My review of the then newly released CD featuring soundtrack music to the 1952-58 TV classic, Adventures of Superman, was published in The Kansas City Kansan (Crum on Film) on April 7, 2000…a bit over two decades ago. 

By Steve Crum

Lois and Jimmy jump into the ’53 Nash (“Hit and Run” theme up), unaware of the hooded thug crouching in the back seat. (“Quiet Tension” theme insert.) They have been given strict orders by Editor Perry White to bring back an exclusive interview with Waldo, the eccentric inventor of a “mind machine.” (“Shadows on the Wall” theme excerpt here.) Now their fate—and the fate of the powerful invention—is jeopardized. This is a job for…SUPERMAN! (“Superman Theme” up.)

Action and music went hand-in-cape in the 1950s TV series,  Adventures of Superman, which is perhaps the preeminent and most memorable TV show for baby boomers. Video copies of the original 104 episodes, including the glorious first season’s 26, have been in collectors’ hands for years. I have a few dozen myself. (2020 NOTE: All episodes have since been released in multiple boxed sets.) 

But the music is another galaxy altogether…until now. And thank you, Varese-Saraband recording company. With bullet speed, the CD, Original Television Soundtrack  Adventures of Superman (VS302-066-093-2), has arrived on retail earth. Make that a slow motion bullet, since it has taken nearly 50 years to happen. Nonetheless, the single light blue disk, emblazoned with the familiar Superman logo, contains 72 minutes of original soundtrack themes. The vintage recordings are in super (forgive me) condition with crystal perfect mono sound.

The 35 tracks have titles like “Shadows on the Wall, “Blood and Thunder,” and “The Skeleton,” evoking moods and theme cues that were edited into each half hour Superman story. (There is an extra surprise track with dialogue and music included. You have to hear it to believe it.) I cannot full express how deeply this music touches and moves me after all these years. Each selection triggers a long embedded memory that I obviously stored when I was that little Crum kid with a towel tied around my neck (my Superman cape). Picture me grooving on the sights and sounds of George Reeves, Noel Neill and Jack Larson. (Of course, as any true Supie fan knows, the best Lois Lane was portrayed during the first season by the gritty Phyllis Coates.)

Until I listened to this set, I had no idea of how deeply this series still affects me. Excuse my naked revelation, and pardon my passion. But honestly, I almost tied a towel around my neck again during playback.

Adventures of Superman was a one-of-a-kind series in several aspects. For one, no series before or since utilized music like this one did. Almost every second is filled with musical themes. From the liner notes: “This CD celebrates a landmark TV series and one of the most familiar background music libraries of the 1950s.” 

That library reference also makes this CD a gotta-have. The music was not only used for Superman themes, but many low budget TV series, individual shows and B-movies of that era. Taken from Mutel Library originally compiled by Mutel’s company founder David Chudnow, the music has no known composer. Even the musicians have never been identified. To avoid a musicians’ union lawsuit in the late 1940s, Mutel’s music was recorded in Europe. Anonymity was necessary, since there was an urgency for cheap, available and very adaptable background music in early TV. Adventures of Superman became identifiable with these generic sounds. (The name Mutel is taken from Music for Television.)

The famous “Superman Theme” itself was composed by Leon Klatzkin, and orchestrated and recorded in New York by Jack Shandlin in 1952. Its similarity to the Mutel cues is striking, but then again Shandlin was hired by Chudnow.

Fly, do not run, and swoop up this disk. (GRADE: A)