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

Summary

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

Podcast: Twenty Thousand Hertz
Host: Dallas Taylor
Guest: Steve Horlick (composer, producer, performer of electronic music)
Date: January 12, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, host Dallas Taylor delves deep into the story behind the iconic Reading Rainbow theme song. Special guest Steve Horlick, the song’s original composer, joins Dallas to share the surprising origins, secret techniques, and unique synth sounds that made the theme so memorable. The episode traces the creative process from an experimental New York studio through decades of beloved television, highlighting each reinvention and the enduring cultural legacy of a children's classic.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Birth of the Reading Rainbow Theme

• Steve’s Background & Patchworks Studio

  • Steve Horlick co-founded the experimental band Electronic Art Ensemble in the late 1970s, aiming to merge avant-garde electronic music with commercial projects.
  • Patchworks, Steve’s production company with Janet Weir and Dennis Neil Kleinman, was primed for unusual, synth-based work.
  • "At the time, there were very few music houses in New York City that did like crazy avant garde electronic music." – Steve Horlick [02:03]

• The Opportunity

  • In 1980, Patchworks was among about ten studios invited to demo theme songs for a new PBS kids show, Reading Rainbow.

Crafting the Magic: Lyrics and Composition

• Lyrics: Finding the Empowering Voice
  • Early lyrics centered on the butterfly metaphor but felt too "sing-songy."
  • Janet Weir reshaped them for energy and empowerment:
    • "So Janet took these lyrics and turned them into 'Butterfly in the sky. I can go twice as high. Take a look, it’s in a book – a Reading Rainbow.' So Dennis had the initial inspiration and Janet had the concept that actually turned into the final theme song." – Steve Horlick [03:53]

Synth Wizards: The Signature "Butterfly" Sound

• Synth Gear Highlights

  • Key instruments: Fairlight CMI, Oberheim Four-Voice, and the Buchla 200 series.
  • The Buchla’s Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator (MARF) generated the fluttering, random-sounding notes emblematic of the butterfly’s movement.

• Innovative Sound Design

  • Steve sought a sound “so that when people hear it, especially kids... they’ll come running to the TV set and sliding themselves right into place.” – Steve Horlick [05:59]
  • Constructed a randomized sequence using five notes from a major scale, with specific weighting to emulate a butterfly’s erratic flight.
  • Replicated the original sequence live during the interview using a modern Buchla Easel. [09:11-10:34]

• Anecdote: Steve sold his original Buchla gear to Tool’s Danny Carey, not knowing its future value.

  • “What I didn’t know at the time was that Donald Buchla only made eight of those modules, and they’re pretty much worth what a Ferrari is worth today.” – Steve Horlick [08:42]

The Demo and the Selection

• The Original Demo
  • Sung by Janet Weir (now Steve's wife), the demo had “an islandy feel” but captured the magic. [10:43]
  • The producers picked Patchworks’ song over all other submissions.

From Demo to TV: Production Challenges

• Studio Hurdles

  • The final version required refined instrumentation and professional vocals.
  • Pre-MIDI era: “Everything was kind of running wild because I had no synchronization… a lot of fun and sometimes really, really frustrating.” – Steve Horlick [17:44]

• Finding the Voice: Tina Fabric

  • Singer Tina Fabric was chosen for her energy and powerful delivery, recording at M& I Recording in NYC.
  • “She had heard Janet’s demo, of course, and she just nailed it, man.” – Steve Horlick [18:30]

• Classic Version

  • Used from 1983 to 2000, featuring Tina’s vocals and the memorable fluttering synth intro [19:09-19:50]

Evolving with the Show

• Production Legacy

  • Steve handled all original show music, propelling his TV scoring career (e.g., Shining Time Station, The Puzzle Place). [20:01]

• 90s Update: The Johnny Kemp Version

  • In the late ’90s, a more “live band” arrangement with singer Johnny Kemp debuted.
  • The song key was changed to suit Johnny’s range, with a modulation at the end to fit legacy cues. [21:00–21:52]

• Chaka Khan’s Turn

  • LeVar Burton’s idea led to a new version featuring R&B legend Chaka Khan, who also unexpectedly played drums during recording. [22:05-23:16]
  • Studio mishap: Drums had to be re-recorded by a mystery session drummer.
  • “To this day I don’t know who he was. I would love to say thank you to him again.” – Steve Horlick [23:25]

