody is intact, but the feel - the whole vibe - has been given an update.
GREENE: And I think this one's going to have staying power as well. What do you think, another 40 years?
MARTIN: Yeah. Sounds like an instant classic to me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MORNING EDITION'S "BILLBOARD (2019)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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