Billy Van Singers and Laurie Bower Singers -- The Theme from "Spider-Man" (1967 cartoon)

 

I figured that I would be including the increasingly media-ubiquitous world of Marvel Comics into "Kayo Kyoku Plus" someday. After all, I have a hero of the DC universe already included here although not as a ROY article, so I gotta make mine Marvel! And why not start Marvel's entry into my humble little blog with a hero who's been quite close to my heart in terms of childhood and personality? Rather ironic considering that because of my first summer trip to Japan in 1972, I ended up with a years-long case of arachnophobia (them spiders are big in Wakayama).

Of course, true believers, I am talking about The Amazing Spider-Man. Yes, we all know about the various incarnations of Peter Parker and his alter-ego over the past 20 years on the big screen starting with Tobey Maguire, then Andrew Garfield and now Tom Holland, but for this Torontonian, it all began with the animated series that went from 1967 to 1970.

"Spider-Man" the cartoon was a joint production between the United States for the animation and Canada for the voice acting according to the Wikipedia article for the series. Every morning when I woke up at the bleary-eyed hour of 6:30 for school (ugh!), the TV would be on CHCH-TV on Channel 11 from the city of Hamilton, west of Toronto with "Spider-Man" beginning my childhood day. He'd be fighting folks like the Rhino, the Green Goblin and J. Jonah Jameson constantly.

What also greeted me was the finger-snapping vocal jazz of the theme song. Although I would later come to realize that jazz and standards were my musical companions for the early years of my life, at the time I was hearing the "Spider-Man" theme, it was just one catchy tune starting with the lyrics "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...". By the way, I have to mention that the song was created by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris.

Little did I know that the theme was actually recorded right here in my city by members of The Billy Van Singers and Laurie Bower Singers, and I was especially surprised by that first group since Billy Van was a Canadian comedian who was also a part of my TV experience as a kid through his appearances as a featured player on the old "Sonny & Cher" variety show, the local game show "Party Game" and the kids' series "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" where Van played a scion of Dracula. Maybe there was as much maple syrup flowing through Peter Parker's web shooters as there was web fluid!

It's a pity then to find out that the singers got paid for the recording session but never got any of the residuals, especially since that very theme has been used even in the latest movies with Tom Holland. When we caught "Spider-Man: Homecoming", the audience cheered the moment when Michael Giacchino provided an epic orchestral version during the introduction of the logo.

But even earlier in the "Spider-Man" franchise, there was an excerpt of Michael Bublé's even jazzier love letter remix to the theme in the ending credits of "Spider-Man 2" in 2004. Partnering with Junkie XL, the original song got fortified with warp engines, some amazing Big Band swing and Bublé's grand voice. My only regret is that it wasn't used in that final scene of the movie when Spider-Man got that kiss and approval from Mary Jane and flew out in joy while he was on his way to another rescue with police choppers accompanying him. Yup, I indeed bought the single!

March 12 2021: I received a tweet from Greg Oliver who has written a biography with Stacey Case on Billy Van. I would like to thank him for providing a clarification about what I've written above.

Cool article. It was quite common for arrangers like Billy Van and Laurie Bower to collect up friends to do jingles in that era. Billy Van, however, was NOT one of the voices on Spider-Man. His then-wife and sister-in-law tell the story in my book.

So, what was released in September 1967 in Japan when "Spider-Man" first made its way onto TV screens? Interestingly enough, the first entry here by the Queen of Kayo Kyoku is quite swingy (but in a 60s rock sense) in itself.

Hibari Misora -- Makkana Taiyo （真赤な太陽）

Mieko Hirota -- Nagisa no Uwasa（渚のうわさ）

Kenichi Mikawa -- Niigata Blues （新潟ブルース）