18 Childhood Tunes You’ve Heard, But Never Knew the Names of

Have you ever wondered why some instrumental tunes become so popular that they wander from one movie to another, but meanwhile, no one even knows who composed them, played them, or even what their names are? And why many of these themes have never even been listed as hits?

The secret is that these melodies wander from movies to cartoons and then from cartoons to TV shows like a virus. Being a three-year-old kid, someone heard a funny tune and remembered it for life. And then forty years later, this person demands the assistants to find “that very melody” for their new television show.

Welcome to the world of such popular yet unfamiliar themes from films and cartoons. Now, it will cease to be anonymous to you.

1. “Vizisi” by Tamás Deák

The "Water Ski" track by the Hungarian composer Tamás Deák.

2. “Spanish Flea” by composer and trumpeter Herb Alpert

3. “Winchester Cathedral” by New Vaudeville Band

4. “Soul Bossa Nova” by jazzman and composer Quincy Jones

5. “Apache” by The Shadows

6. “African Beat” by a German composer Bert Kaempfert

7. “Java” by Al Hirt

The real author of the song is an American pianist Allen Toussaint. But it is the version of Al Hirt that gained real popularity.

8. “Jarabe Tapatío”, also «Mexican Hat Dance» (folk song)

9. “Yakety Sax!” by Boots Randolph

Known for The Benny Hill Show from the BBC channel.

10. “Mah Nà Mah Nà” by Piero Umiliani

The tune was first introduced in an Italian adult film Sweden: Heaven and Hell, 1968. Children, in turn, associate it with the exact opposite – with The Muppet Show, where Mah Nà Mah Nà migrated several years later.

11. “Hawaii Five-O” by Morton Stevens

The theme song of the popular series of the same name.

12. “Music to Watch Girls By” by Sidney “Sid” Ramin

13. “Doop” by Doop

The song was written in 1994 at the meeting point of the Charleston and house. Now, this one can be labeled as electro swing.

14. “Baby Elephant Walk” by Henry Mancini

A melody by the great Mancini for a movie Danger! of 1962.

15. “When You Wish Upon a Star” by Leigh Harlin

A lullaby that was first played (along with the words) in the animated film Pinocchio of 1940. Now, every Disney work on screen starts with it.

16. “Left Bank Two” by The Noveltones

The original recording was made by the Dutch group The Noveltones in 1963. Now, the song is in the library of melodies and sounds of the company De Wolfe, and from there, it can be bought for the needs of radio and TV.