Biff! Oof! Pow! Holy Eulogy, Batman

Neil Hefti died recently. As I was glancing through the obits in the L.A. Times (why? I don't know), I noticed his name and immediately recognized it. Then, I learned a lot of things I didn't know about him.
Neil Hefti was a part of my high school years so you'd have to be pretty darned old to be familiar with him. For you...it's nostalgia; for the younger folks...it's history. Praised by The Encyclopedia of Popular Music as "One of the most influential big band arrangers of the 40s and 50s," Hefti was a real luminary. He arranged music for the greats like Count Basie, Woody Herman and Harry James, but he never won a Grammy for any of those arrangements. The song which DID win him a Grammy is what I remember.
In the late 50s and 60s, Hefti began writing soundtracks for television. He wrote, for example, the theme song for The Odd Couple which was very popular for a long time. In what he said was the hardest thing he ever wrote, he also wrote the theme music for the Batman series on television. In 1966, that became a #1 hit and won him a Grammy as "Best Instrumental Theme." It was even coveed by a popular instrumental group at the time, The Marketts, and it became a hit for them as well. As long as the series lasted on television, his theme played on and on. I can even remember the little dance that both Batman and Robin did on the show during one skit featuring the music (and yet, sometimes, I can't remember where I out my keys!)
So, if you'd like to hear it again or hear it for the first time, I've enclosed the link from Yamelo.com. The Marketts' version is there, too. I had to turn my speakers up just a bit to get the real effect, but then I knocked one of them over with my cape. No Mom to yell at me, though. Holy relief, Batman. (not to be confused with Bartman of The Simpsons or that guy who gained infamy by interfering with a foul ball at Wrigley Field)

http://www.yamelo.com/clip/neal-hefti/31739_neal-hefti_batman-theme.html