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Space Age Sounds:
A Trek through Space Pop of the 1950's & 1960s...

Fantastica album cover
Photo courtesy Jack Diamond
Fantastica: Music from Outer Space
Circa 1958
Compositions, arrangements, electronics and conducting by Russ Garcia.
Plus the "ethereal voice effects" of Marni Nixon.
Titles: Into Space, Nova (Exploding Star), Lost Souls of Saturn, Monsters of Jupiter,
Water Creatures of Astra, Venus, Red Sands of Mars, Goofy Peepl of Phobos,
Volcanoes of Mercury, Birth of A Planet, Frozen Neptune,
Moon Rise.


Welcome to this brief introduction to space influenced music of the Space Age. We will visit the lesser known musical styles of the period, leaving rock 'n' roll space music and more mainstream genres to separate pages.

Note that most of the information and images here come from Jack Diamond Music, the article Music from Outer Space by Ken Saari at Jeff Central &Exotica Research, and The Space Age Pop Music Page.


More Space Age Pop Resources

Below are listed various sites and articles with more information and music listings of music of the Space Age. See also the HobbySpace section on space music of the Folk Revival, which took place during this period.



Space Age Pop Album List

Moon Gas - Dick Hyman/Mary Mayo
Photo courtesy Jack Diamond
Moon Gas
Dick Hyman with Mary Mayo
Circa 1963
Tracks : Moon Gas, Maid of The Moon, Isn't It Odd ?, Stella by Starlight, Imagination,
Space Reflex (Blues in 5/4) Bye Bye Blues, They Can't Take That Away From Me,
For All We Know, Desafinado (Slightly Out Of Tune), I'm Glad There- Is You,
Star Eyes.


Here is a list of albums that fit the Space Age Pop category, at least as defined by HobbySpace:

    Space Age Pop - music from the late 1940's to mid-1960's that attempted to convey an impression of space travel and exploration and often employed exotic and unusual sounds generated by electronic instruments, wordless vocals, and studio effects.

The list is compiled primarily from Jack Diamond Music, the article Music from Outer Space by Ken Saari at Jeff Central &Exotica Research, and Wild Scenes (no longer on line).

Follow the links to find album covers and more information.

  • 1940's
  • 1950's
    • Destination Moon (Columbia, circa 1950) by Leith Stevens; movie soundtrack album.
    • Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) Conducted by Bernard Herrmann, Lionel Newman and Alfred Newman and features Theremins by Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman. CD at Amazon
    • Impressions of Outer Space (1953 - Brunswick) by Larry Elgart with ensemble of saxophones, trombones, piano, string bass and percussion. The eight works include Airless Moon, Gravitational Whirlpool and Space Intoxication.
    • Harry Revel's Music from Out of Space (1955 - MGM) - small orchestra, without electronic instruments, arranged and conducted by Stuart Phillips.
    • Exploring the Unknown (1955 on RCA) Composed/conducted and arranged by Leith Stevens and features the wordless vocals of the Walter Schumann Voices and Paul Frees as narrator.
      • Tracks: Preparation and Blast Off, Trajectory, Space Station, New Frontiers, Arrival At Venus-New Sensations, Welcoming Processional, Teleportation, Great Distances, Regions of The Other Suns, The Comets, The Heavens, Look Up. (MP3 Samples)
    • Forbidden Planet (1956 - MGM) by Louis & Bebe Barron; movie soundtrack. (MP3 Samples & CD at Amazon)
    • Folk Songs For The 21st Century - Sheldon Allman - Dana's Downloadable Album of the Month - April 2004 - Allman was a character actor who will be quickly recognized by those familiar with 1960s TV shows. The title says folk but mostly it's 50's rock style.
    • From Another World (1956 - VIK/RCA) Sid Bass arranged and conducted. Popular works with reverberation and other electronic effects.
    • Space Escapade (1957 - Capitol) Les Baxter with orchestra with no electronic instruments. Liner notes at Wild Scenes
    • Song of the Second Moon (1957 -? ) Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan with electronic instruments.CD Reissue.
      • Tracks: Song Of The 2nd Moon, Sonic Re-Entry, Moon Maid, The Ray Makers, The Visitor From Inner Space, Orbit Aurora, Twilight Ozone, Pianoforte.
      • Cover at Show and Tell Music
    • Fantastica: Music from Outer Space (1958 - Liberty) Compositions, arrangements, electronics and conducting by Russ Garcia. Plus "ethereal voice effects" of Marni Nixon.
      • Tracks: Into Space, Nova (Exploding Star), Lost Souls of Saturn, Monsters of Jupiter,
        Water Creatures of Astra, Venus, Red Sands of Mars, Goofy Peepl of Phobos, Volcanoes of Mercury, Birth of A Planet, Frozen Neptune, Moon Rise (MP3 Samples)
    • Music in Orbit (1958 - Capitol) Ron Goodwin with a large orchestra
    • Countdown (? - Imperial) Jimmie Haskell with rock 'n' roll band and electronic effects.
      • Tracks: Blast Off!, Weightless Blues Rockin' In The Orbit, Starlight, Hydrazine, Moon Mist, We Get Messages, We Get Messages (Stereo), Moonlight Cha Cha Cha, Astrosonic, Astrosonic (Stereo), Venus, Asteroid Hop, Asteroid Hop (Stereo), Homeward Earth. (MP3 Samples)
    • Other Worlds, Other Sounds (1958 -RCA) Esquivel album is more Bachelor Pad than Space Pop. His albums were renown for their Hi-Fi stretching effects.
    • Soundblast - Ferrante & Teicher - the famous piano duo made this and 4 other space themed albums: Blast off, Soundproof, Heavenly Sounds in Hi-Fi, and Adventure in Carols. (Album covers and info found at Show and Tell Music.)

