Forty-one years ago today, the biggest song in America wasn’t a hit by Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston or Tears for Fears. It was an instrumental theme from a television show about two undercover police detectives in Miami.
During the week ending Nov. 9, 1985, Jan Hammer’s “Miami Vice Theme” climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, knocking Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover” out of the top spot.
The achievement was remarkable. Only five television theme songs have ever reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, and Hammer’s composition was the first instrumental song to top the chart since Vangelis’ “Chariots of Fire” in 1982.
It also helped turn the soundtrack of NBC’s Miami Vice into one of the most successful television albums in music history.
How Jan Hammer Became the Sound of ‘Miami Vice’
When Miami Vice premiered on NBC in September 1984, it immediately distinguished itself from traditional police dramas. Starring Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, the series combined undercover investigations with flashy cars, pastel-colored fashions and an unusually prominent soundtrack.
The show’s music included songs by Phil Collins, Glenn Frey and Kate Bush, but it was Hammer’s original compositions that gave Miami Vice its unmistakable electronic sound.
Hammer had already established himself as an accomplished musician long before television came calling. According to Wayne Jancik’s “Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders,” Hammer was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1948 and performed with jazz musician Miroslav Vitous while still in high school. He later studied composition at the University of Musical Arts in Prague before receiving a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
After moving to the United States in 1968, Hammer worked as a pianist, composer and arranger for jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. He subsequently joined the influential jazz-rock fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra and collaborated with musicians including Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana and Stanley Clarke.
According to music historian Fred Bronson’s “Billboard Book of Number One Hits,” Hammer was introduced to Miami Vice executive producer Michael Mann in 1984 and immediately connected with the show’s concept.
“I clicked instantly with the look and the feel of the show,” Hammer recalled in an interview with Billboard.
After scoring the pilot, Hammer was asked to compose approximately 20 minutes of original music for each episode. Rather than simply recycling existing cues, he preferred creating new material to match the action, atmosphere and emotions of each installment.
The ‘Miami Vice Theme’ Beat Some of the Biggest Stars of 1985
By the fall of 1985, the show’s popularity had carried its instrumental theme onto pop radio.
When “Miami Vice Theme” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover” slipped to No. 2. Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” occupied the third spot, followed by Frey’s “You Belong to the City” and Starship’s “We Built This City.”
Frey’s song was also featured on the Miami Vice soundtrack and eventually peaked at No. 2.
Hammer’s theme spent one week at No. 1, becoming the 24th instrumental chart-topper of the rock era, according to Bronson.
The accompanying soundtrack album was an even bigger success, spending 11 weeks atop the Billboard album chart. That surpassed the previous television soundtrack record held by Henry Mancini’s The Music From Peter Gunn, which had spent 10 weeks at No. 1 in 1959.
Bronson reports that Mancini even called Hammer to congratulate him.
The success continued into 1986, when Hammer won two Grammy Awards for “Miami Vice Theme”: Best Instrumental Composition and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Only Five TV Themes Have Reached No. 1
Despite the popularity of television theme songs throughout the 1970s and 1980s, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 has remained an exceptionally rare achievement.
The five television themes that have accomplished the feat are “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” from Soul Train in 1974, Rhythm Heritage’s “Theme From S.W.A.T.” in 1976, John Sebastian’s “Welcome Back” from Welcome Back, Kotter in 1976, Hammer’s “Miami Vice Theme” in 1985 and “How Do You Talk to an Angel” from The Heights in 1992.
Hammer’s composition stands out even among that small group because it reached No. 1 without a single lyric.
More than four decades later, the opening notes of “Miami Vice Theme” remain inseparable from the television series that made Hammer a chart-topping star.
Related: 46 Years Ago Today, Waylon Jennings’ Biggest Pop Hit Went to No. 1 on the Country Chart
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