Thunder Island (1978) 12/2/20

Today's “Great Song of the '70s” is by a one-hit wonder of sorts...who went on to write an iconic TV theme, and is currently the music scoring director for “NCIS-LA.”

By the late '70s, Jay Ferguson had been kicking around the music business for quite a while. He'd been a part of the groups Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne, both of which had recorded some nice material and had a few minor hits, but nothing, sorry to say, in the “Great Song” category.

But then he went solo.

In 1978, he wrote and released “Thunder Island,” a masterpiece of sunny Pop music which was only made better by the guitar solo in the middle, as played by the legendary Joe Walsh. The song reached #8 on Canada's Top 40 and #9 in the US on Billboard's Hot 100.

The song was later used in the movie, “Anchorman 2,” and the TV shows “Breaking Bad” and “Family Guy,” but by the time all that happened, Jay had written the theme to “The Office,” which won the 2007 Film & TV Award for “Best Score for a Comedy Television Program.” (He also appeared on the show as a member of Brian's band “Scrantonicity.”) He now works on “NCIS-LA” where he's responsible for all the music you hear on the show.

But back to 1978, where Jay Ferguson—with help from Joe Walsh—gave us a “Great Song of the '70s!”

“Thunder Island:”

And Just for fun: “The Office:”