The Revival: Reading Rainbow Returns

• After its 2006 conclusion, “Reading Rainbow” returned in 2025 as a digital platform, hosted by Michael Threes (“Michael the Librarian”), featuring a new theme rendition by Bukola and Anthony Anderson. [25:02-26:38]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Power of Perspective:

  • “It was about empowerment, you know, that song is all about empowerment. I mean, who doesn’t want to sing ‘I can go anywhere, I can be anything’... It was always sung from the perspective of the child.” – Steve Horlick [27:17]

• Cultural Impact:

  • “To this day, I hear people singing it on the street. I get emails almost every week from someone who talks about how it changed their lives… So the theme means a lot to me now.” – Steve Horlick [26:48]

• On Unexpected Success:

  • “I had no idea that it would become so beloved.” – Steve Horlick [26:48]

• On Chaka Khan’s Drumming:

  • “What I learned as we were working on this arrangement is that Shaka wanted to play drums. I had no idea that Shaka was a funk drummer. And she was amazing.” – Steve Horlick [22:49]

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Timeline & Timestamps

• 00:00-01:11 – Episode intro; Dallas’ personal nostalgia; introduction of Steve Horlick
• 01:40-02:42 – Patchworks’ founding & landing the Reading Rainbow opportunity
• 03:07-04:23 – Lyrics development; moving from “sing-songy” verses to empowering phrases
• 05:05-09:11 – Synth setup, gear, and origin of “butterfly” sound
• 09:11-10:54 – Live demo of the theme’s synth sound; original demo version played
• 15:50-16:40 – LeVar Burton’s casting; Reading Rainbow pilot production
• 17:10-19:00 – Final version production; Tina Fabric’s recording experience
• 19:09-19:50 – Full original theme song aired
• 20:01-20:44 – Steve’s music legacy; expansion into other TV work
• 21:00-22:05 – 90s arrangement with Johnny Kemp; key change and modulation
• 22:05-23:16 – Chaka Khan version; her unexpected drum session
• 24:48-25:20 – The end of original show and the beginnings of revival plans
• 25:20-26:38 – Modern relaunch with Michael Threes and new theme rendition
• 26:48-27:52 – Steve reflects on the impact and message of the theme

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The Enduring Legacy

The Reading Rainbow theme stands as an unforgettable example of how sound, melody, and lyrical perspective can inspire generations. As heard through Steve Horlick’s stories, its journey from a synth-heavy Manhattan studio to four decades of children’s hearts relied on both technical wizardry and a heartfelt promise: with imagination (and perhaps a catchy tune), you really can go anywhere.

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Transcript

[Dallas Taylor]

You're listening to 20,000 hertz, the stories behind the world's most iconic and fascinating sounds. I'm Dallas Taylor. As an 80s kid who watched a lot of television, there are certain TV theme songs that instantly take me back to childhood stuff like Fraggle Rock, take.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Your cares away, worries for another day.

[Dallas Taylor]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, And the Wonder Years. Then there's Reading Rainbow. As a little kid, that song felt magical. And it still does, which is why I was so excited when out of the blue I got an email saying, hey, Dallas, I'm the original composer behind the Reading Rainbow theme and I'd love to come on 20,000 hertz and talk about it. Um, yes, please.

[Steve Horlick]

Hey, I'm Steve Horlick, composer, producer, performer of electronic music.

[Dallas Taylor]

In the late 70s, Steve Co founded an experimental band called the Electronic Art Ensemble. They played wild improvisational music through interconnected synthesizers and effects. This is a track called Cauldron from their album In Quietude. Steve wanted to bring that adventurous spirit into the world of commercial music, and he knew just the people to do it with.

[Steve Horlick]

My musical partner at the time was Janet Weir, and another partner, Dennis, Neil Kleinman. Dennis and I had been working together for several years doing some songwriting, and Janet and I were basically business partners starting our music production company in New York City.

[Dallas Taylor]

The company was called Patchworks, as in the patch cables used to connect modular synthesizers and other audio gear.

