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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
I have to imagine by now, everyone really wants to feel good about Batman again, right? Sadly one of the best of those who portrayed the character passed away in June. This Third Sunday Throwback highlights the theme of his ever memorable show as covered by a classic batcave goth group in the late 80's :
Alien Sex Fiend [as The Dynamic Duo] - Batman Theme (Neil Hefti)
The late Neil Hefti, an accomplished big band swing musician and composer, was summoned to a secure and private meeting with 20th Century Fox, sworn to secrecy, and informed that they were commissioning him to create the theme of their 1966 television series, Batman. As simple as it seems, it took him two months to come up with the one word lyric and music that would match the tone of the outrageous advance footage he had seen. He told the LA Times, "It often takes time to write something that sounds like you just turned on a faucet and it flowed out."
Adam West, the lead actor of the series, stated in his autobiography that the repeated lyric was actually produced by horns. It was an odd declaration, perhaps meant as an off-hand joke or he was just confused based off of instrumental versions, but the vocals were actually performed in harmony with the trumpets on the track by eight members of the Ron Hicklin Singers.
The influence of this theme can be found in many Batman cartoons and films, some instances more obvious than others. Modern updates of the original are not uncommon and often Hefti is credited as their principle writer, as is the case with even the most recent, the 2017 straight to video animated feature, Batman vs. Two-Face, featuring the final appearance of Adam West in his role as the Bright Knight of Gotham.
Such was the popularity of Batman and its surf-rock style anthem that a half dozen covers were recorded and released just within the course of the show's three seasons, including those done by The Who and The Kinks.
In September 1997, Re-constriction Records (a short-lived industrial label) released an 18-track various artist compilation on two discs titled, TV Terror: Felching A Dead Horse. It features an array of goth, electro, D&B, downtempo, and industrial covers of 20th century television theme songs dating back to the late 50's from shows of a wide-range of genres: cartoons, sci-fi/fantasy, drama, sit-com, etc... Some of those themes include Addams Family, X-Files, Dark Shadows, Twin Peaks, Outer Limits, Star Trek, Spider-Man, and Love Boat. (That last one, done by 16 Volt, is utterly mind-blowing!)
Alien Sex Fiend provided their cover of Batman, which they had previously released as a single in 1988 under the alias, "The Dynamic Duo," one of many known alliterative sobriquets for Batman and Robin. The single was a vinyl-only release on the Anagram division of Cherry Red Records, who for the purposes of this one-off single called themselves, "Riddler Records." There are three different mixes of the cover on the single: The Utility Bop, The Gotham Gothic, and Where Are Batman & Robin. One 12" version of the single also appears to have three additional tracks based on music and episodes from the show.
Not having direct access to either the compilation or the record, I am not 100% certain which version is which, because there are reportedly errors on the original vinyl's track list, making it somewhat of a riddle all its own.
This cover is an uplifting blend of 80's style electropop and Alien Sex Fiend's dirty gothic batcave sound, injecting a number of familiar samples and sound effects from the show. (And if by chance they AREN'T familiar to you, you really owe it to yourself to go watch the series.) It's also a fantastic example of how even the most gothic of artists could find a fun way to interpret The Bat, perhaps better than some of those more cynical portrayals of today.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
What? Do you think it's cold-hearted for me to take a stab at a cinematic enterprise that has long been mired in critical contempt on a weekend projecting yet another of its lackluster box office returns? Or do you, like me, find THEIR representation of these iconic characters too cold-hearted? Have you guessed yet what cold-hearted cover I'm presenting next time? ↼‿ಠ
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm done with gigs for this month but have two (and a private party) to look forward to in December. You'll find info for the public gigs on my schedule but if you're local and want to know about the private party, reach out and we'll see what's possible! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Nov 12 - Inertia(w/Ayria) - Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
Nov 05 - Rummelsnuff - Mongoloid (Devo)
Oct 29 - 5X5: Bonecollectors/Dead Brothers/Camping Car/Godhead/Pink Skulls - Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus)
Oct 22 - Strvngers - Pet Sematary (The Ramones)
Oct 15 - The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck (Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
I have to imagine by now, everyone really wants to feel good about Batman again, right? Sadly one of the best of those who portrayed the character passed away in June. This Third Sunday Throwback highlights the theme of his ever memorable show as covered by a classic batcave goth group in the late 80's :
Alien Sex Fiend [as The Dynamic Duo] - Batman Theme (Neil Hefti)
The late Neil Hefti, an accomplished big band swing musician and composer, was summoned to a secure and private meeting with 20th Century Fox, sworn to secrecy, and informed that they were commissioning him to create the theme of their 1966 television series, Batman. As simple as it seems, it took him two months to come up with the one word lyric and music that would match the tone of the outrageous advance footage he had seen. He told the LA Times, "It often takes time to write something that sounds like you just turned on a faucet and it flowed out."
