Believe It or Not (song)
| "Believe It or Not" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Joey Scarbury | ||||
| from the album America's Greatest Hero | ||||
| B-side | "Little Bit of Us" | |||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, soft rock | |||
| Length | 3:11 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Writer(s) | Mike Post, Stephen Geyer | |||
| Producer(s) | Mike Post | |||
| Joey Scarbury singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Believe It or Not" is a song composed by Mike Post (music) and Stephen Geyer (lyrics) and sung by American singer Joey Scarbury. It serves as the theme song for the television series The Greatest American Hero. The track was later included on Scarbury's 1981 debut album America's Greatest Hero.
The theme song became a popular hit during the run of The Greatest American Hero. "Believe It or Not" debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at number 2 during the weeks ending August 15–22, 1981, kept off the top spot by "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, and spending a total of 18 weeks in the Top 40. On the Adult Contemporary Chart, "Believe It or Not" went to number 3. [1] It also peaked at the number 1 position on the Record World Chart.[2]
In popular culture
A parody of the song was used in a Seinfeld episode, "The Susie", as the outgoing message on George Costanza's answering machine when he's avoiding his girlfriend. Everyone is shown to be annoyed with it. This episode is the 149th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 15th episode for the eighth season. It aired on February 13, 1997.
Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a cover for their 1982 album The Chipmunks Go Hollywood.
The song was included in Fahrenheit 9/11 movie soundtrack: it can be heard during the scenes showing George W. Bush's 2003 Mission Accomplished speech on USS Abraham Lincoln.
The song was used for a riff in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 'Puma Man.
A parody of the song was used on an E3 commercial on G4TV in 2005.
Earl and Randy sing the song together while stuck in a water tower in an episode of My Name Is Earl.
The Family Guy episode title "Believe it or Not, Joe's Walking on Air" is a nod to the first line of the song's chorus. Peter Griffin also sings a part of the song in the episode titled "The Man with Two Brians".
In 2013, the song was sung repeatedly by one of serial killer Joe Carrol's cult members in the third episode of The Following, "The Poet's Fire".
The song was featured in the 2005 film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, during a montage in which Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is seen going on a series of dates with Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener).
In the Supernatural season 9 episode Heaven Can't Wait, the former angel Castiel is babysitting a fussy baby so he sings the song as a lullaby. It calms the baby briefly, but after he stops singing, the baby cries again and Castiel discovers she is sick.
On Gilmore Girls, Jackson chooses this as his campaign song and asks Hep Alien to play it at a campaign rally. Not wanting to ruin their reputation they play a rock-and-roll version of the song, soliciting the remark of "it sounds different live..."
The song was also used as the theme song for the comedy webseries The Cinema Snob.
Power-Pop band Enuff Z'nuff recorded their version of the song, which appears on the group's 2014 album "Covered in Gold", along with 11 other cover recordings.
The song is performed by a children's chorus in the Heroes season 4 episode 4 Hysterical Blindness.
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 216.
- ↑ IMDB Trivia for The Greatest American Hero