1) Ghost Rider (Suicide) 1977-This band comprised of a singer and keyboard player was actually named
after a ghost rider comic story title (“Satan Suicide "), and their forward
looking music pointed the way towards electronica, krautrock, and punk. This
rather minimalist droning song talks about a motorcycle hero who looks cute in
his blue suit. MIA had the good taste to sample the song and she even had the
original synthesizer player perform the song live with her onstage on David
Letterman. Go here to see the duo live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WqOMPakGCg
and to hear the studio version go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGLJoXpKo4U&feature=related
2) D.C. Comics and Chocolate
Milk Shake (Art Brut) 2009-This lively, infectious piece of pop- punk heaven
celebrates the joys of innocence and extended adolescence. The song’s narrator
is a 28 year old who is accused of having arrested development (the condition
not the group) because he frequents comic shops, and he’s even in love with a
girl who works there. The band’s performance of the song was one of the
highlights of a recent Hideout’s block party. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhelBTjRYcE
3) Precious (The Pretenders)
1980-This furious, ecstatic rocking number appeared on the ill-fated band’s
first LP and it includes the line “Now Howard the Duck and Mr. Stress both
stayed/trapped in a world he never made.” The movie (released years later)
wasn’t all it was quacked up to be, but at least the band didn’t fowl up the
song.
Hear it at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA3hZEDPNI.
4) O Superman (Laurie
Anderson) 1981-The comic connection is tenuous since only the title refers to
the character, but I could not resist including this astonishingly avant-garde,
robotic and futuristic single. Anderson is scheduled to come to the Humanities
Festival this year.
See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VIqA3i2zQw.
5) The Man of Metropolis
Steals Our Hearts (Sufjan Stevens) 2005-This gorgeous, irresistible, and
vaguely nostalgic ballad appeared on “Come on Feel the Illinoise,” a concept
album about our state. The CD was once of the best of its year. This song is
about an alien sighting, and it examines the idea of Superman as an American
symbol (sometimes I think Lobo would be a
better choice). See it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5AL5rlbzSA.
6) Mambo Sun-(T Rex) 1971 The narrator has “hot knees” for a girl, and at one point to impress her he
sings “on a mountain range/ I am Dr.Strange for you.” I can see why the
cosmically obsessed Marc Bolan would see Strange as the ultimate hero.
“Electric Warrior,” the record it’s from is in the running for the best ever
glam release. Marc Bolan has rarely sounded this androgynous or freaky, but it
was mostly downhill after this CD and “The Slider.”
Go to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmSKPxGPnKg.
7) Johnny Thunders (The
Kinks) 1968-This soft kinks song comes off of one of their greatest and worst
selling albums (Village Green Preservation Society) and it works best in the
context of the album. But by the time the same band did “Superman” in 1979, they
sounded tired and washed up.
8) The Continuing Story of
Bungalo Bill (The Beatles) 1968-Captain Marvel shows up (presumably the
DC/Fawcett one) and zaps a murderer/bad role model for kids in this obscure but
worthwhile cut from the must have “The White Album.” The double record
musical smorgasbord may be of the fab four’s most diverse recordings.
Here’s
the re-mastered version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwby-XvzpH8
9) Sgt. Rock
(is Going to Help Me)-XTC, 1980-Predictably quirky and hummable single
celebrates the DC war hero.
Go here to hear
it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE8ldywLXvQ.
The same band also did “Really Super, Supergirl,” – which is included on
“Skylarking.” It’s a love song to the maid of steel that even mentions
kryptonite.
10) Revenge of Vera Gemini
(Blue Oyster Cult) 1976-Dave Kraft based a whole series of Defenders books on
this atmospheric song as well as the rest of Agents of Fortune (which was BOC’s
last great LP.) Vera Gemini (in both the song and the LP) is a human/demon
hybrid that is a member of (you’ll never guess) the Agents of Fortune. The song
opens with some spoken word by punk poetry princess, Patti Smith and she also
duets with the lead singer.
See it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH8nsquhPqo
11) Batdance (Prince) 1989-It was done by Prince in the 80’s when he could do no wrong (except “Around the
World in a Day".) Need I say more?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2W6w47hV1U
12) Astonomy Domine (Pink Floyd) 1967-The original lineup of Pink Floyd (with
Sid Barrett singing and writing the lyrics) contains a reference to Dan Dare (Garth Ennis recently wrote a series using the
character.) It’s from “Piper from the Gates of Dawn,” arguably the band’s best LP.
See it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Tne92jfxo.
The ground breaking use of overdubbed sounds predated rap by a decade.
13) Superman (Eminem),
2003-Irreverent but fascinating song contains the line “They
call me Superman/Leap tall hoes in a single bound,” and it’s really about the
(at the risk of sounding pedantic) power dynamics in relationships. It’s also
probably a put down of Mariah Carey. See the somewhat risqué video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kYkciD9VjU&ob=av2e
14) Batman and Robin (Snoop
Dog)-This campy rap song samples the theme from the ‘60s TV show, and it
mentions Two Face, Robin, Clayface, and Catwoman (but no Cluemaster). This is
the only superhero song I know that refers to narcotics ("Sally is smoking crack
in a Gotham city alley"), and it’s fairly amusing. See it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x1rZgZUXd0 Snoop also collaborated with country singer, Willie Nelson on a song titled
“Superman” on his 2011 album, 'Doggumentary.'