[Steve Horlick]

At the time, there were very few music houses in New York City that did like crazy avant garde electronic music.

[Dallas Taylor]

Patchworks was going to try and fill that niche. And in 1980, there was word on.

[Steve Horlick]

The street that there was going to be a new kids TV show, and they were looking for a theme song.

[Dallas Taylor]

It was a PBS show called Reading Rainbow. Its purpose would be to get kids to fall in love with reading. And through a mutual connection, Patchworks got the opportunity to prove what they could do.

[Steve Horlick]

We got invited to create a demo.

[Dallas Taylor]

But they weren't the only ones.

[Steve Horlick]

The legend goes is that they had asked maybe 10 different music production companies.

[Dallas Taylor]

To write theme songs, meaning they'd have a lot of competition.

[Steve Horlick]

The producer showed up at our little homemade studio and presented us with a storyboard. And basically it was a book and a butterfly and lots of different characters. And that's where we started working.

[Dallas Taylor]

They started with the lyrics.

[Steve Horlick]

Dennis was a very fine lyricist and presented us with some ideas, but they were a little sing songy, like a butterfly. I'm trying to remember them exactly. You know what, Can I run upstairs real quick and grab them? Yeah. So I actually have the archaeology right here in front of me of the development of the theme song. Kept the papers all these years so the original lyric was really cute. A butterfly can touch the sky A book can take you twice as high Open up a book and see Fantastic things that you can be and it went on from there. But it didn't kind of meet the energy that Janet and I were looking for. We wanted something that was more empowering, more energetic. So Janet took these lyrics and turned them into Butterfly in the sky. I can go twice as high Take a look, it's in a book A reading rainbow so Dennis had the initial inspiration and Janet had the concept that actually turned into the final theme song.

[Dallas Taylor]

Once they had the lyrics, Steve could begin laying down his synth tracks. Now, at the time, synthesizers were still fairly new, and they were not common in TV theme songs, especially kids shows.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Can you tell me how to get how to get to Sesame street that is blue? It's time to play the music it's time to light the light it's time to meet the Muppets on the muffin.

[Dallas Taylor]

Show tonight but the producers of Reading Rainbow wanted a wide range of options, so they didn't give Patchworks much direction.

[Steve Horlick]

I think they were expecting us to like, just kind of dive in and be as creative as we could. At least I'm hoping that's what they thought.

[Dallas Taylor]

In their studio, Steve had several high end synthesizers, including a Fairlight cmi, which stands for Computer Music Instrument. He also had an Oberheim 4 voice, named for the fact that it could play four sounds at once. But the crown jewel of his collection.

[Steve Horlick]

Was a Buchla 200 series made by the great instrument designer, Donald Buchla.

[Dallas Taylor]

Don Buchla is a legend in the world of synthesizers. He made experimental instruments that you played with touch sensitive metal plates rather than traditional piano keys. Using this setup, Steve got to work. And as it turned out, the biggest challenge was the very first sound.

[Steve Horlick]

Janet said, we have to create a sound in the beginning so that when people hear it, especially kids, when they hear it and they're two rooms away, they'll come running to the TV set and sliding themselves right into place. So she tasked me with trying to figure out what that sound was.

[Dallas Taylor]

Steve wanted the sound to represent a fluttering butterfly.

[Steve Horlick]

If you ever watch a butterfly fly, it's constantly kind of changing its altitude and bouncing around in a kind of a random way.

[Dallas Taylor]

He wanted to recreate that randomness musically. To do this, he turned to his Buchla.

[Steve Horlick]

What makes the 200 series unique is that it only had touch plates, right? It didn't have a black and white keyboard, but it had this amazing module called the Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator. It was a souped up sequencer.

[Dallas Taylor]

A sequencer allows you to make repeating patterns of notes. Each piece of that pattern is called.

[Steve Horlick]

A stage, and you would set the knobs to create the different pitches for each stage.

[Dallas Taylor]

So let's say you made an eight stage pattern.

[Steve Horlick]

In those days, every sequencer in the world except the MARF, the Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator, went from 1 to 8 and back to 1. It would just cycle through those pitches, right, in a specific order. What made the multiple Arbitrary Function generator unique in its time is that you could randomize the location of the sequencer that allows you to create a set of sounds that you can access randomly.

