Butterfly in the Synth: Reading Rainbow’s Magical Theme Song

About this episode

This episode explores the creation of the iconic theme song for Reading Rainbow, featuring insights from composer Steve Horelick.

The theme song to Reading Rainbow has been delighting kids (and nostalgic grown-ups) for over 40 years. But how did this instantly iconic track come to be? In this episode, composer Steve Horelick reveals the unlikely story of its creation, from its empowering lyrics, to its “fluttering butterfly” synth sound, to how Chaka Khan and a mystery drummer helped shape one of its later versions. Support the show and get ad-free episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠20k.org/plus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by ⁠Defacto Sound⁠. Subscribe on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see our video series. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mystery.20k.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Dallas on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Facebook⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our community on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reddit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Explore Steve Horelick's work on his website and YouTube channel. Visit expressvpn.com/20k to find out how you can get 4 extra months of protection. Get 3 months of free payroll at ⁠gusto.com/20k⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Dallas Taylor

Guest: Steve Horelick

Topics covered

• theme song
• music composition
• nostalgia
• synth sound
• children's television
• iconic tracks

Keywords

• Reading Rainbow
• theme song
• Steve Horelick
• Chaka Khan
• synth sound
• music history
• children's music

Sponsors

ExpressVPN, Gusto

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Defacto Sound, Reading Rainbow

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