2 Warps to Neptune

Archive Page 42

In Search of the Lost Chord by The Moody Blues (Deram, 1968)

Published April 1, 2015 Album Covers , Psychedelic Music 8 Comments

Psychedelic music is intrinsically navel-gazey because it expresses the individual’s inner journey, the mystical expedition. Often, the effort is too pretentious and silly to bear, and laughter ensues. Sometimes the opposite occurs, and you get the feeling that you’ve been lifted to a higher plane. I’m not a great Moody Blues fan, and In Search of the Lost Chord is no Fifth Dimension, but I really like the album: it’s lush and soft, not particularly ground-breaking but particularly dreamy and pleasant.

Why am I writing about psychedelic music? Because I dig it, and because it’s intimately related to the explosion of the fantasy and sci-fi scene in the late ’60s, not to mention surging interest in the occult (or “metaphysics”) and mythology, all of which inform early geek culture.

The LP cover art is by Phil Travers, who recounts the experience—“the band wanted me primarily to illustrate the concept of meditation”—at Rock Pop Gallery.

Music from ‘In Search of…’ by the ‘In Search of’ Orchestra (AVI Records, 1977)

As far as I can tell, none of the cuts on the album made it onto the show, at least not in the version heard here. That’s why it’s billed as “music themes from and inspired by the series,” I guess, instead of a proper soundtrack. Lauren Rinder and W. Michael Lewis were prominently associated with the disco scene, which is obvious upon first listen. Even the instantly recognizable main theme is much more upbeat and funky than what you remember.

Very little of the spooky incidental music is here, unfortunately, although it’s a fun listen throughout, and an interesting fringe relic (filed under both the Disco and Occult/Supernatural categories!). According to Nimoy, Rinder and Lewis “added their unique talents to the mysteries we were exploring,” and they are credited with all music used on the first season. Good enough.

Space Academy TV Guide Article (1977)

Published March 31, 2015 '70s Movies/TV , Filmation , Space Academy 2 Comments

One of the great sci-fi miniatures from a show I did not miss. Interesting that Space Academy is reported in the blurb to be the most expensive show “in Saturday morning history” at $150,000 an episode. The young cadets in space theme was originally pitched by Filmation as the premise for Star Trek: The Animated Series. Rodenberry rejected it, and Scheimer and Prescott went ahead and created a new show.

Chuck Comisky was visual effects supervisor, and John Frazier, who won an Academy Award in 2005 for his work on Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, was special effects supervisor.

Space Academy spun-off as Jason of Star Command in 1978.

(Image via Nostalgic Collections/eBay)

Dungeons & Dragons Power Cycle (Coleco, 1984) (Part Two)

Published March 30, 2015 D&D , D&D Non-Gaming Merchandise , D&D Toys , D&D TV Series , Tricycles 1 Comment

Many thanks to Anthony Savini and Cecily Tyler, director-producer and producer (respectively) of the one and only Dungeons & Dragons: A Documentary, for the pics. Thanks also to Bill Meinhardt and Scott Brand. The cycle is part of their incredible D&D collection.

The box front is missing Bobby and Uni, but Strongheart, who appears in only one episode of the cartoon, is front and center. I’m trying to track down the artist.

More on the Power Cycle (“Exciting 3-D Dragon Head”) here.