I posted what follows on Facebook on 21 October, 2023. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, particularly this week. I've always been kind of proud of it... even if no one got my subtle "Magnum, P.I." joke...
I know what you're thinking. You thought this week's album would be the new release by The Rolling Stones. Yes, I was at Barnes & Noble as soon as they opened Friday morning. Yes, I bought it in both vinyl and CD. Yes, the album kicks serious ass (or "arse"--after all, this is a British band). But my little voice was telling me that I should go in a decidedly less arse-kicking direction this week...
I do apologize in advance. This week's "sermon" will probably ramble on more than it should. I'm sure there will be plenty of my trademark parenthetical asides along the way and you may not even finish reading it. I guess I wouldn't blame you--and I haven't even finished writing it yet! But I had a weird night Tuesday and I'm writing this as a way of processing it. Unfortunately, I don't really feel that I can do that without going into a whole lot of literary terms like "backstory" and "exposition," some of which I alluded to a few weeks back in my tribute to David McCallum.
"Well, now... it's story time again."
--Tom Waits, introduction to "Big Joe And Phantom 309," 1975
In 2016, my father and I bought a house together. I still live there today. When he got the cable set up, I sat down and was checking out all the free programming. A lot of older movies, a lot of older television shows. One that caught my attention was "Magnum, P.I.," which had originally aired on CBS from 1980 to 1988. I remember seeing it as a kid. It was one of Mom's favourite shows--she had a crush on Tom Selleck who became a star with the show's success (she even put a poster of him on our attic door). I have to admit, I enjoyed it as well. As I said a couple weeks ago, I've always liked detective/mystery shows.
So, just for shits and giggles, I started watching the show from the beginning. What initially caught my attention was that the first eleven episodes did not include the iconic Mike Post/Pete Carpenter composed theme music. The opening titles for those episodes used a completely different theme composed by Ian Freebairn-Smith. I thought it was okay--better-suited to a show from the mid-1970s and not as great as the Post/Carpenter theme which I've said is one of the three coolest television themes of all time (the other two being "Hawaii Five-O" and "Mission: Impossible"). I've included links to both themes in the comments section if you want to compare and contrast. Anyway, I watched the first four or five episodes. Then Dad got really sick and I got involved with helping take care of him and I kind of forgot about it shortly after he died.
Two years later, I suddenly had to call an ambulance for Mom. After going through what was the most emotionally draining day of my life (not only did I have the extreme concern for my mother's health and well being, but I also had the extreme joy of officiating my best friends' wedding, and switching back and forth between the two was exhausting in every way), she spent a week in the ICU and another week in a rehab facility. I made it a point to be with her every evening and most afternoons. We'd watch "Jeopardy!" together and then I would leave when visiting hours ended, at which point I would go home and, just for shits and giggles, started watching "Magnum" again from where I had left off.
I was almost to the point in the show where the theme music changed when suddenly it disappeared from my cable. As it turned out, CBS was rebooting the series with a new cast and was on the verge of airing it in just a few weeks, so the original went bye-bye. When Mom came back home, I was bemoaning this loss to her (we had been known to watch it together over the years, both in its original run and in syndication). I had done some research and found that the DVD box set was relatively cheap for a series that ran that long and I proposed that we buy it together. I also suggested we look at getting "The Rockford Files" which I remember her enjoying when I was really young. "Rockford" was in many ways a predecessor to "Magnum." (In fact, Tom Selleck had twice made a guest appearance on "Rockford" as a platitude-spewing Boy Scout of a P.I. named Lance White.) Unfortunately, five years ago tomorrow, Mom died before we got the chance to do that.
In 2019, I ordered the "Magnum" box set, mostly to remember Mom. Weirdly, some time later, I found "Rockford" pretty cheaply in, of all places, Menard's hardware store, so I bought it as well. I began watching both shows, kind of alternating between the two over time. It was a pleasant enough way to spend an evening and fostered a deep admiration for television theme songs composed by Mike Post and/or Pete Carpenter (who also did "Rockford" together... among many others). I described it a couple of weeks ago as "TV comfort food." In many ways, I feel like I'm bonding with Mom even though she's no longer with us.
I finally finished "Rockford" a couple weeks ago and have been making a conscious effort to finish "Magnum." I sat down this past Tuesday to watch the last five episodes of the seventh season. (And let me just say that Frank Sinatra should have gotten an Emmy nomination for his heartbreaking performance as a retired New York cop whose granddaughter had been murdered.)
The last episode of the season, titled "Limbo," begins with our hero getting shot in a warehouse before the opening credits. Magnum tries to communicate with his inner circle of friends (Rick, T.C., Higgins, Carol Baldwin, and Agatha Chumley) and the woman he married in Vietnam (Michelle). Even his mother (played by the legendary Gwen Verdon) comes to his side. Unfortunately only the Doberman guards, Zeus and Apollo, seem to be able to see him. It becomes obvious that he's lying in a coma and is having an out-of-body experience, witnessing his loved ones worry about whether or not he'll pull through (I won't spoil it for you--you'll have to watch Season 8 for yourself to see if he surives) . He's led on this journey by his old friend, Navy Lieutenant "Mac" McReynolds, who had been killed at the beginning of the third season.
Throughout the episode, one song keeps popping up. It plays after the opening credits where we see Magnum walking through a lush, isolated area overlooking the ocean. Later in the episode, TC seems to be listening to it in his chopper, lost in contemplation over potentially losing his best friend. Agatha plays it in Higgins's office at one point. It even plays over the end credits. The song was "Looking for Space" by John Denver, who happened to be Mom's favourite singer. Not only did she have a poster of Tom Selleck on the attic door, but she had a framed picture of John Denver in her library. The seemingly random combination of her favourite singer and one of her favourite actors hit me on a gut level. I actually started crying... in the middle of an episode of "Magnum Freaking P.I."! The lyrics to the song actually moved me--not something I'm used to feeling from a John Denver song, I assure you. I actually couldn't get the song out of my head for a day and a half.
I've had numerous moments in my life (and maybe you have too) where I got the distinct impression when hearing certain pieces of music that a long-lost relative was hanging out... haunting me in the nicest of ways. I felt my late uncle was in my moving truck as I was preparing to move into his former office in 2009. I'm pretty sure Dad was hanging out in that club in Chicago the night of the Mr. T Experience show in 2016. My grandmother has always seemed to have a habit of showing up when I least expect her. I don't get that sensation if I intentionally play those songs--they have to play without my planning, such as on the radio or randomly on my phone... or even on TV. But I definitely got the impression Mom was hanging out watching "Magnum" with me like we used to do when I was a kid. And with the fifth anniversary of her passing coming up, perhaps I really needed it at that moment. Moms are supposed to be good at knowing those sorts of things.
So, much to my own dismay, I present this week the album featuring the song that spent more time rattling around my consciousness this week than any John Denver song should, 1975's Windsong, which also features his hits "Calypso," "I'll Fly Away," and "I'm Sorry."
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
Versus the more recognized theme composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter that was used for the rest of the series as well as the 2018 reboot:
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