I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" was a hit single in 1967 composed by British songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. It was a novelty record, performed mostly by whistling. The name Whistling Jack Smith, credited on the most commercially successful recording, was a play on the name of the baritone singer of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Whispering Jack Smith. The tune was written by Greenaway and Cook and was originally titled "Too Much Birdseed". It was recorded as a single for Deram Records by record producer Noel Walker, using studio musicians together with the
SMS Kaiser Friedrich III I Squadron in an attempt to convince them of the value of continued naval expansion. Toward the end of the month, "Kaiser Friedrich III" departed for Britain with Prince Heinrich to represent Germany during the coronation of King Edward VII. The ceremony was delayed, however, and "Kaiser Friedrich III" returned to Kiel on 30 June. The I Squadron began a training cruise to Norwegian waters on 8 July that ended on 20 July. During the annual gunnery training held after the ships' return to Kiel, "Kaiser Friedrich III" won the Kaiser's "Schießpreis" (Shooting Prize) for excellence in gunnery. On 17