Strange stars : how science fiction and fantasy transformed popular music

A Hugo Award-winning author and music journalist explores the weird and wild story of when rock ’n’ roll met the sci-fi world of the 1970s As the 1960s drew to a close, and mankind trained its telescopes on other worlds, old conventions gave way to a new kind of hedonistic freedom that celebrated sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. Derided as nerdy or dismissed as fluff, science fiction rarely gets credit for its catalyzing effect on this revolution. In Strange Stars , Jason Heller recasts sci-fi and pop music as parallel cultural forces that depended on one another to expand the horizons of books, music, and out-of-this-world imagery. In doing so, he presents a whole generation of revered musicians as the sci-fi-obsessed conjurers they really were: from Sun Ra lecturing on the black man in the cosmos, to Pink Floyd jamming live over the broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing; from a wave of Star Wars disco chart toppers and synthesiser-wielding post-punks, to Jimi Hendrix distilling the “purplish haze” he discovered in a pulp novel into psychedelic song. Of course, the whole scene was led by David Bowie, who hid in the balcony of a movie theater to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey , and came out a changed man… If today’s culture of Comic Con fanatics, superhero blockbusters, and classic sci-fi reboots has us thinking that the nerds have won at last, Strange Stars brings to life an era of unparalleled and unearthly creativity—in magazines, novels, films, records, and concerts—to point out that the nerds have been winning all along. "A Hugo Award-winning author and music journalist explores the weird and wild story of science fiction's outsize impact on popular music and culture. As the 1960s drew to a close, and old mores were giving way to a new kind of freedom that celebrated sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, David Bowie slipped into the empty balcony of a London cinema to see 2001: A Space Odyssey. He emerged a changed man... And indeed, as mankind trained its telescopes on distant worlds, Bowie would lead other rock stars to see the world of science fiction, previously dismissed as nerdy fluff, as the catalyst needed to continue the revolution begun in the sixties. In Strange Stars, Jason Heller recasts sci-fi and pop music as parallel forces that depended on each other to expand the horizons of what could be created with words, sounds, and out-of-this-world imagery. He presents a whole generation of revered musicians as the sci-fi-obsessed conjurers they really were: from Sun Ra lecturing on the black man in the cosmos at University of California, Berkeley; to Pink Floyd jamming live over the BBC's Apollo 11 moon landing broadcast; to Jimi Hendrix distilling the 'purplish haze' he discovered in a pulp novel; on to a wave of Star Wars disco chart-toppers and synthesizer-wielding post-punks... If today's culture of Comic Con fanatics, superhero blockbusters, and classic sci-fi reboots has us thinking that the nerds have won at last, Strange Stars brings to life an era of unparalleled creativity--in magazines, novels, films, records and concerts--to point out that the nerds have been winning all along."--Cover page [2] A Hugo Award-winning author and music journalist explores the weird and wild story of when the sci-fi world met the rock 'n' roll world of the 1970s As the 1960s drew to a close, and mankind trained its telescopes on other worlds, old conventions gave way to a new kind of hedonistic freedom that celebrated sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Derided as nerdy or dismissed as fluff, science fiction rarely gets credit for its catalyzing effect on this revolution. In Strange Stars , Jason Heller recasts sci-fi and pop music as parallel cultural forces that depended on one another to expand the horizons of books, music, and out-of-this-world imagery. In doing so, he presents a whole generation of revered musicians as the sci-fi-obsessed conjurers they really were: from Sun Ra lecturing on the black man in the cosmos, to Pink Floyd jamming live over the broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing; from a wave of Star Wars disco chart toppers, to Jimi Hendrix distilling... A Hugo Award-winner explores the massive influence that science fiction has had on popular music, particularly on David Bowie and the heady, experimental 1970s scene In the 1960s and 70s old mores and lingering repressions were falling away, replaced with a new kind of hedonistic freedom that included sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Although it didn't factor into the stereotype, it also included science fiction. Strange Stars tells the story of how incredibly well read artists--David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and many more--brought Sci Fi's cosmic flare to their lyrics, sounds, and styles, and changed pop music forever. The stars look very different today: the end of the '60s Dancing astronauts of renown: 1970 In search of space: 1971 I'm the space invader: 1972 Comet melody: 1973 Secrets of the circuitry mind: 1974 Your memory banks have forgotten this funk: 1975 What can this strange device be?: 1976 A distant planet from where I come: 1977 Hit by space junk: 1978 When the machines rock: 1979 The planet is glowing: the start of the '80s. Looks at developments in science fiction and pop music in the 1970s, delving into the ways that the work of many influential performers of the time was heavily informed by science fiction and space exploration.