     


Fantasy in Orbit
Photo courtesy Jack Diamond
Fantasy in Orbit
An astronauts musical impression while orbiting the Earth.
Electronic Musical Compositions of Thomas Dissevelt.

Circa 1967
Tracks: Ignition, Atlantic, Spearhead, Zanzi, Anchor Chains, Tropicolors,
Gamelan, Woomerangs, Waltzing Mathilda, Pacific Dawn,
Gold and Lead, Mexican Mirror, Seconds To Eternity,
Re-Entry


  • 1960's
    • Music for Heavenly Bodies (1960 -Omega) Andre Montero & his Orchestra with Paul Tanner on electro-theremin.
      • Tracks: Up to Jupiter, Misty Moon Blues, Midnight Sun, Lost in the Stars, 20th Centry Venus,, I Wished on the Moon, Sunrise Serenade, Moonlight Serenade, The Red Sea of Mars, Holiday on Saturn, Over the Rainbow, Out of this World, The Story of a Starry Night.
    • I Hear a New World: An Outer Space Music Fantasy (1960) Joe Meek & the Blue Men
      • Tracks: I Hear a New World, Orbit Around the Moon, Entry of the Globbots, The Bublight, March of the Dribcots,. Love Dance of the Saroos, Glob Waterfall, Magnetic Field,. Valley of the Saroos, Dribcots Space Boat,. Disc Dance of the Globbots, Valley of No Return
    • Project Comstock--Music from Outer Space (1962 - Warner Bros) Frank Comstock with orchestra and electro-theremin and electric violin.
      • Tracks: Out of This World, Stella By Starlight, A Journey To A Star, Deep Night, From Another World, Galaxy, Out of Space, On The Dark Side Of The Moon, When You Wish Upon A Star, Journey To Infinity, Stairway To The Stars, The Moon Is Blue.
    • Man in Space With Sounds (1962 - Worlds Fair Records) by Attileo Mineo. Electronic and orchestra. Reissue on CD.
      • Tracks: Welcome To Tomorrow 2. Gayway To Heaven 3. Soaring Science 4. Mile-A-Minute Monorail 5. Around The World 6. Century 21 7. Man In Art 8. The Queen City 9. Man Seeks The Future 10. Boeing Spacearium 11. Science Of Tomorrow 12. Space Age World's Fair
    • Moon Gas (1962 - MGM) by Dick Hyman and Mary Mayo. Orchestra and vocal.
      • Tracks : Moon Gas, Maid of The Moon, Isn't It Odd ?, Stella by Starlight, Imagination, Space Reflex (Blues in 5/4) Bye Bye Blues, They Can't Take That Away From Me, For All We Know, Desafinado (Slightly Out Of Tune), I'm Glad There- Is You, Star Eyes.
    • See the Ventures entry in the Rock Space Music section where the albums The Ventures Play Telstar (1962) + Ventures in Space (1963) are discussed.
    • Fantasy in Orbit - ( 1967 - Philips) Tom Dissevelt. Electronic compositions thtat convey an astronauts impression while orbiting the Earth. Reissue FWM Music, Italian Import, 2001.
      • Tracks: Ignition, Atlantic, Spearhead, Zanzi, Anchor Chains, Tropicolors, Gamelan, Woomerangs, Waltzing Mathilda, Pacific Dawn, Gold and Lead, Mexican Mirror, Seconds To Eternity, Re-Entry
    • GO! Colonel Glenn in Orbit. An Historic Document in Sound of the First American Orbit, 3 Times Around the World, Geb. 20, 1962, Crown Publishers, Inc.
    • Scamp Passport - 101 Strings - "Astro Sounds From The Year 2000" - 1969
  • For Young People
  • Moog
  • Other links:
    • Space Music - Things Seen in The Skies by Simon James & Ken Hollings. A streamed program at totallyradio / totallyword. Includes music and readings from an article written by Ken Hollings for the July issue of The Wire magazine. Available in the archive but paid membership required.

 

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