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New CD Celebrates History and Future of Space Exploration
(Available Winter 2003)
When the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas in February of
2003, NBC turned to legendary astronaut Buzz
Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, for perspective on the
tragedy. As part of his comments, Buzz began to read a poem, until,
overcome with emotion, he could not continue. What Buzz was reading
from was actually the lyrics to a song from the new CD from Prometheus
Music, To Touch The Stars -- A Musical Celebration of Space
Exploration.
The song was Fire
In The Sky (by Dr. Jordin Kare), which includes the line: "As
they passed from us to glory, riding fire in the sky". Buzz subsequently
downloaded album tracks off the Internet, and was moved enough to offer
his endorsement for the album, saying:
"As someone who has actually set foot on the threshold of space
and experienced firsthand its majesty and the incredible potential it
holds for the human race, I am thrilled by this new collection of original
songs celebrating the beginnings of our great endeavor to reach for
the stars."
Songs range from the scientific ("If We Had No Moon")
to the historic ("Fire in the Sky") to the whimsical
("Dance on the Ceiling", "Dog On the Moon").
"These are exciting, well-crafted, professionally-written songs
in a variety of styles," says multi-instrumentalist Mark
Ungar, who lent his expertise on electric guitar and sitar, vocals
and guitar synthesizer to several of the tracks. "Everyone who
was involved turned in great performances. It'll appeal to anyone who
enjoys music and is inspired by the exploration of space."
The project grew out of a partnership between Prometheus and the National
Space Society (NSS), which sponsored a "pro-space" songwriting
competition, inviting "spacebards" to submit entries. "If
we are to win the hearts and souls of humanity to the vision of a spacefaring
future, the space exploration movement must also develop its songs,"
says Dr. Robert Zubrin, then-chairman of the NSS
and influential author of the international best-seller The
Case For Mars.
"A few people have realized this, and so a subculture has emerged
of space folk songs. But outside of performances at space and science
fiction conventions, few people have heard this wonderful music".
Zubrin was so convinced of the importance of this endeavor that he held
a similar contest a couple of years later when he founded the Mars
Society.
Co-producer Eli Goldberg, owner of Prometheus,
adds: "People in the sci-fi community have been writing and singing
songs about space for years, but this project really raises the bar
-- we wanted to put out a really high-quality album, not just in terms
of the recording and musicianship but the writing as well. We wanted
it to be as good as anything you'd hear on the radio or in movies or
on TV, and I think we've succeeded in that."
The 17 album tracks include winning entries from the NSS and Mars
Society contests, along with new works from selected singer/songwriters.
Elementary school teacher Michael Penkava's "Now's
The Time To Touch A Star" was the NSS contest's 1st place
winner. "Space isn't just vocabulary words and data: it comes alive
as we explore and discover, as we analyze and synthesize, as we discuss
and debate." Penkava was encouraged to enter the
contest by a student, and harbored no hopes of winning. "I recorded
it in the classroom on a cheap karaoke machine - the sound quality was
terrible. The child who wanted me to enter said, 'If your song is good
enough, it doesn't matter how bad it sounds.' Out of the mouths of babes...!"
Prolific composer/writer/singer Christine
Lavin makes an appearance with her Nova-episode-in-8-minutes number
If We Had No Moon, inspired by the documentary film of the
same name by Martin Ives. Gunnar
Madsen, a co-founder of the popular a capella group The Bobs,
rips through stunning performances of Surprise! (a "Russian folk-song"
about Sputnik) and the ska rave-up Dance On The Ceiling.
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| A stirring musical history of manned space exploration by Jordin Kare (jtkare@attglobal.net). Track is from the "To Touch the Stars" CD, celebrating our history and future in space exploration. For more information, visit http://www.prometheus-music.com/space.html . |
CD: To Touch the Stars -- A Musical Celebration of Space Exploration
Label: Prometheus Music
Credits: Song by Jordin Kare (jtkare@attglobal.net), with bridge by Kristoph Klover. Lead Vocals & Keyboard: Kristoph Klover. Bass: John Land. Drums: Curt Moore. Electric Guitar: Mark Ungar. Violin: Shira Kammen |
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| After the silver plumes of another successful Space Shuttle launch fade away... |
CD: To Touch the Stars -- A Musical Celebration of Space Exploration
Label: Prometheus Music
Credits: Song by Leslie Fish. Lead Vocals & Guitar: Kristoph Klover. Bass: John Land. Drums: Curt Moore. Electric Guitar: Mark Ungar. Fiddle: Shira Kammen. Melodeon: Karl Franzen. |
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| A lighthearted commemoration of the Sputnik launch, sung here by Gunnar Madsen (co-founder, The Bobs). |
CD: To Touch the Stars -- A Musical Celebration of Space Exploration
Label: Prometheus Music
Credits: Song by Leslie Fish. Gunnar Madsen: Lead Vocals. Mitchell Burnside Clapp: Russian Yells. Karl Franzen: Guitar. Shira Kammen: Fiddle. Kristoph Klover: Bass. Nada Lewis: Accordion. Clark Welsh: Balalaika. |
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