Jan and Dean Meet Batman is a novelty record album released in March of 1966 by Jan (Berry) & Dean (Torrence), who, like the Beach Boys, were known in the early-mid 60s for their California sound, particularly music about surfing, girls and hot rods.
The album is a tribute to and a parody of the Batman TV series which had premiered two months earlier on ABC and quickly became a smash hit. The title track from the album, Batman, made the lower half of the Hot 100 (Ironically, the song peaked at #66), but the album itself failed to chart, though it is now considered a cult favorite. It was also the duo's last album before Jan Berry's involvement in a near-fatal car crash that April.
Content[]
The tracks on the album alternate between spoken-word scripted comedy sketches and Batman-themed songs, including a cover of Neal Hefti's theme from the TV show. The first sketch tells of the origin of Captain Jan & Dean the Boy Blunder, in which Jan & Dean were endowed with mystical powers by the "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (so named from their hit 1964 song) and became the "Titanic Twosome". To change into their heroic alter-egos, the duo sang the lady's name, using the opening line from the song.
With help from the Little Old Lady, the Titanic Twosome created their lair in the attic of their Bel Air mansion, while they made their way around Surf City in their "atom-powered Woodie". In their normal guise of Jan & Dean they still performed concerts elsewhere, but when trouble arose in their home town of Surf City, they were able to use their "instant distance mental powers" to transport back home and save the day.
In the album, Captain Jan and Dean the Boy Blunder take on three different specially-created villains:
- Dr. Vit-A-Min - who, along with his wretched wife Hy Po, attempts to poison the Surf City water supply
- The Garbageman - who imprisons the Titanic Twosome in a whirling garbage truck while he tries to steal Stinkpot, a million-dollar thoroughbred
- The Fireman - who kidnaps a priceless Persian tiger named Tikbah
Track List[]
(NOTE: Sketch titles are in quotes, song titles in italics)
- Side One
- Batman
- "The Origin of Captain Jan and Dean the Boy Blunder"
- Robin the Boy Wonder
- "A Vit-A-Min a Day"
- Mr. Freeze
- "The Doctor's Dilemma"
- "A Stench in Time"
- Side Two
- Batman Theme
- "A Hank of Hair and a Banana Peel"
- "The Fireman's Flaming Flourish"
- The Joker is Wild
- "Tiger, Tiger, Burning"
- Flight of the Batmobile
- "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"
Production Notes[]
Initially, Jan and Dean had produced a series of sketches for the album with themselves respectively portraying Batman and Robin, and taking on Riddler, Joker and Penguin. But when Jan and Dean were informed that they were permitted to do the songs but not the sketches, they decided to create a new set of sketches with Captain Jan & Dean the Boy Blunder. The audio tracks of the B&R sketches were scrapped and therefore unreleased, but they somehow managed to survive and have since been posted on YouTube. [1]