"Good Old Days", is a 1930 instrumental song written by

Leroy Shield Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the ''Our ...

, which was the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...

's ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

'' comedy

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, now known as ''The Little Rascals''.

History

The tune was originally written as score for a prison schoolroom scene in ''

Pardon Us ''Pardon Us'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1 ...

'',

Laurel & Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in ...

's first feature film as a team. Shield, a musical director hired by the Roach studio on loan from

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, had been requested by Hal Roach to also write a theme for ''Our Gang'' while he was scoring ''Pardon Us,'' and when Roach came to check on progress for the theme, Shield submitted the selection from the ''Pardon Us'' score to satisfy the request. As ''Pardon Us'' was delayed and not released in theaters until August 1931, "Goold Old Days" was first heard as the opening and recurring theme for the ''Our Gang'' short ''Teacher's Pet'' in October 1930.Leonard Maltin, Richard W. Bann ''Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals'' p 119 1977 "The series' lilting theme song, "Good Old Days" by LeRoy Shield, is used repeatedly throughout "Teacher's Pet" and would herald every subsequent Roach Little Rascals comedy. The tune caught on immediately, and a popular NBC network radio show entitled Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten set lyrics to the melody and adapted it for the airwaves. "Good Old Days" was subsequently used as the theme in nearly every subsequent Roach ''Our Gang'' comedy (with exceptions such as 1934's ''

Mike Fright Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

'' and 1937's ''

Our Gang Follies of 1938 ''Our Gang Follies of 1938'' (later reissued as simply ''Follies of 1938'') is a 1937 American musical short subject, the 161st short subject entry in Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') series. Directed by Gordon Douglas as a sequel to ...

''). The tune caught on immediately, and

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

show ''Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten'' also set lyrics to the melody. In 1938, Roach sold the ''Our Gang'' unit to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

, who would produce the comedy shorts until 1944. The MGM ''Our Gang'' shorts used a different theme arranged by MGM short-subject musical director David Snell: a medley of "

London Bridge Is Falling Down "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridge ...

, " Mulberry Bush," and "

The Farmer in the Dell "The Farmer in the Dell" is a singing game, nursery rhyme, and children's song. It probably originated in Germany and was brought to America by immigrants.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Singing Game'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 183� ...

." The tune was among those revived by

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

revivalist band

The Beau Hunks The Beau Hunks are a Dutch revivalist music ensemble who have performed and recorded the vintage works of composers Leroy Shield, Marvin Hatley, Raymond Scott, Edward MacDowell, Ferde Grofé, and others. They have been referred to as a "document ...

for one of their Leroy Shield tribute albums, ''The Beau Hunks Play the Little Rascals Music,'' in 1995. It was also used in

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and

Amblin Entertainment Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshal ...

's 1994 feature film adaptation of ''The Little Rascals''.: "From its opening moments, when pudgy Spanky (Travis Tedford) and his loyal mutt Petey sit bored on the porch with that familiar wah-wah theme song The Good Old Days in the background, Spheeris unerringly recreates the magic of Roach's ragamuffins."

References

{{authority control 1930 songs Our Gang Film theme songs Comedy television theme songs Children's television theme songs