Help identify cartoon by its short "bumper" music

August 24, 2006 2:28 PM

I need help identifying an action-y cartoon from the 90s by this ~4 second musical clip that's been in my head for years. I made a quick recording [mp3] on an electric guitar. More clues inside.

What else I know about it:

I'm pretty sure it was played right before or right after a commercial break dubbed with "Don't go away, [show] will be right back."

The show was action-based like X-men, Transformers, Iron Man, etc...

The tune may or may not be a part of the main theme.

It was made in the 90s.

Boy, howdy I'd love to have this satisfied.

posted by TimeTravelSpeed to media & arts (13 comments total)

Timing's a bit off-- and it wasn't made in the 90's but I remeber Robotech having commercial bumps like that.
posted by tj at 2:33 PM on August 24, 2006

Well, I got a hold of Robotech's theme song and unfortunately, it's not what's in my head.

The song I have is more dark, and in a minor key. This is one is a little more on the John Williams action tunes in a major key.

Thanks though.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 2:42 PM on August 24, 2006

This is one is a little more on the John Williams action tunes in a major key.

That's the worst sentence I've ever made. Let me rephrase: "[The Robotech song] is a little more on the John Williams side: action-y, but in a major key."
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 2:44 PM on August 24, 2006

The Galaxy Rangers? Electric guitar may be throwing me off...
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 3:31 PM on August 24, 2006

That's not it either, I'm afraid.

I actually chose the electric guitar deliberately because (and maybe should have added this as a bullet) it closely resembles the synthesized orchestral sound from the original bumper song.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 3:41 PM on August 24, 2006

Another clue: I didn't have cable, so I watched most of my cartoons on Channels 5, 11, and 63 (WB, Fox, UPN respectively).
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 3:45 PM on August 24, 2006

Hulk?
posted by Sangre Azul at 4:38 PM on August 24, 2006

X-Men?
posted by headspace at 5:11 PM on August 24, 2006

anything from this list?
posted by blind.wombat at 6:50 PM on August 24, 2006

COPS?
The riff sounds so familiar...
posted by puckupdate at 7:19 PM on August 24, 2006

Starblazers? Earlier than the '90's, but...

X-Men is not a bad guess either. The bumper music is absolutely familiar to me, too, but I can't exactly place it. As my prime cartoon-watching days were in the '80s, I think it is an earlier series that was probably rerun.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:39 PM on August 24, 2006

I'm actually thinking spiderman, and that 4 seconds you have is the sound that is played when he gets in a bad situation
posted by mulligan at 10:07 PM on August 24, 2006

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. Unfortunately, I'm at work and can't look into all of them at the moment. My obvious dilemma in all this is that any episodes I find are going to have the commercials (and bumper music) cut out. If anyone has VHS recordings of these, I'd be ever so grateful for your review :)

I did listen to Hulk, though, and it's definitely got the kind of power-orchestral thing going on, and I could almost hear my clip in there.

I tried C.O.P.S., and although the first two notes of the main melody are identical, that's not the one. I don't think I ever watched Starblazers, but I'll give it a shot.

X-Men has always been my best guess, but I actually emailed a guy who ran an X-Men Cartoon fan site, and he'd never heard it.

Spiderman has also been high on my list, but again the theme music doesn't contain the tune. I should probably look into that more.

There's also a very good possibility that it's Gargoyles. But clip isn't in theme music.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 8:38 AM on August 25, 2006