Jan & Dean Meet Batman - Mobile Edition

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Jan & Dean Meet Batman
By Philip Schweier
December 2, 2010 - 10:29

When I was 9 years old, still in my first year of comic book fandom, my family moved to a new town, and in short order, my mother took all of us kids to the public library to get us library cards. In my youthful logic, my thinking was that if grown-up magazines were to be found in the adult section, then it only stood to reason that kids’ magazine (i.e. comic books) should be in the children’s section.

Well, not quite. Nevertheless, one of the helpful librarians introduced me to a record album, Jan & Dean Meet Batman.

In 1966, as the wave of pop culture crested, Jan & Dean recorded their Batman tribute album. In between songs about the Caped Crusader, Robin the Boy Wonder and the Joker, Jan & Dean portrayed themselves in the adventures of Captain Jan and Dean the Boy Blunder. In an origin reminiscent of the original Captain Marvel, the two are gifted with special powers by the Little Old Lady From Pasadena, whenever they sing the opening chords of their chart-topping hit.

In the course of the mercifully short album, Captain Jan and Dean the Boy Blunder encounter such villains as Dr. Vit-a-Min, the Garbage Man and the Fireman. It’s pure unadulterated cheese, very much in the same vein as the Batman television show at the time. However, it’s not without its own level of silliness. For instance, the members of the Surf City police force are portrayed by children, some of whom would rather see the Beach Boys try to solve the crime.

Richard Hatch and Bruce Davison in Deadman's Curve

At the time, I had no idea who Jan & Dean were, and really wouldn’t find out until the made-for-TV movie Deadman’s Curve was broadcast in 1978. Starring Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica) as Jan Berry and Bruce Davison (X-Men) as Dean Torrence, the movie told the story of two young men in 1960s California who were a singing duo, recording such songs as Surf City and The Little Old Lady From Pasadena, very much in the mold of the Beach Boys surf music.

Shortly after recording Jan & Dean Meet Batman, Jan Berry was nearly killed in a horrific crash. Even after coming out of a lengthy coma, the prognosis was that he would never walk again. His recovery was slow due to brain damage and paralysis in his right arm, but Berry refused to give up. Music played a major role in his therapy, and he eventually returned to the recording studio. Thankfully, Batman would not be the final musical legacy for Jan & Dean.

Dean Torrence became a Grammy-award winning album designer, but through it all he stood by his partner, helping him record a number of projects in the late 1960s and 1970s. The two continued to tour, sometimes as solo acts, sometimes together, sometimes with the Beach Boys. Their on-stage antics displayed their irreverence for the corporate side of the music business and was very entertaining.

Jan & Dean in later years

The success of the film Deadman’s Curve gave Jan & Dean a boost, launching them on a second leg of their careers, with appearances on television variety shows such as Sha-Na-Na and the Mike Douglas Show. Though his speech was slowed and he had a noticeable limp, Berry remained a high-profile example for those recovering from traumatic brain injury. He passed away in March 2004.

Jan & Dean Meet Batman is only one album of many the duo recorded, and is unlikely to be recognized by fans of either Batman or Jan & Dean. Nevertheless, it’s a Velveeta of a record album: tolerable but not all that good unless you have a taste for processed cheese-type product.

Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com