Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Justice League #51: "The Justice League Song!"

I would like to present something to you that is truly bizarre! If you are familiar with Power Records from the Seventies and Eighties, you may already know that there was an LP in 1975 called "Songs and Stories About the Justice League of America" that featured the Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and....Plastic Man and Metamorpho!?!? Read on! 


The 1975 album cover boasts some uber-cool Neal Adams art on its sleeve, with Aquaman literally front and center! There is no explanation as to why Plastic Man and Metamorpho are included, though! And another mystery is that, although there is no information on the LP itself, this record is actually a re-issue of a late-Sixties LP from Tipton Records! 

It can be assumed that Superman and Batman were not featured on this album because their likenesses were tied up with other record labels due to the Batman TV show and the Superman Broadway show, both of which were ongoing from 1966. 

But even without Batman and Superman, why in the world would the album include  Metamorpho and Plastic Man? There is no explanation why these two men were considered members while actual members such as Green Lantern and Hawkman were ignored. 

A quick glance at issues of the comic-book Justice League of America that were on sale at about that time gives us a possible clue. JLA #42 was out during late 1965/early 1966. This is the issue with guest-star Metamorpho. Perhaps some record executive saw that issue and thought Rex was a member? Even with the huge "Metamorpho Says NO!" title on it.  Again, that doesn't explain why Green Lantern and Hawkman weren't included, too, especially when you notice that they are on nearly every cover of the JLA series during this time-frame. Ironically, Aquaman, who did make the cut, isn't on ANY covers at this time. 

Maybe this was given the green light around the same time that Filmation started working on the Superman-Aquaman cartoon show? So the record album people might have known Aquaman was going to be on Saturday morning TV? If that was the case, though, I would think he would have been the bigger draw than The Flash, right...? 

Be that as it may, The Justice League Song is a thing that has existed for more than fifty years. In all that time, however, I've never seen an illustrated version of the song. For all the effort that Power Records made in the mid-Seventies to produce Book and Record sets, you would think that they would have hired Neal Adams' agency to illustrate these five stories and the song. You would think, but you would be wrong. 
So what you're about to see is my version of what a Book and Record set of The Justice League Song would have looked like. I tried to include as many images from the Sixties and Seventies (and a few before) that I thought were appropriate. Hopefully you'll recognize most of my homages to the World's Greatest Super-Heroes.....and Plastic Man and Metamorpho! 

Although there are no credits listed on the 1975 album, I have read several posts and articles about this and its earlier version saying that the stories and songs were written by veteran Peter Pan Records talent Arthur Korb. I don't know, but if it is Mr. Korb, then I salute him. And even if it isn't actually him, obviously there was a writer, a director, a musical director, a band, and a group of actors involved in this piece of entertainment. So I salute all of the unnamed talents behind this wonderfully wacky endeavor. 
I hope you enjoy my little bit of nostalgia.    

Here's a link to the actual song if you've never heard it, or want to follow along in this, your own "Book and Record Set." 





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