Adam West, the lead actor of the series, stated in his autobiography that the repeated lyric was actually produced by horns. It was an odd declaration, perhaps meant as an off-hand joke or he was just confused based off of instrumental versions, but the vocals were actually performed in harmony with the trumpets on the track by eight members of the Ron Hicklin Singers.
The influence of this theme can be found in many Batman cartoons and films, some instances more obvious than others. Modern updates of the original are not uncommon and often Hefti is credited as their principle writer, as is the case with even the most recent, the 2017 straight to video animated feature, Batman vs. Two-Face, featuring the final appearance of Adam West in his role as the Bright Knight of Gotham.
Such was the popularity of Batman and its surf-rock style anthem that a half dozen covers were recorded and released just within the course of the show's three seasons, including those done by The Who and The Kinks.
In September 1997, Re-constriction Records (a short-lived industrial label) released an 18-track various artist compilation on two discs titled, TV Terror: Felching A Dead Horse. It features an array of goth, electro, D&B, downtempo, and industrial covers of 20th century television theme songs dating back to the late 50's from shows of a wide-range of genres: cartoons, sci-fi/fantasy, drama, sit-com, etc... Some of those themes include Addams Family, X-Files, Dark Shadows, Twin Peaks, Outer Limits, Star Trek, Spider-Man, and Love Boat. (That last one, done by 16 Volt, is utterly mind-blowing!)
Alien Sex Fiend provided their cover of Batman, which they had previously released as a single in 1988 under the alias, "The Dynamic Duo," one of many known alliterative sobriquets for Batman and Robin. The single was a vinyl-only release on the Anagram division of Cherry Red Records, who for the purposes of this one-off single called themselves, "Riddler Records." There are three different mixes of the cover on the single: The Utility Bop, The Gotham Gothic, and Where Are Batman & Robin. One 12" version of the single also appears to have three additional tracks based on music and episodes from the show.
Not having direct access to either the compilation or the record, I am not 100% certain which version is which, because there are reportedly errors on the original vinyl's track list, making it somewhat of a riddle all its own.
This cover is an uplifting blend of 80's style electropop and Alien Sex Fiend's dirty gothic batcave sound, injecting a number of familiar samples and sound effects from the show. (And if by chance they AREN'T familiar to you, you really owe it to yourself to go watch the series.) It's also a fantastic example of how even the most gothic of artists could find a fun way to interpret The Bat, perhaps better than some of those more cynical portrayals of today.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
What? Do you think it's cold-hearted for me to take a stab at a cinematic enterprise that has long been mired in critical contempt on a weekend projecting yet another of its lackluster box office returns? Or do you, like me, find THEIR representation of these iconic characters too cold-hearted? Have you guessed yet what cold-hearted cover I'm presenting next time? ↼‿ಠ
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm done with gigs for this month but have two (and a private party) to look forward to in December. You'll find info for the public gigs on my schedule but if you're local and want to know about the private party, reach out and we'll see what's possible! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Nov 12 - Inertia(w/Ayria) - Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel)
Nov 05 - Rummelsnuff - Mongoloid (Devo)
Oct 29 - 5X5: Bonecollectors/Dead Brothers/Camping Car/Godhead/Pink Skulls - Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus)
Oct 22 - Strvngers - Pet Sematary (The Ramones)
Oct 15 - The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck (Ronnie Cook & The Gaylads)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies