Danny Elfman’s BATMAN is 35 years old - The Celebration and Appreciation Thread

[JTN 2,030]

It’s been 35 years ago that one of the greatest, most influential scores of all time was written by Maestro Danny Elfman, who went on to become one of the biggest names in film music history.

I remember being an 8-year-old boy sitting in the theater watching and being blown away by BATMAN. And one of the best things about it was the thrilling score, that was unlike anything I had heard up until then, and frankly, anything I’ve heard since. It became an instant classic, it was one of my first CDs I ever bought and still have. La-La Land Records thankfully released the full score twice, and it will hopefully be released again in the near future.

 

So dear fellow Danny Elfman and Batman score fans, let’s celebrate this amazing score by sharing stories about when you first encountered it, what it means to you, and why, or why it became so influential and memorable.
 

Happy 35th Anniversary, BATMAN score!

[Thor 7,508]

And to think it all started with a guy humming into a sound recorder on an airplane toilet!

 

Amazing score, of course, and a cornerstone in my own Elfman and film music fandom. It isn't QUITE up there with EDWARD and NIGHTMARE for me, but pretty close. "Descent Into Mystery" remains my favourite track all these years later; I only wish it lasted longer.

[Tallguy 3,398]

Hey! That's not until JUNE. Don't make us all older than we have to be!

[JTN 2,030]

29 minutes ago, Thor said:

"Descent Into Mystery" remains my favourite track all these years later; I only wish it lasted longer.

Absolutely! I wish he’d written a longer version of it. 

[SyncMan 314]

When I saw the credit-block of the Batman poster and read who would be doing the music for this hyped-up film, I was not impressed with the choice of the composer--only because it was not either JW, or Jerry Goldsmith, or even James Horner. 

 

Just prior to the release of the film, I listened to a radio interview with one of the film's executive producers, Micheal Uslan, and he was so enthusiastic about the Danny Elfman score that he compared it to the music-styles of Max Steiner (yes, that was the composer-name that Uslan dropped).

 

I was 18-years-old when I saw the film  in the theater. Although the theatre was Dolby-Stereo equipped,  I could not hear the dialogue very well, much less hear the  the music to get any impression of it. 

 

Later in August of '89, a radio-show in New York City has played the score-CD album in its entirety (I was tapping soundtracks off the air with my cassette-tape deck in those days) and that was when I was taken aback by the unique orchestrations from this rock-music front-man.

 

I remember waiting with anticipation for his follow-up score, 'Nightbreed'.

[Mr. Hooper 1,793]

4 hours ago, Tallguy said:

Hey! That's not until JUNE. Don't make us all older than we have to be!

Ahh, June 23rd. A date forever etched in my brain...

 

I'd never in my young life looked forward to a day more. I'd just turned 14 and was every retailer's dream, as I bought everything in sight with a Batman logo on it with the money I made as a dishwasher. Yes, I got a part-time job specifically to buy Bat-stuff. Batman was ubiquitous that year, and the restaurant manager had a list on the wall of employees who accidentally broke glasses or whatever and called it "BAT-BREAKAGE".

 

It was the first score album I ever personally bought, and it proudly hangs on my wall now. I love the whole thing, but "First Confrontation" is a standout for me.

 

Happy 35th—and good lord, where has the time gone.

[Tallguy 3,398]

It was insane how the Batman logo was EVERYWHERE that summer. (And then it happened again the next summer with The Simpsons. Sorry, Dick Tracy.)

 

An amazing score. I had no idea what to expect, music-wise. (Muddled somewhat even more by the association with Prince.) That opening scene blew me the hell away.

 

Decent into Mystery was so good. It was like buying Decent into Mystery and getting a Batman CD for free!

 

Oh, this was the first soundtrack that I was aware of that had a songtrack AND then a full score. I was the bane (sorry) of the local music stores' existence for weeks. "Hi. Do you have Batman yet?" "It's right over there." "No, that's Prince. I want the actual music." "No, that's all there is." "No, there's another one coming out." "I don't know anything about that." Annnnnd repeat. For WEEKS. Sorry.

