For the last week or so, I’ve been watching old “Perry Mason” shows while exercising. It’s a fun distraction. The show has enough twists and turns that the rowing machine minutes speed by. I find myself comparing legal justice then and now, marveling at the cut of the men’s suits (which they wore at all times) and the women’s skirts (and white gloves), pondering the world that produced this show as much as the show itself.

There’s only one problem: I can’t get the Perry Mason theme song out of my mind. It’s with me when I walk, when I cook dinner or empty the dishwasher.  It’s even with me in the office.

It has a lot of moxie, this theme song. It’s decidedly tabloid, with a detective-magazine feel. Called “Park Avenue Beat,” the song was written to exude sophistication and toughness, Wikipedia informs me. It was composer Fred Steiner’s most well-known work.

All I know is … I wish it would go away.