ecent research has suggested that playing pleasant melodies for newborns can help them to develop into intelligent and responsive adults. As a result, CDs with titles like Baby Bach and Baby Beethoven have flooded the marketplace. But what if parents want their infants to grow up specifically appreciating science fiction? Until companies start producing Baby Asimov or Baby Heinlein recordings, a new CD from the Music for Little People label could potentially provide the answer. Titled Hey, Mr. Spaceman, the disc supplies a slender assortment of spirited SF compositions.
The recording spotlights several vintage novelty numbers, including "Flyin' Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" from rockabilly legend Billy Riley and His Little Green Men, Jimmy Durante's whimsical "We're Going UFO'ing" and "The Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley. T-Bone Burnett contributes "Humans From Earth," with The Rezillos presenting the punk-rock-inspired "Flying Saucer Attack" and The B-52s bellowing "Planet Claire." "Heck, I'd Go," written by Dan Hicks and performed by Maria Muldaur, is another noteworthy number, along with The Byrds' timeless outer-space ode, "Mr. Spaceman," and Dennis Scott's robust rendition of the surf instrumental "Telstar." The collection concludes with the rousing "Rocket Ship" from Texas-based singer Kathy McCarty.
Stylized astronautic images adorn the packaging, which consists primarily of a trifold cover listing the 12-tune lineup and, since each cut is culled from a different source, appropriate copyright details. The insert also contains an offer for a free "Big Key Wacky Wind-Up" flying saucer toy.
An excellent idea gone awry
What's the best way to musically introduce children to science fiction? One method might be to present straightforward, sing-along songs conveying simple scientific principles via fantastical lyrics, while a different approach could integrate up-to-date pop melodies with futuristic yet fun verbal allusions. Hey, Mr. Spaceman takes an alternate, altogether unfocused tack that fails to ignite, let alone sustain, any significant SF interest. Instead, the collection delivers, for young and young-at-heart listeners alike, an imperfect, ill-conceived and entirely inadequate assemblage of compositional castoffs.
L.J. Booth's "Mr. Moon" is a sweet acoustic work that alludes more to complex grown-up emotions such as longing and love than lunar phenomena or childlike wonder. Similarly, "Flying Saucer Attack" is an unrelentingly aggressive track powered by insistent drums and guitars that'd likely be more appealing to rebellious teenagers than either adults or their prepubescent offspring. Luckily, there are a couple of jewels mixed in amid this harmonic hodgepodge, most notably "Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer." Powered by Ella Fitzgerald's honeyed voice, augmented by bright horns and blithe background singers, the piece is the perfect jingle for, as the liner notes attest, "sci-fi fans young or old," as is the perennially popular "The Purple People Eater."
Still, the disc's copious shortcomings far outweigh the sparse strong points. Coupled with an inexcusably short running time and the ready availability elsewhere of the repertoire, as both a thematic compilation and a gentle introduction to SF music Hey, Mr. Spaceman is unsuccessful and unforgivably unimpressive.
