Night Rider Theme
In a way you've never heard it before.
One of the delightful things the pandemic brought us was Samara Ginsberg. Not able to play cello with orchestras and chamber ensembles, she turned her attention to re-creating themes from tv and video games with just the cello. She would create the arrangement, record each part separately, then splice them all together. This was the one that went viral, with good reason.
Knight Rider was an 80s tv show that catapulted David Hasselhoff to stardom. It’s the story of KITT1 , a talking car. It’s cooler than it sounds. KITT (the voice of William Daniels2, is a TransAm with a snarky AI personality. Hasselhoff’s character Michael Knight is a former undercover detective who got his face shot off on duty and had billonaire Wilton Knight pay for facial reconstruction and a new identity. Knight’s project, FLAG3, is a public justice program. So Michael Knight drives around righting wrongs with a 2 person support team. Suave head of FLAG Devon Miles, played by veteran Edward Mulhare, rounds out the cast. The show was described as “The Lone Ranger with a car”.
It’s helped by its iconic opening. The theme was composed by Stu Phillips4 and Glen A Larson5. Larson says on the DVD that he remembers a theme out of a classical piece ("Marche Et Cortège De Bacchus" Act III – No. 14 from Sylvia written by French composer Léo Delibes) from which he took pieces for the "Knight Rider Theme". Then five or six synthesizers, drums and a Fender bass were added, the synths a network request.
Layered on top was a voiceover by Richard Basehart, who played Wilton Knight. The words are immortal.
Knight Rider – a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist.
Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.
Enjoy your song of the day!
Knight Industries Two Thousand
He was starring in St Elsewhere at the time and didn’t want to be credited.
Foundation for Law and Government
Prolific tv and film composer
Prolific tv show creator who started his career as a musician