New and recent releases with a science fiction and fantasy theme.
PLAYLIST
| Selection |
Source |
Performer(s) |
Comments |
| Bogus Concerts |
Retail Comedy at Wholesale Prices |
Stevens and Grdnic |
It's a Bogus Production! |
| Dinah |
Big Fish (OS 2003) |
Bing Crosby and the Mills Brothers |
This is a classic example of early Crosby, from the years when he was a hip, "on the scene" jazz singer. His rapid-fire scat singing over the Mills Brothers backing vocals is a far cry from the laid-back, conservative image that he adopted in his later years. |
| Twice the Love (Siamese Twins Song) |
Big Fish (OS 2003) |
Bobbi Page and Candice Rumph |
The song is by Danny Elfman, who composed the original score for this imaginative Tim Burton vehicle. |
| Boom Dot Bust |
Boom Dot Bust (1999) |
The Firesign Theatre |
If nobody can figure out what it is you're selling it must be good. |
| The Prisoner (main theme) |
Sci-Fi in Hi-Fi (2003) |
Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra |
Norman has been producing science fiction oriented albums for over 25 years now. This latest effort is a dual layered hybrid super audio CD (which sounds like something the Firesign Theatre could be selling). |
| Buckaroo Banzai |
Sci-Fi in Hi-Fi (2003) |
Neil Norman and His Cosmic Orchestra |
This track includes the main title and end title themes from this cult film classic. |
| Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - End Titles |
The Star Trek Album (2003) |
City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Nic Raine |
Composer Leonard Rosenman's exuberant triumphal march - complete with the piccolo trumpet favored by Baroque composers - reflects the "returning home" theme of this film. |
| Star Trek: Voyager - Main Theme |
The Star Trek Album (2003) |
City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Nic Raine |
Veteran film composer Jerry Goldsmith's majestic theme was the best thing about this otherwise banal series, in my view. |
| Doom Bot Dust |
Boom Dot Bust (1999) |
The Firesign Theatre |
Sure, they sound good, but would you buy a used XML-enabled client-server WiFi CRM application from these guys? |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation - Tasha's Farewell |
The Star Trek Album (2003) |
City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Nic Raine |
In the episode The Skin of Evil, a malevolent alien murders Tasha Yar. This music (by Ron Jones) underscores a scene in which Tasha's holographic image delivers her own eulogy. I selected this as a memorial to my father, who died just two days prior to the airdate for this installment of Stage Left (February 2nd). |
| Our Lady with the Torch |
TV or Not TV (1973) |
Proctor and Bergman |
This eerily prescient LP (hundreds of channels, mostly full of junk and controlled by giant corporations) by half of the Firesign Theatre depicts a broadcast day on Channel 84. |
| Be a Man |
Zanna, Don't! (OC 2003) |
Jai Rodriguez, Company |
With book, music and lyrics by Tim Acito, Zanna, Don't! is a pop-inflected musical comedy that takes place at Heartsville High School, where being gay is the norm and two characters struggle with their heterosexual feelings. When the school musical tackles the issue of straights in the military (as illustrated in this song), the town is plunged into controversy. Rodriguez (of TV's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) is the titular Zanna, whose magical matchmaking powers keep the love flowing. |
