or most humorists, the foibles of science-fiction fans are easy pickings. However, there's a delicate balance between so-called comedians who simply ridicule overzealous conventioneers and in-the-know individuals who warmly lampoon the genre's more outrageous stereotypes. Legendary disc
jockey Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, evidently has a sincere appreciation for SF culture, and his latest compilation, aptly titled Dr. Demento's Hits From Outer Space, dispenses an unusually sympathetic assortment of satirical songs and spoken-word spoofs.
Star Trek aficionados will be particularly enthralled by this CD. Opening with Terry McGovern's immortal "Beam Me Up, Scotty," the collection showcases eight separate odes related to the original television series and its various spinoffs, including "What's Up Spock (Deep Space '99 Remix)" by The Great Luke Ski, "Do the Picard" from Rusty Humphries & The Bone-Heads and Congress of Wonder's risqué "Star Trip." "Weird Al" Yankovic lovingly pokes fun at The Phantom Menace via "The Saga Begins," just as Boots Walker's 1967 oddity, "They're Here," offers a peculiar, decidedly paranoid UFO euphony.
A pair of real-life SF stars also contribute tender tunes: Leonard Nimoy provides an extraterrestrial view of the planet on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Earth," while Lost in Space's Bill Mumy delivers the ostensibly autobiographical "The Ballad of William Robinson." Filk (science-fiction folk) idol Leslie Fish supplies two acoustic numbers, "Carmen Miranda's Ghost" and the legendary "Banned From Argo." Hansen, writing under his Dr. Demento pseudonym, furnishes a terse liner-note commentary on futuristic musical themes.
The galaxy's greatest hits ... and misses
On rare occasion novelty songs featuring science-fictional subjects can be heard on pop radio, but in general such compositions appeal only to hardcore fans and off-the-wall-music buffs. Dr. Demento's Hits From Outer Space serves as an excellent demonstration of why so many of these jingles are unknown. As Hansen's printed remarks attest, the disc contains "some of the most requested intergalactic hits," but also, regrettably, more than a few misses.
Notwithstanding Leslie Fish's limited vocal range, "Banned From Argo" is a veritable masterpiece, chronicling the unsavory shore-leave antics of a familiar Starfleet crew. The cheery tune, set to a traditional folk melody, is a sing-along classic, with a rich, raw guitar and verses that are both comical and clever. "The Saga Begins" is equally ingenious, relating in just under five and a half minutes the entire plot of Star Wars: Episode I. Other cool cuts include the archetypal "Stardrek," recorded by Bobby Pickett & Peter Ferrara in 1977, and "Do the Picard," a disco-infused ditty that joyfully decrees, "everybody now engage, yeah, you know it's all the rage!"
Still, the majority of the numbers are second-rate. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Earth" is corny and pretentious, while the seemingly interminable "Star Trip"—the last of the album's dozen tracks—teems with distasteful racial and sexual allusions. Dr. Demento's Hits From Outer Space is marginally enjoyable, offering a handful of admirable efforts, but the collection as a whole clearly demonstrates why most of these works remain obscure.
