"Batman Theme", the title theme to 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 a coda of horns which sound like "Na na na na Na na na na BATMAN!"
The eleven cries of "Batman!" were originally thought to be sung by a female chorus; however, Adam West's book Back to the Batcave reveals the "voices" to actually be instrumental, rather than vocal. This claim is contradicted by another book -TV's Biggest Hits by Jon Burlingame. The book, published in 1966, focuses exclusively on TV theme songs, and includes an interview with Neal 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."[1]
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[2], 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 ...
