Today we undertake our second visit to space and those who travel amongst the stars. We begin with the closing theme tune to one of the seminal TV programmes of my childhood – Fireball XL5.
Don Spencer released his first single, “Fireball”, on the HMV label – it was the closing theme song for the television science fiction series, Fireball XL5, written by Barry Gray. In March 1963 it reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart.
“Space Truckin’” is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the seventh and final track on the Machine Head album and its lyrics talk of space travel. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore claims in Classic Albums:Deep Purple – The Making of Machine Head, that the song composition started with the half-step riffs in the refrain, which were inspired by the theme music for the Batman TV programme composed by Neal Hefti. Blackmore asked singer Ian Gillian if he could write any lyrics over the riff, and the rest of the song evolved from there.
“Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” (or sometimes shortened to “Calling Occupants”) is a power ballad by Klaatu, originally released in 1976 on their first album 3:47 EST. The song opened night transmission of the pirate radio station Radio Caroline. The year following its release, the Carpenters covered the song, using a crew of 160 musicians. The Carpenters’ version reached the top 10 in the UK and Canada, and charted at number 1 in Ireland.
“Spacelab” was released as the B-side of their single The Robots” (German: “Die Roboter“) by German electronic-music group Kraftwerk, which was released in 1978. Both tracks subsequnetly appeared on the band’s seventh album, The Man-Machine. However, the songs as they appear on the single were edited into shorter versions.
“I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper“, sometimes cited as “(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper”, is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Geraint Hughes and performed by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip. It was the debut of the 18-year-old singer, and reached number six in the UK. The song is a lightweight disco track that cashed in on the media hype surrounding the original Star Wars film. The lyrics include the lines “And evil Darth Vader he’s been banished to Mars” and “Or are you like a droid, devoid of emotion”. Other science fiction references include: “I lost my heart to a starship trooper”, “Flash Gordon’s left me, he’s gone to the stars”, “What my body needs is close encounter three”, “Static on the comm – it’s Starfleet Command” and “Fighting for the Federation”.
“Star Trekkin’ ” is a 1987 song by British novelty band The Firm. It parodies the first television series of Star Trek, and prominently features comical voice caricatures of the original Trek characters, provided by members of the band, a studio technician, and the wife of one of the songwriters. One of the song’s phrases, “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it”, originated with “Star Trekkin'”, but has been subsequently misattributed to the TV series. The song’s promotional video was created by a team of art students called The Film Garage, featuring a combination of puppetry, stop motion animation and computer generated imagery. The song entered the UK charts at number 74, eventually climbing to spend two weeks at number 1. It also found chart success in a number of other countries, selling more than a million copies.
“Man on the Moon” is a song by the American band R.E.M. released as the second single from their 1992 album, Automatic for the People. The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck, and credited to the whole band as usual. The song was well received by critics and peaked at number 30 on the US Billbaord andnumber 18 in the UK and number one in Iceland. It remains one of R.E.M.’s most popular songs.
