One of the more interesting aspects of the Superman films is the usage of particular source music within each film. Whenever a film uses particular songs from a certain genre – whether pop, rock, country, oldies, you name it – licensing fees are paid to the respective holders of those songs so they can be heard in a film. And the Superman films are no exception.

When John Williams created the stirring score to Superman: The Movie in 1978, one of the more unique parts of the scoring process came in creating several pieces of instrumental source music for different points in the film. Whether it was “Kansas Kids”, “Kansas High School” (“Heavy Bubble Gum a la the Dragon Lady”) or even the humorous “Luthor’s Luau” (“Another Navy Grog, Please”), the source music added more layers to the overall tapestry of the film. Much of this source music was not utilized for the theatrical version of the film with the exception of “Luthor’s Luau”, though some of those cues were later heard in the extended TV release in 1982. All of Williams’ source music (along with source cues never heard in any version of the film) were featured on the 2018 CD release of the scores to Superman II and Superman III from LaLaLand Records.

For the theatrical release, we first heard the 1954 song “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets in two places, once when we saw Lana Lang, Brad, and the cheerleaders leave Smallville High School, and a little later as they drive through the wheat fields and reach the Kent farm. This song would be replaced with the two John Williams source pieces “Kansas High School” and “Kansas Kids” for the extended TV cut.

This is followed a little later by the Platters’ 1955 hit “Only You (and You Alone)”, which can be faintly heard under the static on Clark Kent’s radio when he wakes up to a mysterious sound coming from the barn. The song would be completely dialed out of the 1982 TV cut.

Next up, we have the 1977 hit “Give a Little Bit” by Supertramp (the only song to be featured in all versions of the film), heard as Lois Lane approaches the abandoned gas station.

Finally, we have a marvelous rendition of “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, which was originally recorded in 1938 and first performed by Dick Powell for the movie Hard to Get. This song is heard only in the extended TV cut towards the end of the film, performed by Gene Hackman, as Lex Luthor prepares to sacrifice Miss Teschmacher to his “babies” for her betrayal to Superman.

Many musicians of the time recorded the song, and in 1938 alone there were no less than six different versions all recorded within a short span of time, the most popular version having been recorded by Bing Crosby. This is one version that I came across on Spotify that was recorded by Tommy Dorsey that year:

https://open.spotify.com/track/2vAMooq3ULsq0soAg0Wr0K?si=SOFNy2vJQS2HV4dR0UOtEw

The process would continue in Superman II, which used the classic 1974 rock song “Pick Up the Pieces” from the Average White Band in the now-famous moment when Zod and Ursa encounter some of the townspeople of East Houston, Idaho. Composer Ken Thorne would write a soundalike source piece for the final diner scene of the film.

For Superman III Ken Thorne and the producers would utilize even more recognizable songs throughout the film. The first and most recognizable of these song is the Beatles’ rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”, which was recorded for their second studio album With the Beatles in 1963, and it is heard during the first half of the Smallville High School reunion dance.

Following this is the popular song “Earth Angel”, recorded by the Penguins in 1954, which is heard in the moment when Clark and Lana dance together. This was actually the B-side of their 45 rpm release; the A-side was a song called “Hey Senorita”, which they thought was going to be the hit, but sales and airplay proved otherwise.

Later on in the film, we get to hear Christopher Reeve perform a piano solo of the song in the gym, and the song would be featured in many different movies, most memorably in Back to the Future during the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.

And then there’s “King Cotton” by John Philip Sousa. This traditional military march, which was originally composed in 1895, is heard during the scene of the Smallville High School band performing when the town honors Superman for his then-recent rescues.

Many versions of “King Cotton” can be easily accessed. This is one version of the march that can be found on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/4dVVRxnYU3mikje9606m6l?si=930wByU6TPiBQmqOPcqxAQ

Normally, in any movie where songs are licensed, proper crediting is given to the writers, performers, and the original album labels of those particular songs. For the first three Superman films, oddly enough, this did not happen.

But that’s not the last licensed song that would be featured in the film series. In Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, we get to hear “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”, recorded in 1957 at the legendary Sun Records by Jerry Lee Lewis, whom we just lost just last month. It’s heard in the film when we see Lenny Luthor approach the prison quarry to spring his uncle Lex free.

Later in the film, we hear Lex Luthor contact Superman via a sonic greeting by singing the opening to “Hello, Dolly.” The song was first written and scored by Jerry Herman, and first recorded in December 1963 by Louis Armstrong as a demo only one month before the opening of the Broadway musical of the same name, where it would be publicly performed for the first time by Carol Channing in the musical.

But that’s not all! Even in the 1984 Supergirl spinoff film we can hear two songs from Howard Jones in the film, “New Song” and his popular hit “What is Love?” taken from the 1983 album Human’s Lib. The latter song was heard in a darkly humorous moment in the 2018 film Black Panther, sung by Andy Serkis as he is held prisoner and awaiting interrogation.

A few years ago I created my own playlist of these songs on Spotify to accompany the Superman films and the three soundtrack CD releases from LaLaLand Records. It was pretty easy to construct, having identified all of the songs from the films and putting the playlist together. And you can, too, whether it’s through Spotify or Amazon Music or iTunes or wherever you listen to music. Just set it up and enjoy!