15) Dan Dare (The Mekons)-Furiously
paced and anarchic single by the fine Chicago
based post punk band is about an obscure British comic character (Elton John
also wrote a song about him). Incidentally, the main villain of Dan Dare is
The Mekon (of Mekonta).
Go here for the live
version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a46Mah_4XzI
16) D.J. (David Bowie) 1979-This song from “Lodger” has some wonderfully raw sounds in it, and it
includes the phrase “feel like Dan Dare.” The character must be huge in
the UK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADuBMcLkHP4
17) The Supreme Being
Teaches Spiderman How to Love (Flaming Lips) 1997-This song quotes the
Spiderman theme to the ‘60s TV show, and it pits the wall crawler against
non-other than Mohammed Ali. This song was created for the Spiderman 3 film
(which was a convoluted mess), but it is superior to the film.
18) I’m Gonna Unmask the
Batman (Sun Ra and his Inter Galactic Orchestra)-The flamboyant and often
brilliant free jazz musician/bandleader penned this bizarre tribute to the Dark
Knight (it’s on “The Singles’)
19) Metal Man has Gotten His
Wings (Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa)-There’s several different versions of
this daffy song and all of them refer directly to the DC team. Then there’s also
Debra Kadabra by the same duo. This wild chord changing song appears on Bongo
Fury and free association probably produced the line “Make me grow
Brainiac
fingers but with more hair.” According to Rolling Stone magazine Captain Beefheart is the worse selling classic rock artist ever. What an honor. But he
was still a mad genius.
20) Nobody Loves the Hulk
(The Traits), 1969-Pleasant garage band/British invasion influenced band‘s song
is sympathetic towards the fictional green giant. If I recall correctly the
lyrics were included in a Hulk Annual. See it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2OI7sogwqY
21) Challengers (New
Pornographers)-Excellent song by the melodic alt country band lionizes DC’s
supernatural crime fighters. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8KuHQs858Y
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8KuHQs858Y
22) Matter Eater Lad (Guided
by Voices)-Weird, wacky and short single about the strange z list character from
the Legion of Superheroes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZUCYmtLYvI
23) Evangeline
(Matthew Sweet)-Tuneful love song about Chuck Dixon’s gun toting nun. I
listened to song a million times in the ‘90s, but I never connected it with the
comic character until recently. The narrator wants her to forget her vows to God
to have a relationship with him.
Here’s a live version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cip5M3q4vrE
24) The Ballad of Barry
Allen (Jim's Big Ego)-Surprisingly thoughtful song told from the perspective of
D.C's scarlet speedster "I'd like to get to know you/but you keep talking so
slow."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2lW9QEnAm8
25) Can You Dig It? (Pop
Will Eat Itself)-This song is a basically a musical list of things that the band
“digs” which includes Alan Moore, The Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers, Marvel, and
DC comics as well as Bruce Wayne and V for Vendetta. Remember:
“Alan Moore knows the score.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6oSCng12xQ
26) Ghost World (Aimee Mann)-Tunefully soft song about the slacker art student in Dan Clowe’s Indy comic
classic (the movie’s pretty terrific too.) from the former Till Tuesday singer.
27) In the Garage (Weezer)-This sentimental, nostalgic song mentions Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler
28) Comic Book Heroes (The
Tearjerkers)-A million comic characters are mentioned in the band (including
Cyclops, Angel and Dr . Strange. The singer sounds a bit like Pete Shelley of
the Buzzcocks, and the main riff hooked me right away
29) I Whipped Spiderman’s
Ass (Wesley Willis)-The narrator throttles the web slinger because he "tried
to cut my [his girlfriend] out of seventy dollars.” I used to see Willis
walking around Wicker Park in the 90’s. He
used to sing to himself and he’d occasionally yell out obscenities at me. I
don't think we were good friends, but his outsider art was fascinating. Willis
also wrote about beating up Batman.
30) Stop Talking about Comic
Books or I’ll Kill You (Ookla The Mok)-The group berates someone for talking
about comics too much (going so far as to say their actions will condemn them to
a life of loneliness). But the same group also wrote a song about the Super Skrull and
Aquaman (“Less than Art). Go figure. The group has won awards for
their contributions to film music (sci-fi oriented music.)
31) Break’in the Law
(Anthrax)-This fun punk influenced metal song is about British comic
anti-hero, Judge Dredd. The song tells us he’s “A
man so hard, his veins bleed ice."
32) Sidekick (Rancid)-Violent tale of a
vigilante sidekick starts at midtempo then gets more furious. The song seems to
be about Tim Drake, and also mentions Wolverine who (surprise gets mad.)
