Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Batman Bonding Batsongs Bewitching Batmobiles

Original Batman TV Series Theme Song 
YouTube Video: Graphic Nero

Adam West (image right), star of the popular but campy 1960's Batman TV show, died of leukaemia @ 88, on Friday evening, his family said in a statement. Joe Sterling (CNN) June 11, 2017.

Our first grandson grew up mostly at our home in the early years of his childhood. He was only two when the family started buying for him Tomica, Hot Wheels and Siku scale-model vehicles.  The collection grew and JayOne, within a span of six years has more than 700 pieces of these beautifully crafted cutie mixes of vintage, saloon, super sports and buses. 

Since the collecting became both our affair, I looked after the die-cast buses, trucks and vintage cars.  His interest is keeping the supercars and the number amounted to more than 500 pieces. Name it and he would have the Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti and others. 
As the years went by, the hobby has become an addiction for both. Worse, I decided to collect another special car I fancied, one owned by the most popular and talked about the superhero.  

He was a favourite. Draped in black, the man who was dressed as a bat became a knight and my collection of his special car expanded. So today this rather odd collection of the Dark Knight's cars has grown from three to a dozen, eleven blacks and one sand-coloured.  The first appearance of the Batmobile came out in a comic book in 1939, so imagine how many caped crusader's model cars there are for collectors.

Meanwhile, the family has to be careful with JayOne since he is totally focused on buying more of his supercars whenever he is at a toy-shop or shopping mall. Enforcement doesn't usually work with children; they need to understand the reason why certain practices are prohibited.

To keep him balanced and focused, I had to explain my obsession with the Batmobile. So here's my version of the Bat-story that I told him.
I explained that I used to watch, as a young adult, my favourite superhero on television. It was the 1966 Adam West/Burt Ward version with the jingly theme music calling out, "Batman, Batman..." The pow, wham, sok, bam affected me so much I had myself glued to the set every time the programme came on the air. 

In the beginning, Batman, like Green Hornet and sidekick Kato, had a friend called Robin but he soon disappeared and our dark knight stood alone to fight the evils of Gotham City. (Of course there's a tale behind this.)
Now alone, Batman had the car to himself and the single seater version was produced. The creativity behind the transformation was fabulous and final metamorphosis was unbelievable. From an ordinary automobile that used to be shaped a little like a bat, it became a turbo powered contraption, a tank and a tumbler. Wing sprouts and huge wheels became a feature. Batpod? 

Even the theme song music compositions are incredible. A simple Batman TV Theme, with choir girls, repeatedly screaming the same phrase, mushroomed into a brilliance of the Zimmer and Howard, Dark Knight Rises' orchestral and digital music phenomenon.  The Batman franchise is a king maker. 

During my recent visit to another nearby island and a walk around their Heritage Place, the toy shop guy refused my generous offer to sell me his Hot Wheels Batpod since he has only one piece left. No amount of persuasion could make him let it go. Sigh.



The bonding with my grandson is great, what with the model cars and the variety of Batmobiles available; they have become a common source of discussion during dinner chats. Not easy to talk to a ten-year-old who knows more about supercars than his grandpa.

For the past few months, he has been buying me a few of the other Batmobile models. Taking a photo of the replica and sending it by What'sApp he would SMS: "You want this?"  My reply was always yes because he knows I don't own that particular model.

"OK," he would reply, "Will get for you." Daddy, in the background, was very supportive and would pay the $5.90 for the metal piece. Wish I had done the same with him and my elder one. 

BTW, anyone with an extra bat pod?

News Flash:
Singapore, 16th December 2015:

The other famous franchise and just as popular is STAR WARS, coming into battle by midnight tonight, Singapore time. Batman for the moment will probably be left out of the fracas as Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C3PO, Chewbacca do battle again. 

Another great time for collectors. And boom time for toy makers. Yikes!

Images: A personal collection; Google.

Batman Theme Song Movie 
YouTube Video by Angel

(This posting is a personal one and does not promote or sell Batman and Star Wars franchise.)

25 comments:

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

While this posting was being written, JayOne surprised me with a brand new Batpod from Great World City. Rattling off in super speed, he explained why he bought it.

"There are other models," he exclaimed. "Let's go buy some more."

So I thought I'd better leave the last part of this posting unchanged and explain that I don't need another Batpod.

ZAINAL ABIDIN (LEADER, BASSIST, 'THE DUKES') said...

"Value and appreciate the people who sacrifice their something for you. Because maybe that something was their everything."

AUDIE NG (LEADER, BASSIST 'SILVER STRINGS') said...

That's d job of a grandpa.

Linda said...

I love the Batman (classic) theme song, Andy! It is fantastic, and I loved the show, too! Thank you so much for sharing!