[Dallas Taylor]

The next step was to decide which notes he wanted the synth to randomly choose between.

[Steve Horlick]

So I'll go over to the piano and I'm going to play you the first five notes of a major scale. In a major, those are the notes that the theme is based upon. But what I did is I kind of transposed them. Basically, I've taken the two lower notes and transposed them up.

[Dallas Taylor]

With those five notes, Steve made a 16 step sequence. And even though the order of the steps would be random, he could still prioritize some notes more than others.

[Steve Horlick]

In that set of 16, let's say maybe there were four of them that were A and only three of them that were E and two of them A B. So I could weight them more towards different notes.

[Dallas Taylor]

For our interview, Steve wanted to demonstrate how he shaped the sound. Unfortunately, he no longer has his original buchla or the marf that went with it. In the mid-90s, he sold them both.

[Steve Horlick]

To Danny Carey of the band Tool. What I didn't know at the time was that Donald Bucha only made eight of those modules, and they're pretty much worth what a Ferrari is worth today. And Dan, if you're listening to this, you know, send it back.

[Dallas Taylor]

Fortunately, Steve has the next best thing, a newer model called the Buchla easel.

[Steve Horlick]

So I'm sitting next to my Buchla easel and I'm going to try and replicate how I created it. So here are those same notes that I played on the piano. But a butterfly isn't percussive like these notes, right. Butterfly is more fluffy, shall we say? So I had to shape the timbre a little bit, soften the attack and then soften the release a little bit. So here are the notes I'll add them one at a time. But they're not random, right? They're a typical sequencer or arpeggiator. So now I'm going to make them random. So I'm shaping the attack and decay a little bit. And I remember back in the day, I had a lexicon delay line which sounded like this. And I had a spring reverb that sounded like this. And that kind of sounds like the Reading Rainbow theme song.

[Dallas Taylor]

Here is Steve and Janet's original demo version from 1980, which is similar to.

[Steve Horlick]

The broadcast version, but had a little bit of an island Y feel.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Butterfly in the sky I can go twice as high Just take a look it's in a book A reading rainbow.

[Steve Horlick]

And by the way, the demo was sung by my writing partner and actually now my wife forever, my lovely wife, Janet.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Weird.

[Dallas Taylor]

They submitted the song to the show's producers.

[Steve Horlick]

I wasn't there when they listened to.

[Dallas Taylor]

It, but soon after they got the news. Out of all of the submissions they'd.

[Steve Horlick]

Received, they picked ours.

[Dallas Taylor]

But Steve and Janet weren't done yet. To bring this song to life, they'd need to redo the instrumentation.

[Steve Horlick]

Everything was kind of running wild. Cause I had no synchronization and they.

[Dallas Taylor]

Needed to find the perfect singer.

[Steve Horlick]

We really searched hard to try and find the right singer for the project.

[Dallas Taylor]

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[Grace East]

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[Dallas Taylor]

The pilot episode of Reading Rainbow was filmed in 1981. As the show's host, they cast Levar Burton, who had a breakout role in the 1977 miniseries Roots.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

I am Kunta Quinte, a Mandingo from.

[Dallas Taylor]

The Villa Jufare each episode of Reading Rainbow was built around an illustrated children's book, which was often narrated by a celebrity. Then Lavar would visit places related to the book and talk about its themes. The pilot featured a book called Tight Times, about a boy whose family can't afford to get him a pet dog. There are times when problems can't be solved, at least not right away. Sometimes the only way that people can help each other is to hug and show they care. In the pilot, they used Steve and Janet's demo as the theme.

[Steve Horlick]

But once they got funded, they came to us and said, well, let's do the actual final version of it.

[Dallas Taylor]

The final version was built around the same fluttering Buchla sound, but it was a bit funkier and more energetic. It included a bass part that Steve played on his Fairlight CMI and a drum beat from a Linn LM1 drum machine.

[Steve Horlick]

And the Fairlight was playing, like, these sax parts. Dum badum bum badi dum bum kind of stuff. And there were some electronic chords and stuff that was being played by the Oberheim.

[Dallas Taylor]

Now, this was all just before the invention of midi, which allows digital instruments and devices to communicate. One of midi's biggest advantages is that it lets devices sync up their timing so they all play at the same tempo, but without midi, Steve had to do all of that manually and time everything perfectly.

[Steve Horlick]

Everything was kind of running wild because I had no synchronization. You'd hit a tape machine go button and you'd run to your synths and try to get everything lined up together. So it was quite a task, actually, and a lot of fun and sometimes really, really frustrating.

[Dallas Taylor]

Eventually he got it down and the instrumental track was ready, but they still needed a professional singer.

[Steve Horlick]

We really searched hard to try and find the right singer for the project, and that turned out to be a wonderful singer named Tina Fabric, who was really big in New York City at the time, doing a lot of shows. Really, really terrific singer.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

I can make you feel love I can make you feel love Yes, I can.

[Steve Horlick]

I remember Tina walked into the studio at M and I Recording in New York, and she just lit up the room. Her energy was so amazing. She had heard Janet's demo, of course, and she just nailed it, man.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Butterfly in the sky I can go twice as high she got the whole vibe.

[Steve Horlick]

Even though she was, in those days, like a disco singer, she really, instead of being, like, real cool, she just was really joyful.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

I can be anything.

[Steve Horlick]

And it was wonderful.

[Dallas Taylor]

Here's the classic version of the Reading Rainbow theme song, which was used from 1983 to 2000.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Butterfly in the sky I can go twice as high Take a look, it's in a book A reading rainbow I can't go anywhere Friends to know and ways to grow A reading rainbow I can be anything Take a look, it's in a book A reading rainbow A reading rainbow A reading rainbow A reading rainbow A reading rainbow.

[Dallas Taylor]

Reading Rainbow debuted in 1983 and quickly became a cultural touchstone. And Stephen Janet's music was a key part of the show's identity.

[Steve Horlick]

I produced all the music for every episode of Reading Rainbow and wrote about 90% of it. That theme and all of the music for Reading Rainbow kind of exploded my career because it led to 155 episodes for Reading Rainbow and lots of different TV series like Shining Time, Station, don't.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Be Afraid Just be yourself.

[Steve Horlick]

And the Puzzle Place.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

The puzzle place we're going to the puzzle place.

[Dallas Taylor]

But the evolution of Reading Rainbow's theme song wasn't done yet. In the late 90s, the show got a new intro with updated graphics and more focus on LeVar Burton. So Steve and Janet crafted this new arrangement. This time they dropped the fluttering synthetic sound and gave it more of a live band feel on vocals. They got another New York RB singer.

[Steve Horlick]

Johnny Kemp, who was just an amazing singer. Butterfly in the sky brought tremendous energy to it.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

I can go twice as high.

[Dallas Taylor]

Take.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

A look, it's in a book A.

[Dallas Taylor]

Reading rainbow now, this is version is in the key of F rather than the key of A. Johnny couldn't sing.

[Steve Horlick]

It in the original key. It just didn't work out for his range. So we had to change keys, bring it down a little bit so that it would hit his high range better. I can be anything but because they were kind of tagging it onto the other episodes, the music cues that came out of it in all of those other episodes were related to the original key.

[Dallas Taylor]

So they made the song end on a key change to get it back up to the key of A.

[Steve Horlick]

So we had to do this kind of magical modulation.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

We're eating rainbow.

[Steve Horlick]

I really liked the Johnny Kemp version, but it was only about a year, year and a half later, levar came and said, you know, I think I can get Chaka Khan to sing a version of the theme song.

[Dallas Taylor]

Chaka Khan is a legendary R and B singer who first got big in the 1970s with the band Rufus. Since then, she's had lots of hit songs like ain't nobody from 1983, ain't nobody nobody.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Loves me better Makes me happy Makes.

[Steve Horlick]

Me feel no better so we created another version for Chaka Khan.

[Dallas Taylor]

Steve flew out to LA to meet with Chaka Khan's team, and together they crafted a new arrangement that would gel with her singing style.

[Steve Horlick]

I was still kind of a young guy. I was a little intimidated, right, because she was a superstar and one of my favorites. But she did a beautiful job. She's an amazing person to work with, just a delightful human being and so, so talented. But what I learned as we were working on this arrangement is that Shaka wanted to play drums. I had no idea that Shaka was a funk drummer. And she was amazing. So we recorded it with the band. We recorded it with Shaka playing drums.

