Neal Hefti, one of the great names associated with nineteen sixties television and film scoring has died. The big band horn player and jazz arranger became known best for his theme songs for the TV shows Batman and The Odd Couple (and the original film version too). Hefti composed several swinging soundtracks for films like Lord Love a Duck, Boeng, Boeng and How to Murder Your Wife. Wikipedia has a comprehensive exploration of his big band work in the forties and fifties. This is my all time favorite Hefti track off a 1966 LP of "19 Hefti Bat Songs."
Thank you for posting this! Find myself humming the "Lord Love a Duck" and "Odd Couple" themes all the time. Good to see the "Duck" mention especially as I think it's very underrated overall.
Posted by: Kristin | October 26, 2008 at 12:12 PM
I know that most of you know it already- but good ol' Neal's 'lyrics' royalties for the word "Batman" being sung in the theme still crack me up. Wotta genius. One of the great one-word songs.
I'm surprised there aren't more comments, I seem to recall a few more obscure Neal jobs worth mentioning, but the names escape me. Not a Hefti scholar, merely a fan. The Sun Ra version of the theme is one of the best, in my opinion.
Posted by: Mindwrecker | November 02, 2008 at 12:39 PM