Hidden Treasures - Blast Off!

[Scott]

I'm back...


And full of ideas! I had a blast posting the Album of the Week this past month, but this playlist is my special place and therefore I'm most comfortable presenting hidden treasures. I love digging deep into my collection and fishing for tunes that arent the biggest hits or most well known tunes... I have a few different topics I want to explore and some showcases that I have thoughts on, I even have a new showcase idea but you'll have to wait and see how that one works out- it'll be cool trust me!


But for my first week back I wanted to start exploring the idea of Outer Space and how the classic rock we love so much translates that into song. So there's nowhere better to start than right here on Earth! Where we go from here who knows, but one things for sure, we're looking up! But first, lets take a quick moment and see what pther resources have to say about our musical space odyssey...


Songs or other musical forms influenced by the concept of outer space have appeared in music throughout history, both in instrumental and vocal pieces with lyrics. As early as Ancient Greece, Pythagoras believed in something called the "harmony of the spheres". He believed that since planets and the stars all moved in the universe according to mathematical equations that these mathematical equations could be translated into musical notes and thus produce a symphony. This idea was explored further throughout Western history under the theories of Musica universalis. Some more recent and widely different examples are The Planets by Gustav Holst, and the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. Outer space also appears as a theme in "space age" retro pop music, such as Stereolab's Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music.


Music about outer space attracts enthusiastic listeners from all walks of life. Some have created web pages to share their interests. NASA, JPL, and the US Governmental Centennial of Flight Commission even have a webpages showcasing and discussing music about outer space.


Lets start the Journey!


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/avxk5hz7

	Billy Thorpe 21st Century Man 1980 1 - 1991 21st Century Man is part two of an intended trilogy which tells the story of Earth's demise via nuclear war. Surviving humans are rescued by humanoid aliens from another world, and taken to live on another planet ("Caledrus"). Billy's character fathers a new race with "the Sun King's daughter", also referred to as "The Queen of All The Universe." This is great rock and roll from the era where synthesizers and hard rocking guitar freely intermingled. On this project, you'll hear the best of fat analog synthesizers, spacy sound effects, and balls-out rock and roll.
	Porcupine Tree Lightbulb Sun 2000 2 - Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it is Recycled "Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled" features a speech by the leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult. This U.S. cult believed that they were from another planet and only visiting earth. In order to return to their own "dimension" before the earth was "recycled", such extraterrestrial entities must find each other and commit mass suicide. The words are taken from the video they made before killing themselves to explain to the rest of the world why they had done it.
	Electric Light Orchestra Time 1981 3 - Ticket To The Moon While the two preceding ELO albums, Discovery and Xanadu, were heavily influenced by pop and disco, Time is much closer to ELO's roots of progressive rock music. Songs like "Ticket to the Moon", "The Way Life's Meant to Be", "Rain Is Falling", and "21st Century Man" are reminiscent of material from the A New World Record through Out of the Blue era of ELO, while other tracks explore new influences such as new wave ("Twilight", "Yours Truly, 2095", "Another Heart Breaks", "From the End of the World", and "Here Is the News"), reggae ("The Lights Go Down"), and rockabilly ("Hold On Tight") with the core ELO sound. The album reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart. The hit single "Hold On Tight" proved to be the band's last top-ten single in both the US and UK, and the album itself achieved Platinum and Gold status in the UK and US respectively.
	Foreigner 4 1981 4 - Girl On The Moon Released in 1981, 4 would be that album. In producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange -- fresh off his massive success with AC/DC's Back in Black -- guitarist and all-around mastermind Mick Jones found both the catalyst to achieve this and his perfect musical soulmate. Lange's legendary obsessive attention to detail and Jones' highly disciplined guitar heroics (which he never allowed to get in the way of a great song) resulted in a collaboration of unprecedented, sparkling efficiency where not a single note is wasted.

[Jon]

You could have made a list playing songs that mention Major Tom. That would have been cool, and that's probably why you didn't do it.

[Scott]

[Scott]

that and I don't care much for Bowie...

[Jon]

Peter Schilling isn't David Bowie.

[Scott]

You missed me, admit it!!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Major Tom is not a hidden gem.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Paper Sun by Def Leppard is a great hidden treasure.

[Scott]

Euphoria is not a CD I reach for very often but when I do I enjoy it!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Me neither, but Paper Sun is a terrific song that isn't well known.

[Meow]

[Niels (Mod)]

It's not very often, but I had an opportunity to listen to some music at work today, and I decided to listen to this weeks Hidden Treasures.

BILLY JOEL - I can't say, if I've heard this track before. I don't think so. I kind of like it, as I did like a lot of that kind of music, coming out in '79-'80, where the synths were a really important part of especially Pop-Rock, like The Bugless.... hey, that sounds exactly like something from The Who's 905!! Not bad, but nothing special great about this track, though.

PORCUPINE TREE - Ah, my good old pal Steven Wilson. I don't own this album. Is it really, really worth getting, Scott? Great sounding guitar/mandolin at the beginning. I like this one. Great stuff. And a bit spooky regarding the "speech".

ELO - This one, I've heard countless of times. Not especially one of my ELO-favorites, but still a very, very good song. I never bought an actual ELO-album. Just a couple of "Best Of"'s. 

FOREIGNER - Foreigner once again, eh? You guys really loooove those american AOR-bands. Come on, Scott, how about some tunes from classic 60's and 70's artists as well? As said on Facebook, you could easily had picked The Beatles and/or The Kinks this week. You have the albums, right? I did like Foreigner once, and especially this album, but I do think, it has got a lot to do with the fact, that Mutt Lange produced it. All he touched back then didn't only turn in to gold, but platinum. This is one of the weakest tracks on the album, though.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Uh, we are American.  Helloooooooo.  Just kiddin', but not really.  Foreigner was big in America from the time we were ten or eleven and at least until we were in our late teens.  And they got played on the radio a lot.  Why would we not like them.  You make it sound like you think we shouldn't even consider posting AOR.  It's a huge part of our musical fingerprint.  Not sure why you are so against it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking you.  It's your valid opinion, but I just don't get the hostility towards it.