[Dallas Taylor]

But after Shaka left, they realized there was some issue with the drum recording and it would need to be redone.

[Steve Horlick]

And so here I am. We have this great rhythm section and no drums. So I remember running out to the common area of Westlake Recording, where we were recording it in la, and I said, is there any drummers around, Please, I need someone to redo the drum track. And some guy says, oh, yeah, sure, what's it for? I said, well, Reading Rabies, I'm there, man. He came in, listened to it once, put on headphones, and he just killed it. You know, to this day I don't know who he was. I have no idea. I would love to say thank you to him again.

[Dallas Taylor]

Here's the third official version of the Reading Rainbow theme song with vocals by Chaka Khan and drums by some guy in the studio that day.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Reading Rainbow Butterfly in the sky I can go twice as high Take a look, it's in a book. Reading rain I can go anywhere Friends to know and ways to grow.

[Dallas Taylor]

The original run of Reading Rainbow finally ended in two 2006. Over the next couple of decades, there were some starts and stops like a special called Reading Rainbow Live.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Reading Rainbow Life.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then in 2025, fans of this beloved series got great news. Reading Rainbow was coming back nearly 20.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Years after the show went off the air. Reading Rainbow is returning with the new digital platform. But this is same message. Open a book.

[Dallas Taylor]

The new host is Michael Threes, better known as Michael the Librarian. He's an actual librarian who became a viral star for his kid friendly videos. In them, he recommends books and tells inspiring stories about working in the library. Library kids are helpers, helping with empathy and kindness. That's the library. Let's be like the library kids. The library is for everyone. This series includes a new version of Steve and Janet's classic theme song. It was created by a singer songwriter named Bukola and her producer, Anthony Anderson.

[Narrator/Singer (various vocalists including Tina Fabric, Johnny Kemp, Chaka Khan)]

Butterfly in the sky I can go twice as high Take a look, it's in a book A reading rainbow I can go anywhere Friends to know ways to grow A reading rainbow A reading rainbow A reading rainbow.

[Dallas Taylor]

Back in 1980, when Steve, Janet, and Dennis dreamt up this song in their little New York studio, they could never have guessed what an impact it would have.

[Steve Horlick]

I had no idea that it would become so beloved. You know, to this day, I hear people singing it on the street. It's like crazy. I get emails almost every week from someone who talks about how it changed their lives and, and how important that song is to them. So the theme means a lot to me. Now.

[Dallas Taylor]

With this theme song, the creators hit on the perfect combination of a catchy melody and a moving message. And that's what makes it so timeless.

[Steve Horlick]

It was about empowerment, you know, that song is all about empowerment. I mean, who doesn't want to sing I can go anywhere, I can be anything. We weren't saying you can go anywhere, you can be anything. It was always sung from the perspective of the child. Those are really powerful things for kids to hear, and they were delivered in such a melodic way that they'll always be remembered.

[Dallas Taylor]

20,000 Hz is produced by my sound agents, Defacto Sound. To hear more, follow Defacto Sound on instagram or visit defactosound.com this episode was written and produced by Casey Emerling with.

[Grace East]

Help from Grace East.

[Dallas Taylor]

It was sound designed and mixed by Brandon Pratt and Jade Dicke with original music by Wesley Slover. Thanks to our guest, Steve Horlick. To learn more about his work, visit stevehmusic.com finally, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Dallas Taylor MP3 over there, I go behind the scenes with the music and audio crews of Bluey, Disney Imagineering, Cirque du Soleil, and more. You can also find clips of these videos on Instagram and TikTok under that same name. Dallas Taylor MP3 thanks for listening. Before you go, remember that our show can't continue if we don't stay booked with ads. To help us keep those ad bookings, make sure you use our unique URLs and promo codes if you ever sign up for any of these services. With that in mind, secure your online data today with ExpressVPN. Go to expressvpn.com 20k to find out how to get up to four extra months of protection. Let Gusto manage payroll, benefits, and more for your small business. Get three months of free [e-mail] 20k and if you work for a company who might like to advertise on 20,000 Hz, then email our producer [e-mail] Thanks.