33.) Ghost Rider (Rollins
band)-this heavy metallic/ jazzy song is definitely about the Johnny Blaze era
comic character (“Riding through your town with his head on fire”), but it
appears on The Crow soundtrack of all places.
34) Superbird (Country Joe
and the Fish)-The folky psychedelic band mentions a plethora of comic
characters. The fantastic four, Dr. Strange and even Superdog show up in the
song (perhaps during a drug trip) . Also LBJ is strangely critiqued (probably
for the Viet Nam war) in this forgotten gem from “Electric Music for the Mind
and Body”
35) Spiderman-(The Ramones)
1995-Leave it to the Ramones to do the definitive version of the 1960s Spiderman
TV show theme song. It sounds like all of the rest of their songs but it’s
still great. This was originally included on “Saturday Morning: Cartoon's
Greatest Hits.”
36) Ballad of Aqua Man (the
social bedders) this song is actually critical of the sea king and compares him
negatively to the big guns of the justice league. It might be a good soundtrack
for reading the new 54 first issue of the sea king’s new series.
37) Attack of the Ghost
Riders (The Raveonettes)-This Jane and the Mary Chain influenced band from
Scandinavia always manages to sound both old fashioned and fresh at the same
time. This video has a cameo by a skull faced motorcycle rider.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gQEvupSrRY
38) Paradise City-The song
by the phenomenally popular hard rock trio contains the line: “Captain America’s
Been Torn Apart/Now he’s a court jester with a broken heart.”
See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbm6GXllBiw&ob=av2e.
39) Vampirella (Julia's
Rain)-Named after a band member's favorite comic character. The female lead
singer’s vocals sound positively sinister.
40) Superboy (Nina Hagen)-I
included this 1978 song and clip link for all you fans of German theatre/shock
rock (I love her clothes). No need to thank me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX0yL2Lq6n0
42) Raise the Roof (Public Enemy)-Early song from their first LP "Bum Rush the
Show" sounds more like Run DMC than public enemy (they hadn't quite found their
style yet.) It contains a reference to Prince Namor.
43) The Joker is Wild (Jan and Dean)-This beach boys like song (from a concept
album about Batman) from the duo is interesting, but it contains the worst Joker
laugh ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-wrk6vEYM4
44) Tear in Your Hand (Tori Amos)-Tori and Neil Gaiman have been friends
for years (she was an early choice to play his creation, Death in a film.) In
this song she sings: “If you need me, me and Neil’ll be hangin’ out with the
dream king"
45) Magneto and the Titanium
Man (Paul McCarthy) A pair of villains gossip about how the narrator’s love was
involved in a robbery, but the story turns out to be a lie. The song was
allegedly inspired by a pic that jack “king” Kirby) gave the future to Paul.
Crimson Dynamo also makes an appearance. Unlike much of Pauls’ solo work
(technically he’s with wings) this song is somewhat listenable.
46) Superman (REM)-This was
one of the major bands of the 80’s and 90’s but this was catchy but not
particularly innovative. It was not one of their most memorable works, and it’s
a cover.
47) Sunshine Superman
(Donovan)- Donavan never quite got beyond being a second rate Dylan, but this
song which contains the line: "Superman and Green
Lantern am not got nothin on me” was one of his best and most popular.
Written for the singer’s future wife in 1966.
48) (Tie) Batman Theme (the
Who)-One of the greatest bands of the British Invasion tackled the theme from
the campy ‘60s show. I’m pretty sure the kinks also did it. Batman theme (the
jam) –The Who influenced jam also recorded a revved up version of the song,
which has more bite than The Who’s cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXmPEsuipUw
49) Dead Milkmen-“If You
Love Someone set them on Fire,” a song from
Metaphysical Graffiti” includes the immortal
line, “Your dad called me the
Human Torch.” This reggae influenced tribute to arson is not recommended
for extremely young or overly literal comic fans.
50) Ego the Living Planet
(Monster Magnet)-There aren’t too many words in this otherworldly instrumental
but one of the members screams “I Talk to Planets Baby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Mqj9X-xLk
51) Brother Voodoo vs.The Wolfman (Loungeclash)-Presumably this rocking instrumental was named after
Marvel’s late, lamented mystic (Check out Rick Remender’s recent series.) The
Theremin makes the song sound spooky.
52) Mutants in Mega City One
(Fink Brothers)-Song from former madness members seems to be about Judge Dredd
rather than the Xmen.
53) Edge of the Blade
(Mystical)-This hip-hop song was written for one of the blade films, and it
refers to vampires.
54) This Vicious Cabaret (David J.)-This solo song by the former member of
Bauhaus and Love and Rockets (named after a comic series) was based on concepts
from Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta."
55) Comic Books (Debbie
Harry) 1989-Not bad solo effort from the former singer of Blondie refers to the
Batman TV show, and how the narrator wanted to be a superhero (“It’s all I ever
wanted to be.”) See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAqR3sxVoFc