Sunday, April 14, 2013

Celebrity Rock: The Riddler sings! (1966)

Holy rockin' Riddles, Batman!

The late actor-impressionist Frank Gorshin became a household name and a cultural icon as Riddler on Batman, and this led to him recording a semi-novelty track in character that was released in the fall of 1966, leading to his appearing on the Dean Martin Show. Ol' Dino appears at the beginning of this clip to set things up, this after Gorshin had done a stand-up act comprised of some of his familiar impersonations (i.e. Richard Burton, Burt Lancaster) that would also be used when he made frequent appearances on Martin's Celebrity Roasts in the 70's & early 80's.

Which begs us to wonder why he was never given a chance to have a musical sidekick for at least one storyline, as Catwoman (Julie Newmar) did when Lesley Gore was cast in a 2-parter. On the other hand, Gorshin did hit the jackpot with the hotties surrounding him on stage for this number.......

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