Johnnys & Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets -- Batman

 

"Kayo Kyoku Plus" friend and collaborator JTM kindly sent me a rather large book called "The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films ~ Mutated Edition" as a birthday present some months ago. It's all about the monster movies of past decades that for whatever reason never got as far as the celluloid stage. The one aborted project that really got my attention was "Batman vs. Godzilla"!

Yes, there had been thoughts and fantasies about the Dark Knight of Gotham going up against the Big Green One of Monster Island. And what better actor to battle the rubbery monster than the late great Adam West himself? I'll have that ham on ham right now ("Quick, old chum! Hand me that can of Bat-Oxygen Destroyer!" "Holy Atomic Breath of Death, Batman!")! I mean, could anyone have expected Christian Bale or Ben Affleck signing off on that one?

Indeed, the 1966 TV series of camp was my very first exposure to the Caped Crusader. Back then, it wasn't about the angst of Bruce Wayne in terms of morality and filial tragedy along with the horrible decay of Gotham City. It was all about the onomatopoeia-friendly fights, the Batmobile, the goofy villains and all those other devices with the Bat prefix. Of course, there was also the super-catchy, go-go boot-friendly, and lyrically economical (aside from the "nanananananana", it was just the title being chanted) theme song by Neal Hefti.

Well, I actually rolled the dice here and searched via Wiki/J-Wiki on whether there was a Japanese theme song for the original show (1966-1968) since I assumed that "Batman" the series also got its time in Japan as did many American shows. Guess what? I rolled a 7!

Yup, the opening had the original version but the ending theme consisted of the cover version thanks to a collaboration between the prime Johnny's Entertainment group, Johnnys（ジャニーズ）, and the Group Sounds band Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets（ジャッキー吉川とブルーコメッツ）. And this one had Japanese lyrics although I haven't been able to track down who took care of the words. Furthermore, there was some more of the beatnik music thrown in with a bevy of finger snaps and bluesy sax. Fun for the whole family!

Couldn't resist...just had to include the fight scenes! Plus, if you wish, you can take a look at Johnnys' take on an old standard.