Colin Hanks on his lifelong CHiPs theme song earworm

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http://www.avclub.com/article/colin-...earworm-226814

The hater: Colin Hanks carries on his father’s lineage as Hollywood’s nice guy. After his memorable turn as amiable slacker Shaun Brumder in 2002’s Orange County, Hanks eschewed leading man roles, quietly growing into a reliable character actor. He has now found a sweet spot in portraying intelligent, hard-luck everymen, in roles ranging from the supernatural Roswell to his recent turn as kindly, dogged cop Gus Grimly on FX’s Fargo. This season he can also be seen on the new CBS sitcom Life In Pieces.

In his first turn in the director’s chair, Hanks traces the shaggy, unlikely story of Tower Records’ ascension to prominence and staggering downfall in the documentary All Things Must Pass. Before the film’s October 15 world premiere at a one-night-only rejuvenated Sunset Strip Tower Records, Hanks shared the song that has plagued his consciousness for decades.

The hated: The CHiPs theme song (1977)

The A.V. Club: Were you a fan of CHiPs growing up?

Colin Hanks: Yes. I remember watching the show as a kid. I didn’t understand the show at all. Now I think it’s kind of ridiculous that members of the California Highway Patrol were in some way solving crimes. When you think about it the show should have been called License And Registration because that’s all they really need to do. The big reason why this song has been in my brain for the last 30 years is quite simply that it gave me something to sing at the top of my lungs when I was riding my bike around as a kid. I have a very vivid memory of singing this song, going down a hill super fast, thinking I looked like one of the dudes from CHiPs. Not Ponch, but the other guy.

AVC: Larry Wilcox.

CH: If you tell me his name is Seymour I’m gonna be like, “Yeah, that dude.” I don’t really remember the show. That’s really my only memory of the show. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you what the opening credit looked like. I just remember humming the song at the top of my lungs.

AVC: The CHiPs theme is such a rousing action anthem. Why the hate?

CH: It’s an earworm that I still hum to this day. You know that Timehop app that shows what you tweeted last year? Apparently last year I was tweeting about this. For whatever reason, and I honestly don’t know why, I will find myself at work randomly humming “bah ba-ba dah da!” Good luck spelling that out phonetically. I don’t know why, but it’s just been stuck in my head for decades! I cannot get it out of my head. To be quite honest, this has gone beyond a hatesong. I’ve gone through so many different emotions dealing with it, that for better or worse it’s just a part of me now.

AVC: It’s sort of the Colin Hanks theme song. It just comes out of you.

CH: I tend to hum it when I’ve been wrapped and on my way back to my trailer. There is always motion involved—it’s not like I’m just sitting around. It’s always me going someplace, which I think is obviously fitting.

AVC: Do people catch you on it and say, “Wow, the CHiPs theme again?”

CH: All the time. The majority of the time people say, “Really, CHiPs? You’re pulling that one out of a really deep bag.” Then I have to tell people that unfortunately it’s not that deep for me for some strange reason. It’s a go-to, more than any other show. It’s kinda like whenever you take off your shoes and you start humming Mr. Rogers. If I’m walking or moving, CHiPs is more often than not going through my thick skull.

AVC: Breaking down the song, is it the overbearing synth or disco-funk bass line that sticks with you? Is that what initially caught your attention?

CH: What’s weird is that it’s purely just the melody. It’s not the instrumentation at all. When I hear the real song it sounds weird to me because I think I’ve just gotten so used to it in my head. For whatever reason that melody is just stuck, man. It’s a long one too. It’s not just a three-chord progression. It’s a heady couple of bars.

AVC: Have you ever considered getting profession help for this affliction?

CH: The way I see it, there are so many other songs that come and go, and this one has stood the test of time. I’m not gonna fight what is obviously genius in some way, shape, or form. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. There are such things as evil geniuses.