Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris -Spider-Man 1967 Theme Song

As the internet used to say, composers Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris understood the assignment. The duo wrote a theme song for the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon that swings, daddy-o. Get it? Because… you know… Spider-Man shoots his webbing… and… you know… swings around New York... This thing on? With respect to Cheers, The Greatest American Hero and The Golden Girls, Spider-Man 1967 might have the greatest TV theme song of all time.

There are many things to love about this song, but my favorite is the rhythm section. The bap-bap-bap drum beat, the frenetic, swirling bassline. Oh, man, it’s all so good. The lyrics aren’t too shabby either. “Is he strong? Listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood.” SO GOOD.

It’s easy to dismiss this pick as some kind of goof, but I assure you, it is not. It is entirely possible to imagine some smoke-filled jazz club in the late sixties pounding out this jam as hep teens in black sweaters grooved with cigarettes dangling off their lips. The recording itself can sound a little harsh, they could have brought down the levels on the horns, which get a little, well, a lot shrill. Maybe just don’t listen using headphones. Sadly, I can’t provide Spotify or Apple Music links to the song because those services only have dumb covers which are too self-aware. Instead, just swing on over to YouTube, it’ll make your spider-sense tingle.

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