Sunshine Superman
Encyclopedia
"Sunshine Superman" is a song written and recorded by Scottish
singer-songwriter
Donovan
. The "Sunshine Superman" single was released in the United States through Epic Records (Epic 5-10045) in July 1966, but due to a contractual dispute the United Kingdom release was delayed until December 1966, where it appeared on Donovan's previous label, Pye Records
(Pye 7N 17241). The "Sunshine Superman" single was backed with "The Trip" on both the United States and United Kingdom releases. It has been described as having, "proven to be [one of the] classics of the era," and as, "the quintessential bright summer sing along
".
"Sunshine Superman" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100
in the United States, and subsequently became the title track of Donovan's third album
, Sunshine Superman
. A different mix of "The Trip" (without harmonica) is also included in the album. It was the first product from the highly successful three-year collaboration between Donovan and producer Mickie Most
and is generally considered to be one of the first examples of the musical genre that came to be known as psychedelia
.[]
The song was written for Donovan's future wife Linda Lawrence.
The lyrics of the song mention not only Superman
, but also another DC Comics
superhero, Green Lantern
.
Chart positions were #1 (US), and #2 (UK). It was Donovan's only single to reach #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 survey.
(1969).
An even longer version (4:34) was released on Donovan's Greatest Hits and More
(1989).
The longest version of all (4:41) was released on The Essential Donovan (2004).
referenced the song in an issue of Animal Man
by creating Sunshine Superman, an African American version of Superman who was a member of the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld, from a world based on the drug culture of the 1960s. Sunshine Superman and his world were wiped out by the Crisis on Infinite Earths
, only to be brought back by the Psycho-Pirate
before fading away again. Sunshine Superman returned for a brief, non-speaking cameo in Final Crisis
#7, in an army of alternate Supermen.
The song was covered by Dr. Lonnie Smith
recorded live on Move Your Hand in Atlantic City on August 9, 1969. It was also covered by The Sugarman 3
on their debut 1998 album Sugar's Boogaloo
.
Hardcore punk
band Hüsker Dü
covered "Sunshine Superman" as a brief 1:56 rendition on their 1983 studio debut Everything Falls Apart
.
New York punk rock band Alice Donut
covers the song (with changed lyrics) on their debut album Donut Comes Alive
.
On their 1987 album Dream Evil
, heavy metal
band Dio
featured a song entitled "Sunset Superman," possibly in reference to "Sunshine Superman."
In 1997, Imani Coppola
sampled the instrumental track for her song "Legend of a Cowgirl".
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
. The "Sunshine Superman" single was released in the United States through Epic Records (Epic 5-10045) in July 1966, but due to a contractual dispute the United Kingdom release was delayed until December 1966, where it appeared on Donovan's previous label, Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
(Pye 7N 17241). The "Sunshine Superman" single was backed with "The Trip" on both the United States and United Kingdom releases. It has been described as having, "proven to be [one of the] classics of the era," and as, "the quintessential bright summer sing along
Sing Along
"Sing Along" is a pop song by Swedish singer and composer Per Gessle from his album Party Crasher. It was released as the second single from the album on February 4, 2009, featuring two different sleeves, one red and one green....
".
"Sunshine Superman" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the United States, and subsequently became the title track of Donovan's third album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Sunshine Superman
Sunshine Superman (album)
Sunshine Superman is the third album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in September 1966. but was not released in the United Kingdom because of a contractual dispute. In June 1967, a compilation of the Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow albums was...
. A different mix of "The Trip" (without harmonica) is also included in the album. It was the first product from the highly successful three-year collaboration between Donovan and producer Mickie Most
Mickie Most
Mickie Most was an English record producer, with a string of hit singles with acts such as The Animals, Arrows, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group often issued on his own RAK Records label....
and is generally considered to be one of the first examples of the musical genre that came to be known as psychedelia
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
.[]
The song was written for Donovan's future wife Linda Lawrence.
The lyrics of the song mention not only Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, but also another DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
superhero, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
.
Chart positions were #1 (US), and #2 (UK). It was Donovan's only single to reach #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 survey.
Versions
A longer version (4:23) was released on Donovan's Greatest HitsDonovan's Greatest Hits
Donovan's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in January 1969 , and in the United Kingdom in March 1969 . Donovan's Greatest Hits was a major seller, reaching #4 in the US...
(1969).
