Songfacts®:

• S.W.A.T. was an American TV show that lasted two seasons: 1975-1976. It had a delightfully funky theme song written and arranged by Barry Devorzan, but unlike Theme from The Rockford Files, that theme wasn't converted into a full-length single until Rhythm Heritage recorded it.
  
  Rhythm Heritage was a studio act assembled by the producers Steve Barri and Michael Omatian, who put some of their favorite session musicians in the group: drummer Ed Greene, bass player Scott Edwards, and guitarists Dean Parks, Ray Parker Jr. and Ben Benay. Their first album was disco-fied, where they recorded full disco versions of the themes from both S.W.A.T. and Baretta. The themes used in the TV shows were recorded by completely different studio musicians.
  
  The new S.W.A.T. theme gave the group a surprise #1 hit.
• When this song took off, Rhythm Heritage had to become more than just a studio band - they had to hit the road to satisfy demand for live performances. Unfortunately for the musicians, a different set of players were chosen to perform the songs on tour. Scott Edwards, who was the bass player on this track, said in his Songfacts interview: "Rhythm Heritage was nothing but a studio band that did some tricks. After the songs went big, Michael and Steve came to us and said, 'We're going to form a band,' and we would all become a real band, go on the road, tour and do the whole bit. We were feeling like it would be pretty good, be exciting.
  
  But somehow they decided not to take us on the road. Instead, they got some other musicians and took them on the road, and they played it out. I don't know if they couldn't play as good or what happened, but it didn't last more than a couple of months.
  
  But originally Rhythm Heritage was supposed to be a studio band that ended up becoming a real band and going on the road, but it never happened. But it did some good songs and it's still out there. It was a disappointment when we didn't become a real official band and tour."
• This was the first TV theme song to reach #1 on the Hot 100.
• Rhythm Heritage lasted two more albums: Last Night on Earth in 1977 and Sky's the Limit in 1978. Their other chart entries were "Baretta's Theme ('Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow')" (#20, 1976), "Disco-Fied" (#101, 1976) and "Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)" (#94, 1977).