 

Does anyone know if the Elfman soundtrack was planned from the start or if it was in reaction to the movie being an insane hit and the score being so lauded?

 

Bummer that it wasn't nominated for best score. (The Little Mermaid still would have won.) Was the score to The Fabulous Baker Boys any good?

[Edmilson 7,466]

I didn't get to see it because I was like, -4 years old . So Bale was actually the Batman of my childhood/teen years. And even though I love his first two movies (the third movie was ass), their score is inferior to Elfman's and even Goldenthal's. Some good cues here and there, but Elfman's music is much livelier and fun (even though I guess the point of the Nolan movies was to make Batman not fun... lol)

[Bespin 8,483]

I was 15 when I discovered Tim Burton's Batman movie in theaters. I had already researched everything about the Joker portrayed by Jack Nicholson, whom I also discovered through this film. Besides the noir and gothic aspect, what struck me the most was the music. After watching the film, I rushed to the record store to get Danny Elfman's LP (yes, a vinyl record), which was also my first encounter with Elfman. Technology was changing rapidly then, making it both my first and last vinyl purchase. Subsequent soundtracks, all by John Williams, entered my home on CD. But what a beautiful memory of that summer at 15! It's a film and a soundtrack I still love immensely.

 

I had this poster in my room and this flag banner :

 

 

28 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

It was insane how the Batman logo was EVERYWHERE that summer.

 

I even had Batman suspenders!

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,541]

@Mr. Hooper, 6.23.1989 is a date that is also forever seared into my brain, but, I can assure you, for a very different reason.

Anyhoo... I saw BATMAN on Saturday 6.24, in the USA, and, due to severe jet lag, I watched it in a kind of dream state.

Two things I remember about the showing are:

1/ the sound was terrible... and it wasn't because of any inadequacy of the theatre. This has been borne out in subsequent DVD and Blu releases. I much prefer the 30th anniversary mix.

2/ the audience applauded at the shot of the Batwing suspended in front of the moon. It's a stunning shot; not in its execution (Derek Meddings' effects are not much better than what he did for THUNDERBIRDS. ILM must have been laughing all the way to the Oscar™), but in its design.

All in all, it was a surreal experience... and I went back to see it twice more during the Summer, and I purchased it on VHS, the following November.

In every single way, BATMAN RETURNS is the far superior film, but because of how, when, and where I saw it, BATMAN will always take precedence.

[crocodile 8,017]

The score is pure magic and I can't wait to hear it live in June. 

 

Karol

[Groovygoth666 670]

I was only 2 years old when this film hit cinemas. And so was too young to see it on the big screen at the time, but had it on VHS and was fortunate enough to see it in a cinema year's later. 

 

While I don't remember the first time I saw it, Batman 89 falls in with the many films that I watched at a young age and have revisited many times since and so that first time is lost, it's one of the films that has just always been there. 

 

That being said one of the biggest influences in my life was Elfmans score. 

 

In terms of my musical interests this score was instrumental in leading me to the realisation that film scores are primarily the genre of music that I enjoy. 

 

While it's not the first film score that I had on CD, that honor goes to TPMs OST, it was the first I purchased on CD with my own money. I'll never forget being in a music store in a nearby shopping centre (aka a mall) and just browsing the soundtrack section and seeing the cover, the Batwing over the moon, and without looking at the price picking it up and heading to the counter. And the original LaLaLand expanded release was one of the earliest speciality releases that I sought out after finding out about it.

 

And so this score is a huge part of who I am today because it helped lead me to a larger world in discovering film music and speciality labels.

[danbeck 123]

I was 15 when it was released and at the time the excessive promotion it got and my younger 13 yr old brother excitement to see it made me avoid it at theaters.

