Who Sang it Better? BATMAN edition

I just came across this odd coincidence: Both Adam West and Burt Ward performed covers of Nat King Cole's ORANGE COLORED SKY.

Here's Adam West performing as Batman in the television variety show "The Hollywood Palace" (This aired October 8, 1966.)

Now here's a recording of Burt Ward speak-singing the same ditty, recorded in June 1966. In his memoirs, Boy Wonder, My Life in Tights Ward humbly calls himself "the world's worst singer."

The Ward recording has a bit of a cult following, partly because the record was arranged by Frank Zappa. "Orange Colored Sky" was the b-side to the novelty tune "Boy Wonder I Love You" (and you can hear young Frank as one of the screaming teenage girls.) 

Given that Burt Ward had recorded it first, I really wonder what was going on with the Adam West cover. Was it a coincidence, an inside joke, a rip-off or a put-down? 

What do YOU think, dear reader? 


Related links: 

More Than Super-Friends

Fantastic Planet episode of AMC's The Sci Fi Department