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After writing about the music of the Legend of Zelda cartoon [2], composed by Shuki Levy, I had to write about the music of the parent program, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! It ran for a total of 52 episodes (65 if you add in the Zelda episodes) in Fall of 1989, and was shown in reruns for years to come.
The music of the show has also become a fan favorite amongst Super Mario fans, myself included. The title theme song, ending theme, and background music score are all memorable. Come read my thoughts on the music of this classic Nintendo Live Action and Animated Series.
The Opening Theme
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The opening theme of the show begins with Mario calling out “Hey Paisanos! It’s the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!” and as the words appear on the screen we also hear the sounds of coins being collected taken right out of the first Super Mario Bros. Nintendo (NES) game. The opening theme song known as the “Plumber Rap” continues by adding words to the famous “Overworld BGM” we know so well. You can listen to the theme song on YouTube [4] uploaded by user Cheesymovienight.com.
“The Plumber Rap” – Instrumental Version
Half of the show featured live action portions where I will not be covering in detail. But often the background music for these segments was an instrumental version of of the “Plumber Rap” You can listen to it here [5] thanks to YouTube user Ville Mustonen.
The Cartoon Theme Song
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When the cartoon segments began, like The Legend of Zelda it had it’s own cartoon intro which is an alternate version of the “Plumber Rap”. You can listen to this version [7] in the YouTube video uploaded by user glory2764.
The Background Music
The music scored for the series was heavily influenced by the music of the first two Super Mario Bros. NES games. YouTube user Ville Mustonen has created two excellent score compilations of the music that appears throughout the series.
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In the first score compilation [9] there are a total of four themes. The first theme is an arrangement that features the Super Mario Bros. 2 “Overworld theme”. This theme has a nice lead in melody to introduce the overworld theme. The second is a version of the Super Mario Bros. “Underworld Theme” that adds a few new notes to the theme. The third theme is a variation on the “Title Screen” music from Super Mario Bros. 2 and the final theme is music that is original score note based on a track from the games that usually features when King Koopa is up to something. The music has more of a synth sound than the symphonic sound of the music in the Legend of Zelda cartoon but is just as memorable.
In the second score compilation [10] the first theme is another version on the “Underworld Theme” from Super Mario Bros. with a percussion and horn preamble for King Koopa. The second theme is another varation of the “Underworld Theme” with an echoing percussion sound – it’s very catchy.
The Ending Theme – “Do The Mario!”
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The Ending Theme “Do The Mario!” is performed by the live action actor Captain Lou Albano. You can listen to the theme song here [12] which was uploaded to YouTube by user Cheesymovienight.com. Be forewarned that it’s a song that will stay stuck in your head, and may tempt to swing your arms along with the captain.
The music of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is important because it was clearly inspired by the classic video game themes of the first two Super Mario games. Take some time to listen to the clips as I don’t anticipate these scores will ever be officially released. We can only hope. The show is still available for purchase on Amazon.com [13] and also available on YouTube.
Do you have any fond memories of the music from this show?