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Start at the beginning of the Story of DANOTI here.
Read Part V here.
The theme song for King of the Hill came to life as a jam during a Refreshments soundcheck while we toured in the fall of 1996 to support Fizzy. We used to write all kinds of these little ditties. They usually started when Brian had some hook or silly progression that was too campy for a “real” song, and we’d all jam along. These morsels made me happy like almost nothing else during this time. While playing them, all negative feelings went away, and I had fun for a minute or two before getting back to whatever we were supposed to be working on.
Around this time, our manager Michael Lustig informed us that Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis & Butthead, was making a new cartoon about a small town in Texas. The cartoon would air after The Simpsons on Sunday nights, and the creators, Mike Judge and Greg Daniels—who co-created King of the Hill and would go on to create The Office and Parks and Recreation—and others were looking for a theme song.
Mike Judge.
Beavis and Butthead.
The Simpsons.
The opportunity was hitting all of the right notes, and we’d just written the perfect ditty for it.
At our next soundcheck, we rehearsed it again. We found that, with one adjustment to the bridge, the ditty was exactly the required length of 30 seconds. The cosmos was lining up for us, just like it had in 1994 with Wheelie. It was great to feel a bit of that magic again, and the confidence that came along with it.
We demoed this unnamed ditty during the encore of a Wichita, Kansas gig. Roger told the crowd what we were about to play, and what it was for, and how great it would be if afterwards they’d cheer like they’d never heard anything so great. We played it, the crowd of 500 went nuts, and we mailed the cassette recording of the song to Lustig the next day.
Later, Lustig informed us that something like 30 other national acts had submitted potential theme songs, including Danny Elfman, the writer of The Simpsons theme; and Les Claypool, the Primus frontman who would later write the theme of South Park. Against that kind of firepower, any band in their right minds would’ve thought they didn’t stand a chance, but I felt the opposite. Why? Because we had written the perfect 30-second piece! When the cosmos is on your side, it’s on your side.
Lustig got the call within a week after sending in our “Wichita Tape.” The creators had listened to all of the tracks, and ours was the one they were humming around the office the next day. Our theme song was accepted.
Was I excited? Yes. I’d spent my childhood singing along to TV theme songs such as Looney Tunes and The Brady Bunch. Now, I’d had a hand in writing one. Also, TV theme songs are great ways for songwriters to earn income long term. The performance royalties for a prime time show that aired weekly after The Simpsons would be significant. Only the most popular radio hits could boast that kind of audience. We’d broken into a new, lucrative market.
In December, we recorded the ditty in one day at a studio in Los Angeles. Greg Michaels was on hand but was largely quiet. We wouldn’t meet another of the show’s creators, Mike Judge, until we recorded our next album The Bottle and Fresh Horses in his hometown of Austin, Texas. Pete Anderson—of Lyle Lovett and Michelle Shocked fame—handled theme song production. Roger brought with him a giant dinner bell triangle from his grandparent’s ranch, which would be featured in the theme’s bridge.
Once the theme was in the can, the creators sent us a copy of the almost-finished first episode of the show, and the four of us got together in the band room to watch it. The animation seemed rough, and the characters were only half developed. I remember saying, “This thing’s not going to last six episodes.” Never been so wrong.
The King of the Hill theme song is the one bonafide boon of my professional life. The show quickly found its legs and eventually became the second longest running cartoon ever on prime time, behind only The Simpsons. In 2002, the year I graduated with a degree from the University of San Francisco, King of the Hill went into syndication. My royalties doubled, which gave Kel and me the confidence to leave San Francisco for Oregon.
From 2003 through 2014, King of the Hill residuals were the brunt of my income. During this period, I published three novels, released a solo CD, and Kel and I bought a home in Portland, Oregon. Before King of the Hill, I could imagine setting up my life to focus on my art, or I could imagine buying a house, but I couldn’t imagine doing both. King of the Hill gave me—for an extended period—the life I’d dreamt of as an adolescent back in Moline while watching TV, a life dedicated to my creative endeavors. It’s never a bad thing for me to hear that theme song.
A ridiculously huge achievement, more than I’d ever dared hope for, more than I—than anyone—deserved. I’d succeeded enough as an artist to give me a foothold on the beginnings of a career and life I wanted. I’d become part of that world I’d witnessed, as a kid, through the TV sets and radios, and I’d turned it into a livelihood.
Tune in next month for Part VII.
My first memoir My Iliad Odyssey is available now. Order here.
It IS a great themesong to that show. You can hum along with it as well