Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief‘ kicks off the entire The Artful Dodger series
There is a new Australian TV series called The Artful Dodger out and, as you might expect if you know anything about British literature, it is based on the Charles Dickens’ classic novel Oliver Twist.
But before you think you will be getting yet another rehash of the well-told tale, think again, as The Artful Dodger does anything but.
Instead, it features a few characters from the classic book — Jack Dawkins, Fagin, and Monks to name a few — but with all of them now living in the penal colony that was once Australia.
Along with the shenanigans you might expect, the Aussie TV series also features some damn good music on its soundtrack.
Songs like Australian hard rock band Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief‘, which was that song playing right at the beginning of the first episode — The Artful Dodger, Season 1, Episode 1, “The Yankee Dodge” — as Jack is playing cards and the crowd is shouting his name.
The story of Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief‘
It is interesting Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief‘ was the first song chosen for The Artful Dodger soundtrack, considering it has been named one of the most “Australian songs of all time” by an Aussie radio station.
What a cool way to kick off a new Australia TV series, eh?
The hard rock track itself was released as the sixth single from the indie band’s self-titled debut studio album, which came out in October, 2005, with the single coming out a year later.
The song’s lyrics are about of two characters in Bob Dylan’s song ‘All Along the Watchtower‘, with the song itself becoming hugely popular with the music supervisors of a wide variety of movies and TV series.
Some of its placement on soundtracks over the last few years include ‘Joker and the Thief‘ showing up on Shrek the Third, Jackass Number Two, Mrs Davis, The Hangover, The Outlaws, The Blacklist and Preacher.
Listen to Wolfmother’s ‘Joker and the Thief‘ as played during the opening scenes of The Artful Dodger in the song’s music video, and on the band’s debut album via Spotify, where it is rapidly heading towards 300 million streams.
The new 8-episode drama The Artful Dodger stars English actors Thomas Brodie-Sangster and David Thewlis, and is now streaming internationally on Disney +.