 

That summer my favorite movie was Licence To Kill (first Bond I managed to see at theaters) and of course I went also to see Last Crusade (which anoyed me with the press frequently promoting it by saying how much better it was than Temple of Doom, which had been one of the most memorable cinematic experiences I had in theaters some few years ago). I liked Last Crusade but thought it was the least of the 3 Indys.

 

At the insistence of my younger brother saying how great was the music I bought the Batman LP (on the same day I bought "The Fly" LP - curiously both LPs ommiting two tracks from the respective scores that were on the CDs, as I found out latter) and was amazed by the score, specially Descent Into Mystery, which I listened over and over. But the entire album was amazing.

 

I've since bought all versions of the score on CD, original CD, 1st expanded LLL release, Elfman-Burton Box, 2nd expanded LLL release.

 

Among all those (and even being a completist) I think the album program is the best representation of this score. The alternate take of "Roof Fight" with the piano, the edited "First Confrontation" making it flow much better, it is just a perfect album. 

 

It is great to have the additional music and I'd probably buy it again if an even more complete version is released in the future, but the album program for me is still the best.

 

On the sound I prefer the Elfman-Burton remaster (with the more "in your face" sound [maybe it is more compressed?], the Main Title with louder percussion and Attack of the Batwing complete) and this is the version I listen more oftenly. The only track that is not so good in the EB Box remasted is "Descent Into Mystery" which like the film version/complete score release has the chorus dialed down in its middle portion, while in the original album the chorus remains more audible during the entire track.

 

I still consider this the best Batman score of them all (it is much better IMO than Batman Returns, which I find repetitive and lacking the great action tracks of the first score). 

[Tallguy 3,398]

4 hours ago, Groovygoth666 said:

I was only 2 years old when this film hit cinemas.

 

I understand that there must be people who were younger when they saw Batman than I was when I saw Superman. (I've met many of them.) But to know that they are walking around as functional adults and posting on message boards and the like seems like unnecessary salt in the wound.

[Thor 7,508]

29 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

I understand that there must be people who were younger when they saw Batman than I was when I saw Superman. (I've met many of them.) But to know that they are walking around as functional adults and posting on message boards and the like seems like unnecessary salt in the wound.

 

He, he....story of my life most of the time here on JWFAN. At the same time, I'm glad I was born when I did, so I had the chance to experience all the changes in media and industry that younger folks didn't.

 

I vaguely remember finding the BATMAN soundtrack either in a used record store, or in a cut-out bin in a regular record store, in the mid 90s - after I had moved to Oslo. The front cover was a bit crinkled, but that was okay. It's still the only BATMAN CD I have, and will forever have.

 

I think I saw the film in the theatre too, even though I was around 12 at the time.

[Edmilson 7,466]

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

It's still the only BATMAN CD I have, and will forever have.

Not a fan for the scores to Batman Returns and Goldenthal's Forever and B&R? And what about Shirley Walker's music for the cartoons?

[Mr. Hooper 1,793]

5 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Not a fan for the scores to Batman Returns and Goldenthal's Forever and B&R? And what about Shirley Walker's music for the cartoons?

Love Goldenthal's Batman theme and Walker's 'Mask of the Phantasm' score.

[Thor 7,508]

29 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Not a fan for the scores to Batman Returns and Goldenthal's Forever and B&R? And what about Shirley Walker's music for the cartoons?

 

Yes, yes. I meant the only version of Elfman's BATMAN that I will ever own. BATMAN RETURNS is a superior score, even, IMO.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

I was quite disappointed at that time, because I didn't know who Danny Elfman was, but I was a big Prince fan then and it was rumoured that Prince would do the score for the movie. So, at first it was a big letdown to realize that someone else wrote the score. Still I think, this is far from Elfman's best work. But it served the picture well. 

[mstrox 6,651]

There’s “extra” music from Batman that is fun, but really it doesn’t hold up in complete form nearly as much as on OST.  Returns is the opposite for me.