gts188 “misshn”
Not just twirling ’round the Earth.
01-01 Danny Overbea – Federal 12324 – Space Time (1958)
— let’s get going, from a fellow who backed Ella Mae Morse then joied The Flamingos. Had a dozen singles on his own, from the mid-50’s to mid-60’s.
01-02 The Scientific Americans – Load And Go! 101 – Sounds From The Stars/WKGB (1982)
— out of Amherst Massachusetts in 1979, this tune was first released on a cassette called “Some Dumb Fucks From Somewhere Or Other = Beyond” in June of 1981, each tape of 200 with a hand-drawn cover by drummer Sean “Alias” Elias.
01-03 Colosseum II – 1977-08-15 John Peel Show 02 – Intergalactic Strut (1977)
— touring in support of their 3rd and final album, they stopped by the Beeb for a Peel Session. The next year, the were ‘the band’ on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1978 album “Variations” with Phil Collins on drums, Rod Argent (of the band Argent, duh) on keys, and Julian Lloyd Webber playing the cello. After that UK #2 album, Collins went back to Genesis, Andrew Lloyd Webber started writing “Cats”, and Colosseum II disintegrated: guitarist Gary Moore went back to Thin Lizzy, and keyboardist Don Airey joined Rainbow.
01-04 4Front – Radio Waves Goodbye 05 – Space Oddity 2001 (2001)
— project gathered by Joe Bergamini, drummer for the band Happy The Man, which is awesome Genesis-inspired prog. He was writing a textbook for drum students and asked a couple fellows to help make an instructional CD to insert with the book. Luckily, he called up the guys who do keys and bass for Power Windows, a top-tier Rush tribute band. If Marillion and Kansas ask them to be opener act on tour, you know 4Front is doing something good. Here lifting the tune from both David Bowie and Peter Schilling, a hybrid that was bound to be bred.
02-01 The Jimmy Castor Bunch & The Everything Man – E-Man Groovin’ 102 – Space Age (1976)
— kinda pretentious, the double-naming. The Everything Man is, in fact, Jimmy Castor. The last of four albums the JCB released with that naming, petering out 3 years and 3 albums later, but BBC in 2012 named the JCB “one of the most sampled artists in music history”.
02-02 Cosmosquad – Cosmosquad 10 – Galactic Voyage (1997)
— closes out their debut album, although their sophmore effort “Squadrophenia” is considered a sequel. Formed in Phoenix AZ, immediately moved to Los Angeles, CA.
02-03 Alien Planetscapes – Life On Earth 02 – Chris In Space (1997)
— recorded in July of 1997 in Queens NYC, the project of synth wizard Doug Walker. This is their first (and only) “official” release, on a CD, after a staggering 106 cassette-only releases since 1982. Band broke up following Walker’s 2006 death, but stuff is still being released twenty years later. The Chris mentioned is Chris Altenhoff, credited with bass guitar and “effects”.
03-01 Blue Drift – Mariner 03 – Deep Space (2005)
— only two albums then called it quits for the brothers Lodder: Dave (guitar + Keyboards) and John (bass). Drums here by an enigmatic fellow named Arch (aka Archie), who also played for The Morrigans, celtic rock likened to Steeleye Span. Nobody on the ‘net seems to know who Arch is.
03-02 Neil – Neil’s Heavy Concept Album 110 – Cosmic Jam (1984)
— of course this is Nigel Planer, in character as Neil The Hippie from the British tv series “The Young Ones”. Good idea to check the show out, Neil and Viv were my favourites. This tune rounds out side one of Neil’s once-in-career album.
03-03 Bill Pohl – Solid Earth 02 – Light Years (1992)
— Texan guitarist Bill Pohl joined The Underground Railroad, then later incarnations of The Thinking Plague, now does his own thing out of Colorado.
04-01 Los Straitjackets & The World Famous Pontani Sisters & Kaiser George – Twist Party 104 – Twistin’ Out In Space (2006)
— born in Nashville but now sporting our own Rochester-based guitarist Greg Townson, Los Straightjackets wear Luchador wrestling masks, and consequently sell out stadiums in Mexico. Fame in the States is lower key, but a noteworthy collab period with Nick Lowe, and Townson is pumping out a steady stream of solo albums. Someday on this show. we’ll hear Greg Townson’s “Popcorn Dinner”.
04-02 No Fun At All – State Of Flow 01 – Celestial Q And A (2000)
— mostly known for Swedish 1990’s punk, this disc was released just after the band broke up.
04-03 Galactic Nomads – CBS 1696 – The Nomad’s Theme (Welcome To Our Universe) (1982)
— here’s the B-side of the band’s only release, a single for CBS in Germany. We heard the A-side a few shows ago, and still wonder who they were. Originally just The Nomads, this sounds like they tried to capitalize on the disco movement, but just as folks like Blondie were neutering the pablum of disco by twisting it with punk. This tune comes off the 7-inch 45rpm version of the release, with the original art on front, featuring a different giant lady singer than on the cover of the 12″ single.
04-04 Lazuli – En Avant Doute… 09 – Cassiopée (2006)
— from South France so sounds like tribal music to me, this is a 5-piecer around the brothers Leonetti: Dominique (guitar, vocals) and Claude (synth guitar). This comes off their third album, their 12th came out on January 31st, 2026.
04-05 Man Or Astro-man? – Captain Holojoy’s Space Diner 203 – You Can’t Get Good Riblets In Space (1993)
— silly humor for a 7″ record to include a “pinup” poster of a neon waitress, but the real oddity is that the sleeve says “33 1/3 RPM” but the label is marked “45RPM”. It’s a 33.3 record, this from the B-side, called the “T.V. Dinner Side”.
05-01 First Band From Outer Space – We’re Only In It For The Spacerock 05 – We’re Only In It For The Spacerock (2005)
— most of this Swedish band’s debut CD was self-released a year earlier on CDr, this is one of the “new” tunes. A dozen years later, this caught a re-release out of Germany as a double-LP.
06-01 FM – 1979-04-12 Penny Arcade, Rochester, NY 05 – Aldeberan (1979)
— Canadian power rock born in 1976 just after Rush, and just as competent, but never hit the big stage like Geddy, Alex and Neil. Here touring in support of their 3rd album, this is off their 1st, “Black Noise”. Notable for Nash The Slash on mandolin and electric violin, that guy was the first Canadian to use a drum machine, which was illegal in Toronto at the time.
06-02 Mr Quimby’s Beard – 2002-04-30 RAW-Tempel, Berlin, DE 104 – Nebulae (2002)
— from the 2000 album “The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries Of…” but that was 17 years into the UK band’s career.
06-03 Man Or Astro-man? – Made From Technetium 15 – Weightless At Zero Return (1997)
— in a morbid jest, the bassist Coco The Electronic Monkey Wizard (known to his mom as Robert DelBueno) fibbed that this disc “was, in fact, made from technetium” and caused cancer in listeners. When I saw the band, they plunged knives into pillows, turning the venue into a sno-globe. After the band’s final performance in 2006, the drummer Birdsong handed out his entire kit to audience attendees.
… and a bonus track…
07-01 Vengaboys – The Greatest Hits Collection 12 – Rocket To Uranus (Hitradio With Perez)
— as a gas giant planet, there is no “on” on Uranus, but don’t tell these folks.