Please vote in my new poll.

LIM KUAN MIN said...

Like grandson like grandpa :-)

chakap chakap said...

"Batman Theme", the title song of the 1966 Batman TV series, was composed by Neal Hefti. This 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 eleven cries of "Batman!" are sung by a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos (performed by The Ron Hicklin Singers). 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 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), Al Hirt, The Standells and actor/musician David McCallum.

The song has been widely parodied in the decades since its debut. The theme has been re-recorded by dozens of artists, including Link Wray, Voivod, The Jam, and The Who.

RICKIE CHNG (LEAD GUITAR 'THE ESQUIRES') said...

Hi Andy

It is nice to read your write up about your interesting hobby not only for the young, seems that you are also enjoying the good time with your grandson on his present collection. How wonderful.

Cheers

JOHN CHER (PERCUSSIONIST) said...

Hi Andy.
You must have known by now that Shun Ng was informed by his managers, while he was here in Singapore to perform at Jubilee Hall, that he won The Boston Music Award for 2015!
One more feather in the cap for Singapore Musicianship! Congrats Shun! Cheers!
John Cher

FACEBOOK ANDY said...

Thanks to AARON CHOO, YEN CHOW, TIN LEONG LIM, CHARLES DE SILVA, ERWIN MAISCH, HSIANG-CHE KAO, RANDY LEE KENG for supporting this post.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

The focus for this blog has always been music from the sixties but many times other themes come in the way. I guess this posting is one of them.

When the time comes, you will know how much a treasure grandchildren are. Be with them when they are young...

Thank you all for writing in.

WILL XAVIER said...

Will Xavier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUmce-zeaAA

can’t exclude this mate…the master , Prince captured the
essence of the new gen Dark Knight… :0

x

JANE DICK MANITOBA CANADA said...

This delightful Andy.
And wow, what a collection your grandson has!

Hope all is well with all of you,
Jane

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

TIP OFF FROM WILL XAVIER; ONE THAT I MISSED. THANKS MR X:

Batman is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Prince and is the soundtrack album to the 1989 film Batman. Released in June, 1989 by Warner Bros, Prince's involvement in the soundtrack was designed to fulfill the artist's need for a commercial (if not critical) revival.

It is another successful cross-media enterprise in the vein of Purple Rain. The album was No. 1 on the Billboard album chart for six consecutive weeks. It has sold over eleven million copies worldwide.

RUMMAGED THROUGH MY LD COLLECTION AND FOUND A COPY OF BATMAN 1989:

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Director: Tim Burton. Writers: Bob Kane (Batman characters), Sam Hamm (story), Warren Skaaren..
Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger.

HOE AI LEE said...

Haha! Teaching a kid to be a hoarder!!!

LARRY LAI said...

Good post.

TAN TENG TENG (CURATOR) said...

Thanks Andy. The joy of bonding with chlidren as they grow, be they one's children, grandchildren or nephews and nieces.

FACEBOOK ANDY said...

Thanks to

TAN SOO KHOON
LITTLE ONG
DORIS LIM
ROY CHEW
MALVIN CHUA
TOH RICHARD
PRISCILLA GEORGE
TAN TENG TENG

for post support.

FACEBOOK ANDY said...

Thanks to:

GONG PAN PAN
PHILIP CHEW
TRACY NG
PEI YUN CHENG
SHAIK MOHAMMED
LINDA TAN
JALANI MOHAMED
AUDIE NG
CHEN HUI SHI
MATHILDA DSILVA (SINGAPORE'S TINA TURNER)

for post support.

ERWIN MAISCH said...

Like like like like like ... Like your blog better lah

TOH RICHARD said...

Hi Andy!!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Wah! Thank you, thank you, for this shower of blessings. Really nice friends who still support this blog.

FACEBOOK ANDY said...

Thank you ADELINE PANG, LIM KUAN MIN, JOYCELYN LEONG for liking this post.

kenny lai - you tube said...

Where can I buy this? I never really collect these models, but this one is a must have.

CYLIN said...

Hey Andy,

This is the first time I hear Xmas melodies played on the saxophone. Very pleasant to the ear. They sound so soulful - very appropriate for this season. Though it's the season for a reason --cheer for the birth of Christ, it's also, to me ,the marking of the end of a year which brings with it lots of nostalgia.

There's a 'Hongkong batwoman' played by Pam Oei in Crazy Christmas. It's truly a crazily funny production.

(Edited)

CNN said...

Adam West (image right), star of the popular but campy 1960's Batman TV show, died of leukaemia @ 88, on Friday evening, his family said in a statement. Joe Sterling (CNN) June 11, 2017.