Vale: Neil Hefti

Neil Hefti, the composer of the Batman and The Odd Couple theme songs, passed away earlier this week on Oct 11.

The art of the theme song and opening title sequence is drifting away in a television industry that is intent on ensuring audiences are not given any opportunities to flip to rival TV channels. Hefti was certainly one of the greats in producing two of the best known theme songs that will ever exist within the industry.

An interesting fact about the Batman theme song: There is no female vocalist on the soundtrack, but rather the female voice heard is in fact instrumental.

Hefti really struggled with the tune. “Hardest piece I ever wrote,” he later commented. “I agonized over it for six weeks.” “I couldn’t get inspired (to do the song),” he says. “I’d watched two hours of film footage and thought, ‘This is the campiest thing I’ve ever seen.’ But then I felt what I was writing was not as good as the show. I never had a moment of ‘Eureka!’” When he met with the show’s producers, he went “… reluctantly, apologetically, shuffling my feet and looking like Tom Sawyer. I thought they would throw it back in my face.” Once the tunes’ success was proved by reaching the pop Top 40 charts and winning the Grammy for Best Instrumental Song of 1966, Hefti could breathe a little easier. He carried the style over into his score for O Dad, Poor Dad!–”This is Mother” sounds like an outtake from Batman.