The Addams Family Theme
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The theme for the 1964 TV series ''
The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...
'' was written and arranged by longtime
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
film and television composer
Vic Mizzy Victor Mizzy (January 9, 1916 – October 17, 2009) was an American composer for television and movies and musician whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms '' Green Acres'' and ''The Addams Family''. Mizzy also wrote ...
. The song's arrangement was dominated by a
harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, and featured finger-snaps as
percussive A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
accompaniment. Actor
Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...
, reprising his " Lurch" voice, punctuated the lyrics with the words "neat", "sweet", and "petite". Mizzy's theme was popular enough to enjoy a single release, though it failed to make the national charts. The closing theme was similar, but was instrumental only and featured such instruments as a
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...
, a wooden block, a
siren whistle The Acme siren is a musical instrument used in concert bands for comic effect. Often used in cartoons, it produces the stylized sound of a police siren. It is one of the few aerophones in the percussion section of an orchestra. The instrument is ...
, and a
duck call A duck call may be either the sound-imitation process used in waterfowl hunting, by which a hunter lures waterfowl, or the actual tool which the person uses to do so. Early duck call tools were basic woodwind instruments, while later innovations ...
.


See also

*
Addams Groove "Addams Groove" is a single performed by hip-hop artist Hammer that was released as the theme song to the 1991 film ''The Addams Family''. It was the second single from his 1991 album, ''Too Legit to Quit'', included in the track list for the cass ...
- a single performed by hip-hop artist
Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
that was released as the theme song to the 1991 film ''
The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...
''. *
Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)" is a single by American gothic metal band Type O Negative from their 1993 album ''Bloody Kisses''. The song was written by lead singer Peter Steele while driving a garbage truck. During an interview with Rev ...
- a single by goth metal band
Type O Negative Type O Negative were an American gothic metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums, percussi ...
that includes a short reference of the theme.


Legacy

The song has become popular as a staple of the Addams Family. It is referenced in other media prominently, especially in the 2022 series Wednesday. In the series, the code to enter the sanctum of the secret society of the Nightshades is to snap twice (similar to how snapping twice is part of the song).


References


External links

* from the original television series. *
Vic Mizzy, His Orchestra And Chorus - Discography
at 45cat.com * Comedy television theme songs The Addams Family music Halloween songs Film theme songs 1964 songs Songs about fictional characters Songs about families {{US-music-stub