triptych 7 - Trigger Happy

Peter Gunn was the hippest private eye to ever hit the airwaves.  Created and produced by Blake Edwards (of Pink Panther fame), directed by Robert Altman (who went on to direct many of the most famous American films of all time), and starring a little-known former dentist from Kansas City, Craig Stevens, the show ran from 1958 to 1961 on first NBC and then ABC.  Gunn was known for his groovy clothes and his taste for jazz.  In fact, the show was as defined by its music as much as its plots.  

The noirish Peter Gunn Theme song, by Henry Mancini, was an immediate hit with its insistent piano and bass line and blaring brass accompaniment.  Countless artists have covered it over the years, from surf guitarist Dick Dale to Jimi Hendrix, from Emerson, Lake and Palmer to Pulp.
Peter Gunn Theme - Henry Mancini 

Echo Minott

Dancehall favorite Echo Minott released "Murder Weapon" to international success in 1992.  Its Peter Gunn-lifted riff fuels a hardened criminals' boasting of his invulnerability as he "shine the gun, shine the gun" before a shootout.
Murder Weapon (Shine the Gun) - Echo Minott 

Tricky

Tricky offers a near-verbatim tribute on his new disc, Mixed Race, with vocals by frequent collaborator Franky Riley.  While it won't ring up as one of Tricky's finest, it holds its own quite nicely with the Minott original.  Meanwhile, the Peter Gunn Theme continues to worm its way in to successive generations of consciousness with its relentless jazz hook.
Murder Weapon - Tricky