An even longer version (4:34) was released on Donovan's Greatest Hits and More
Donovan's Greatest Hits and More
Donovan's Greatest Hits and More is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United Kingdom in September 1989.-History:...
(1989).
The longest version of all (4:41) was released on The Essential Donovan (2004).
Personnel
- DonovanDonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
- vocals and acoustic guitar - Jimmy PageJimmy PageJames Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
and Eric Ford - electric guitars - John CameronJohn Cameron-Life and academic career:Cameron was born at Glasgow and received his early education in his native city. After having taught Greek in the university for twelve months, he removed to Bordeaux, where he was soon appointed a regent in the college of Bergerac. He did not remain long at Bordeaux, but...
- keyboards and arrangement - Spike HeatleySpike HeatleySpike Heatley, born North London, February 17, 1933, is a British jazz bassist.Heatley was with Vic Ash's sextet in 1958, together with Ian Hamer , Johnny Scott , and Alan Branscombe and had then joined The Jazz Couriers some weeks before they disbanded...
- bass - Bobby OrrBobby Orr (drummer)Bobby Orr is a jazz drummer and session musician.In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a fixture on the London jazz scene, principally as a founder member of Joe Harriott's quintet...
- drums - Tony Carr - percussion
- John Paul Jones (bass)
In popular culture
Writer Grant MorrisonGrant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
referenced the song in an issue of Animal Man
Animal Man
Animal Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the ability to temporarily “borrow” the abilities of animals...
by creating Sunshine Superman, an African American version of Superman who was a member of the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld, from a world based on the drug culture of the 1960s. Sunshine Superman and his world were wiped out by the Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
, only to be brought back by the Psycho-Pirate
Psycho-Pirate
The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two DC Comics supervillains, dating back to the Golden Age of Comics.-Charles Halstead:Charles Halstead is a minor character who first appears in All-Star Comics #23, created by Gardner Fox and Joe Gallagher...
before fading away again. Sunshine Superman returned for a brief, non-speaking cameo in Final Crisis
Final Crisis
Final Crisis is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones; artists Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy and...
#7, in an army of alternate Supermen.
The song was covered by Dr. Lonnie Smith
Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)
Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...
recorded live on Move Your Hand in Atlantic City on August 9, 1969. It was also covered by The Sugarman 3
The Sugarman 3
The Sugarman 3, sometimes titled The Sugarman Three, is a retro-funk band from New York formed in 1996 by saxophonist Neal Sugarman, Hammond organ player Adam Scone, and drummer Rudy Albin...
on their debut 1998 album Sugar's Boogaloo
Sugar's Boogaloo
Sugar's Boogaloo is the debut album by The Sugarman 3. It was released by Desco in 1999 and re-released in 2006 by Daptone Records.-Track listing:# Sugar's Boogaloo - 3:07# Papa's Got a Brand New Bag - 2:58# Sock Monkey - 4:05...
.
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
covered "Sunshine Superman" as a brief 1:56 rendition on their 1983 studio debut Everything Falls Apart
Everything Falls Apart
Everything Falls Apart is the second album by Hüsker Dü, though their first studio album, as their debut, Land Speed Record, was recorded live...
.
New York punk rock band Alice Donut
Alice Donut
Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001. Between 1989 and 1996 the band toured vigorously in the US, Europe and Japan and played over 1000 live performances...
covers the song (with changed lyrics) on their debut album Donut Comes Alive
Donut Comes Alive
Donut Comes Alive is Alice Donut's first studio album, release in 1988. It was produced at Water Music.-Track listing:# "Green Pea Soup"# "World Profit"# "Mason Reese"# "Great Big Big Big Head"# "Diet Cola Syringe"# "New Jersey Exit"# "American Lips"...
.
On their 1987 album Dream Evil
Dream Evil (album)
Dream Evil is Dio's fourth album, released on July 21, 1987. It features former Rough Cutt members Craig Goldy and Claude Schnell, and includes the singles "All The Fools Sailed Away" and "I Could Have Been a Dreamer"...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
featured a song entitled "Sunset Superman," possibly in reference to "Sunshine Superman."
In 1997, Imani Coppola
Imani Coppola
Imani Francesca Coppola is an American singer-songwriter and violinist probably best known for her 1997 hit "Legend of a Cowgirl" which sampled the instrumentals from "Sunshine Superman" by Donovan...
sampled the instrumental track for her song "Legend of a Cowgirl".