Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)

"Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)"
Single by Joey Scarbury
from the album America's Greatest Hero
B-side"Little Bit of Us"
ReleasedMay 1981
GenreYacht rock[1]
Length3:11
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Mike Post, Stephen Geyer
Producer(s)Mike Post
Joey Scarbury singles chronology
"Mixed Up Guy"
(1971) 		"Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)"
(1981) 		"When She Dances"
(1981)

"Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" is a song composed by Mike Post with lyrics by Stephen Geyer, and sung by American singer Joey Scarbury. It serves as the theme song for the 1980s television series The Greatest American Hero.[2] The track was later included on Scarbury's 1981 debut album America's Greatest Hero.

In a 2005 interview, composer Mike Post said that Joey Scarbury “was an artist that I was producing, and had produced on three different record companies before that – unsuccessfully in terms of hits, but successfully in terms of how great a singer he was.” Post recalled that producer Stephen J. Cannell told him, “This guy’s flying around in a suit and he lost the instructions, and he’s got this right-wing CIA agent for a control guy.” Post responded, “Cannell, this is nuts.” Post had written a theme song with lyrics by Stephen Geyer for the short-lived Cannell series Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, and Cannell suggested doing that again for this show. Post responded, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. We’ll call up Stephen Geyer and see if he can write a lyric where maybe he can make an analogy between love and flying in a suit.”[3]

The theme song became a popular hit during the run of The Greatest American Hero. "Believe It or Not" entered the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at No. 2 during the weeks ending August 15–22, 1981, kept off the top spot by "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, and spending a total of 18 weeks in the top 40. On the Adult Contemporary chart, "Believe It or Not" went to number 3.[4] It also peaked at the number one position on the Record World chart.[5]

In the season 8 episode of Seinfeld titled "The Susie", an answering machine message consists of a parody of "Believe It or Not".[6] As a tribute to the Seinfeld episode, the song appeared in a 2021 TV commercial for Tide that aired during CBS' telecast of Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021, starring Jason Alexander, whose character George Costanza recorded the parody lyrics as his answering machine message.

In the Homestar Runner Halloween special "The House That Gave Sucky Treats", Homestar Runner dresses as The Greatest American Hero. When greeted, Homestar sings a parody of the America's Greatest Hero theme song.

In My Name Is Earl season 1, episode 17, Earl and Randy sing Believe It or Not while trapped in a water tower.

In Gilmore Girls season 5, episode 4 "Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too", the show's fictional band Hep Alien perform the song at Jackson Belleville's rally for Stars Hollow Town Selectman.

The opening lines (Believe it or not, I'm walking on air) were spoofed in the title of the Family Guy episode Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air.

The song was also used as the opening theme for the Brad Jones comedy-review show, The Cinema Snob.

Chart history

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[20] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Molanphy, Chris (June 18, 2022). "A Deal With the TV God Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  2. ^ The Greatest American Hero every season intro, retrieved 2021-07-07
  3. ^ "Mike Post, Composer". Television Academy Foundation. May 25, 2005. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 216.
  5. ^ IMDB Trivia for The Greatest American Hero
  6. ^ "The Susie". SeinfeldScripts. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  7. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1981-09-26. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  8. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1979-08-29. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  9. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Believe It or Not (Theme from "The Greatest American Hero"". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1981-10-25. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  11. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 213.
  13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 8, 1981". Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ The 1981 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  16. ^ "End of Year Charts 1981". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  17. ^ Musicoutfitters.com
  18. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1981". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  19. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. January 3, 1983. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via Imgur.
  20. ^ "Platinum and Gold Singles 1982". Kent Music Report. 28 February 1983. Retrieved 10 November 2021 – via Imgur.