Batman Theme
Encyclopedia
"Batman Theme", the title song of the 1966 Batman
TV series, was composed by Neal Hefti
. The song is built around a guitar hook reminiscent of spy film scores and surf music
. It has a twelve bar blues
progression, using only three chords until the coda
. The lyrics to the theme consist of eleven cries of "Batman!" These eleven repetitions of "Batman!" were then followed by singers crying "Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da BATMAN!"
The eleven cries of "Batman!" are sung by a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos. A long held myth purports that the chorus is actually a group of horns. Adam West's
book Back to the Batcave also fuels this rumor by claiming the chorus is instrumental, not vocal. However, Neal Hefti
, the writer of the theme, stated that the chorus was made up of eight singers, one of whom joking wrote on his part, "word and music by Neal Hefti". TV's Biggest Hits by Jon Burlingame, published in 1996, focuses exclusively on TV theme songs, and includes an interview with Hefti about the creation of the Batman theme song. According to Burlingame, the song consisted of "bass guitar, low brass and percussion to create a driving rhythm, while an eight-voice chorus sings 'Batman!' in harmony with the trumpets."
The theme was the most recorded song of 1966. In addition to Neal Hefti
's original version, and the television soundtrack version by Nelson Riddle
, versions were covered by The Marketts
(single "Batman Theme" and album The Batman Theme by The Marketts), The Ventures
(The Ventures Play the "Batman" Theme, Dolton BST8042, 3/1966), Al Hirt
, The Standells
and actor/musician David McCallum
. There were also versions by groups who seemed to exist solely for covering the song, such as "The Sensational Batboys" and "Bruce and the Robin Rockers".
The song has been widely parodied in the decades since its debut, and remains a prominent pop-culture subject to this day. The theme has been re-recorded by dozens of artists, including Link Wray
,{} The Kinks
, Snoop Dogg
, 50 Cent
and Eminem
, The Flaming Lips
, Voivod
, Alien Sex Fiend
(as Dynamic Duo), Mucky Pup
, The Jam
, and The Who
.
Stan Freberg did a recorded comedy skit in 1966. based on "Batman and Robin" Entitled "Flakman and Reagan", about Ronald Reagan's running for Governor of California, with his straight adviser, a press agent named "Flakman", however, due to licensing restrictions, Freberg could not obtain the rights to use Hefti's music, and so a variation of the "Batman Theme" had to be used, without direct plagiarism. (Source: "Pay Radio" Stan Freberg album 1966))
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
TV series, was composed by Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
. The song is built around a guitar hook reminiscent of spy film scores and surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
. It has a twelve bar blues
Twelve bar blues
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics and phrase and chord structure and duration...
progression, using only three chords until the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
. The lyrics to the theme consist of eleven cries of "Batman!" These eleven repetitions of "Batman!" were then followed by singers crying "Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da BATMAN!"
The eleven cries of "Batman!" are sung by a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos. A long held myth purports that the chorus is actually a group of horns. Adam West's
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
book Back to the Batcave also fuels this rumor by claiming the chorus is instrumental, not vocal. However, Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
, the writer of the theme, stated that the chorus was made up of eight singers, one of whom joking wrote on his part, "word and music by Neal Hefti". TV's Biggest Hits by Jon Burlingame, published in 1996, focuses exclusively on TV theme songs, and includes an interview with Hefti about the creation of the Batman theme song. According to Burlingame, the song consisted of "bass guitar, low brass and percussion to create a driving rhythm, while an eight-voice chorus sings 'Batman!' in harmony with the trumpets."
The theme was the most recorded song of 1966. In addition to Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti
Neal Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.He began arranging...
's original version, and the television soundtrack version by Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
, versions were covered by The Marketts
The Marketts
The Marketts were an American instrumental pop group, formed in Hollywood, California. They are best known for their 1963 million-seller, "Out of Limits".-Biography:...
(single "Batman Theme" and album The Batman Theme by The Marketts), The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
(The Ventures Play the "Batman" Theme, Dolton BST8042, 3/1966), Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
, The Standells
The Standells
The Standells are a garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as the "Godfathers of Punk Rock", and are best known for their 1966 hit "Dirty Water," now the anthem of several Boston sports teams.-The 1960s:...
and actor/musician David McCallum
David McCallum
David Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
. There were also versions by groups who seemed to exist solely for covering the song, such as "The Sensational Batboys" and "Bruce and the Robin Rockers".
The song has been widely parodied in the decades since its debut, and remains a prominent pop-culture subject to this day. The theme has been re-recorded by dozens of artists, including Link Wray
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
,{} The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
and Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
, Alien Sex Fiend
Alien Sex Fiend
Alien Sex Fiend is a deathrock band from the UK, composed of the married couple Nik Fiend and Mrs. Fiend . Currently, the band is based in Cardiff, Wales.-History:...
(as Dynamic Duo), Mucky Pup
Mucky Pup
Mucky Pup began as an American hardcore and crossover thrash band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey in 1985, when brothers John and Chris Milnes joined up with Dan Nastasi and former Hades member, Scott LePage . The band went through various incarnations and several musical style changes while...
, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
.
Adaptations
- EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock band The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
recorded a cover of the theme in 1966. It was originally released on the EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Ready Steady WhoReady Steady WhoReady Steady Who is a 7" EP by The Who, released only in the UK on 11 November 1966. The title refers to a Ready Steady Go! TV special the band had recently appeared in, but the EP contains different recordings to what was performed on the TV show...
, but has since been re-released on CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
pressings of A Quick OneA Quick OneA Quick One is the second album by English rock band The Who, released in 1966. The American record company executives at Decca Records released the album under the title Happy Jack, rather than the sexually suggestive title of the original UK release, and due to "Happy Jack" being a top 40 hit in...
.
- BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
band The JamThe JamThe Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
covered the "Batman Theme" on their debut album, In the City in 1977.
- Jan and DeanJan and DeanJan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
released an entire (self-written) concept album titled Jan and Dean Meet Batman with a song titled "Batman!Batman! (Jan and Dean song)"Batman!" is a song released in January 1966 by Jan and Dean. Both songs of the single were covered by The Who.The song, heavily inspired by Neal Hefti's 1966 "Batman Theme" was from a Batman tribute album called Jan and Dean meet Batman....
".
- In 1966, an album called Batman and Robin: The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale was released featuring members of the Sun Ra Arkestra and The Blues Project. The opening track is a cover of the "Batman Theme", while the rest of the album is taken up with a combination of instrumental jams and modernised workings of classical pieces, all given Batman-oriented names.
- In addition, artists PrincePrince (musician)Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
and R.E.M.R.E.M.R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
used variations of (but did not remake) the TV show theme in their work: Prince, in the song "BatdanceBatdance"Batdance" is a song by Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Helped by the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince's fourth number-one single, and first since 1986's "Kiss".-Song development:...
" (which appeared on the soundtrack to Tim BurtonTim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's 1989 movieBatman (1989 film)Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
), and R.E.M. in a rejected song for the Batman ReturnsBatman ReturnsBatman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
soundtrack, later released under the title "Winged Mammal Theme," as a B-side to the single "DriveDrive (R.E.M. song)"Drive" was the lead single and first track from R.E.M.'s eighth studio album Automatic for the People in 1992. Although it was not as successful as previous lead singles "Losing My Religion," "Stand," or "The One I Love" in the United States, it became R.E.M.'s then second biggest hit on the UK...
". In a televised interview with talk show host Oprah WinfreyOprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, Prince played the theme on a piano in response to the question, "What was the first song you taught yourself to play on the piano?"
- Canadian metal band VoivodVoivod (band)Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
did a cover on their 1988 Dimension HatrössDimension HatrössDimension Hatröss is the fourth album from the Canadian thrash metal/progressive metal band Voivod. It was released on June 29, 1988 on Noise Records. The Batman theme's cover only appears on the CD version, it is not present on the original vinyl and cassette pressings.-Track listing:All Songs...
album.
- Serbian alternative band Disciplina kicmeDisciplina KičmeDisciplina Kičme , is a Serbian band, one of the two spin-offs of the seminal Yugoslav New Wave and later post-punk band Šarlo Akrobata, the other being Ekatarina Velika...
(Disciplin A Kitschme) did a cover on their 1987 Najlepši hitovi! Uživo!Najlepši hitovi! Uživo!- The band :* Koja — bass, vocals* Kele — drums, vocals, mixed by* Dedža — trumpet* Zerkman — trumpet- Additional personnel :* Branko Potkonjak — engineer, mixed by...
(The Most Beautiful Hits! LIVE!) album.
- According to Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, the main riff in "Space Truckin'Space Truckin'"Space Truckin" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the seventh and final track on the Machine Head album. Its lyrics talk of space travel and it showcases the vocal abilities of singer Ian Gillan and powerful drumming of Ian Paice...
" by the English rock band Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
is based on the "Batman Theme".
- In the song "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)"Na Na Na " is a song by My Chemical Romance. It is the second track and first single from their fourth studio album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.-Background:...
" on My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
's album Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys, at the 1:19 mark, the lyrics "Remember when you were a madman, thought you was Batman" are followed by backup vocals singing the riff from the Batman theme.
- Rapper Snoop DoggSnoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
sampled the Batman Theme for his song "Batman & Robin" on the album Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss (2002). It featured RBXRBXEric Dwayne Collins, better known by his stage name RBX , is a former rapper and R&B singer from Long Beach, California...
and Lady of RageLady of RageRobin Yvette Allen , better known by her stage name The Lady of Rage, is an American rapper and actress best known for collaborations with several Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg on the seminal albums The Chronic and Doggystyle...
and was produced by DJ PremierDJ PremierChristopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
.
Stan Freberg did a recorded comedy skit in 1966. based on "Batman and Robin" Entitled "Flakman and Reagan", about Ronald Reagan's running for Governor of California, with his straight adviser, a press agent named "Flakman", however, due to licensing restrictions, Freberg could not obtain the rights to use Hefti's music, and so a variation of the "Batman Theme" had to be used, without direct plagiarism. (Source: "Pay Radio" Stan Freberg album 1966))