MA-21 - Music from an Inner Planet

 Here's another compilation of music regarding outer space, the Space Race, and the idea of Visitors from the Great Beyond.

The cover is an adaptation of Howard Menger's Authentic Music from Another Planet, released in 1957.  This contactee of typically friendly Space Brothers lived from 1922 until 2009.  Beginning in the mid 1950s he began to proclaim his experiences with space folk.  He wrote several books of calm nonsense and seemed a down-to-Earth guy in interviews .... until he began talking about his trips in the space ships, and how he left his first wife for a gal from Out There who had decided to come to Earth and marry him.

Here is our assemblage, including a brief welcome by our sponsor, from his album:

1 -   Introduction      Howard Menger     

2 -       Space Girl      Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger     1952

3 -  UFO (The Answer to the Flying Saucer)    Syd Lawrence      1956

4 -  Martian Love Call (A Hand Jive)      Jack Owens   1958

5 - Space Girl The Earth Boys 1958

6 - Flying Saucer Hans Conried-Alice Pearce 1959

7 - Take Me to Your Ladder (I'll See Your Leader Later) Buddy Clinton 1960

8 - Robot Man Jamie Horton 1960

9 - My Little Martian Floyd Robinson 1961

10 - Telstar Bobby Rydell 1962

11 - Magic Star   Kenny Hollywood 1962

12 - ( Help Me ) Telstar    The Gee Sisters 1962

13 - Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue Allan Sherman 1963

14 - Magic Star Margie Singleton 1963

15 - We're Going UFOing Jimmy Durante 1964

16 - The Invaders TV Theme 1967

17 - UFO TV Theme 1970

18 - Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space TV Theme 1972

19 - A Spaceman Came Travelling Chris de Burgh 1976

20 - Arriving UFO Yes 1978

21 - Flying Saucers Nina Hagen 1984

22 - Teenagers from Outer Space The Meteors 1986

23 - Amazons from Outer Space Batmobile 1989

24 - Wishing on Telstar Susanna Hoffs 1991

25 - Spaceman Babylon Zoo 1995

26 - Rednecks from Outer Space FAQ 2004

27 - Your Neighborhood Spaceman Mike Patton & Jel & Odd Nosdam 2006

28 - She Came from Outer Space Bang! Bang! 2007

Other features of this compilation are a few TV themes, and various versions of a song usually known as an instrumental under the name "Telstar."  I've selected some of the best vocal performances of "Magic Star."  The lyrics are akin to the old "I see the Moon, the Moon sees me" tune, especially that song's chorus, "Please let the light that shines on me shine on the one I love."  Only in this more modern case, it's Sputnik's metaphorical eye watching over the loved one.

Let's Go UFOing!

 

Memory Lane: STARLOG #10's Coverage of Bakshi's Sad Thing

From STARLOG #10, December 1977, we have some advance coverage of Ralph Bakshi's (false) messianic task of making a cartoon out of Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings books.

Only a survivor of this film can appreciate its creepiness.  It opened in November 1978, and Joyce and I attended opening weekend at OKC's Westwood Theatre.

Here is a recent photo of the building at NW 23rd & MacArthur, now used as a church.

They were hawking character buttons in the theatre lobby.  They were three inches across.  This is the only one I was willing to shell out for.

What an odd movie!  You shake your head and ask yourself, "Did this get approved to come out the way it did?"  And if so, how?  And if it wasn't intended to be such a mishmash of animation styles and poor storytelling, how did somebody let it GET this way?

Talk amongst yourselves ....