Flying Saucer Music #24
Leonard Nimoy is an enigma. Almost by accident, “Spock” became what millions of Americans thought of when they thought about aliens, at least aliens as we’d like to see them. Unlike William Shatner, who became a parody of himself more than once, Nimoy has been content to ride his wave of continuing celebrity quietly.
Hollywood producers of the 1960s and ’70s, in a tizzy to cash in on the Spock bandwagon, encouraged the actor to record at least eight albums for the DOT label. Perhaps in an attempt to distance himself from the character which finally made him rich and famous, Nimoy went along with the gaffe. He probably thought of this as a chance to show the public that he was not Spock (which was in fact the title of an autobiography he wrote in 1977.)
A friend of mine met Nimoy a few years ago in a Los Angeles studio during an interview for NPR, and described him as one of the most kind and genuine people (among celebrities anyway) that he’d ever met.
From the 1967 album Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space, have a listen to “Alien,” a clumsy attempt to describe the Star Trek character’s hippied-out view of Earthlings.
Bonus: Link to video for “The Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins.” Be prepared for the sound of your head exploding from either delight or shock–or both.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Alien Encounters, Music, Pop Culture, Wake Up Down There. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
del.icio.us Digg Reddit BlinkList Google Ma.gnolia StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Help
- Related News Stories:
- Flying Saucer Music #33 »
- Flying Saucer Music #28 »
- Flying Saucer Music #9 »
- Flying Saucer Music #19 »
- Flying Saucer Music #8 »
|
Aug 04 2007 
August 4th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Could it get any worse? I asked myself that while listening to “Alien”.
Then I clicked on “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” and discovered…..
…yes, it could…and did.
August 5th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Bill,
It’s just that I am continually amazed at the silliness of our culture and strive to find examples that are diametrically opposed to most of the glop that we are force-fed.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I knew Nimoy had done some spoken poetry before but nothing this sad. Somewhere out there there’s an interview of Nimoy on either C2C AM or perhaps with Ed Bush where he relates his connection to the wierdness that abounds in our world perspective. During JFK’s 1st unsuccessful bid for the White House in the 50’s, he ended up in the LA area and needed a guide and driver in the area. A campain staffer knew a down on his luck actor from Boston who’d be willing to help : Leonard Nimoy. It seems JFK didn’t know how to drive or wasn’t very good at it. How bizarre is that 2 of the most iconic figures of the 60’s had a personal connection.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Oops, I remembered the story wrong. Nimoy was driving a taxi and was sent to pick up JFK. Sorry about the mixup.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
crg,
That’s a weird connection! Nimoy and JFK!
I just remembered, he also hosted the “In Search Of” program from the 1970s, which I watched like a fiend when I was a kid.