Way back on July 20th 1969 the whole world was watching TV, fascinated that man had finally landed on the moon and that an astronaut was about to go walkabout there. The TV channels in the UK played songs with ‘moon’ in the title as very little happened and the grainy images sent a generation into futuristic raptures.
Ten years earlier no-one was expecting such an achievement, instead the stars held a fine line in romanticism in song and space travel was expected to be incoming rather than outgoing. A fascinating amount of music was created to imagine and re-imagine what might transpire out there and even more to explore the concept of “people” coming to earth.
This album brings together some of the key innovators, many of whom were originally dug out by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy of The Cramps on their various radio shows over the years. Indeed, our opening salvo by The Jimmy Haskell Orchestra was a Lux fave. Taken from the album ‘Countdown!’, the Haskell tracks here are as much surf guitar gems as otherworldly symphonies.
A host of rockabilly wannabe’s also used time and space as their subject matter, from Joe Tate and Buck Trail (the latter adding feedbacking sound effects), Pat And The Satellites, The Wildtones, Billy Mize, Eddie Cletro And His Round Up Boys, Jerry Engler and Ernest Tucker. And there’s also the more complex orchestral reworkings of Frank Comstock, Ron Goodwin, the fantastic Bobby Christian from the ‘Strings For A Space Age’ album and more than a hint of Theremin from Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman.
Of course they can’t hold a gravitational candle to the mighty Sun Ra who claimed to be from another planet himself. Amid the sound effects and offbeat narrative, ‘Moonage Timequake’ also has words of wisdom from the bible, Frank Stranges from his album ‘Flying Saucers Unlimited’ and dialogue from ‘A Lunar Adventure in the Year 1985’ – which back in the ‘50s must have seemed some way off and pretty unimaginable.
In total, ‘Moonage Timequake’ presents a space age soundtrack from a time where B films were obsessed with potential Martian invasions and Philip K Dick was formulating some of the eeriest stories imaginable. As the title suggests the time slip between man’s finest lunar achievement 1969 and the super real fear of the unknown that was rife in ‘50s America is the backdrop for proceedings.
As was highlighted with Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of ‘War Of The Worlds’, which was presented like a news bulletin as if aliens had really landed, people want to believe there’s something out there. Back then the audience was convinced they had to take up arms to repel the invaders and several reports of sightings and sexual misconduct by these imaginary foes added further fuel to the possibility of it being reality.
The period of the ‘50s was truly unique in allowing people to create their own images of the future. And, in that sense, the music included here follows a similarly imaginative evolution and sounds all the more remarkable for it. Indeed, in those pre synth and sample days, the music of ‘Moonage Timequake’ was hugely innovative amazingly it still sounds refreshingly forward looking some 50 years later.
1 Blast Off! The Jimmie Haskell Orchestra 2 Satellite Rock Joe Tate 3 Knocked Out Joint On Mars Buck Trail 4 Out Of This World Frank Comstock And Orchestra 5 Saturn Sun Ra And His Solar Arkestra 6 Ignition Thomas Dissevelt 7 Weightless Blues The Jimmie Haskell Orchestra 8 Flying Saucers in The Bible 9 The Moon Ron Goodwin 10 Lunar Rhapsody Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman 11 Interplanetary Music Sun Ra And His Solar Arkestra 12 Jupiter-C Pat And The Satellites 13 Martian Band The Wildtones 14 Planet Named Desire Billy Mize 15 A Lunar Adventure: Bobby And Betty Go to The Moon 16 Celestial Nocturne Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman 17 Astrosonic The Jimmie Haskell Orchestra 18 Flying Saucer Boogie Eddie Cletro And His Round Up Boys 19 Flying Saucers Unlimited Frank Stranges 20 Sputnik (Satellite Girl) Jerry Engler 21 Gonna Get Me A Satellite Ernest Tucker 22 Moon Mist The Jimmie Haskell Orchestra 23 Moon Moods Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman 24 Space Suite - The Call Bobby Christian 25 Rockin' Chair on the Moon Rusty Wellington 26 Homeward Earth Jimmie Haskell 27 Space Storm Col. Frank Erhardt
