11 C2: Sci-Fi References in Music List
Description
This article is from the SF references in music List FAQ, by Rich Kulawiec rsk@gsp.org with numerous contributions by others.
11 C2: Sci-Fi References in Music List
Chicago:
Last side of Chicago III is a suite named "Elegy" about ecodeath and final war.
----Some commentary on this from Ed Eastridge:
The side as a whole is named Elegy. Elegy's principal writer was trombonist
James Pankow. It is about humans killing themselves off in the name of
progress. Another song off of this album which is in a similar vein is
"Mother" describing the Raping of the Earth by Highways and other man-made
occurences. Anyway, If I can rememeber correctly Elegy consists of five
movements, the names As I can recall are:
"When All the Laughter Dies in Sorrow" (a small poem)
"Canon" (Brass quartet type of feel,interesting harmonies.)
"Once Upon a Time"(Soft Jazz ballad featuring Flute and Trombone.)
"Progress?" (Dissonant and forboding. Uses taped sounds of jackhammers,
traffic, etc. Most interesting is the use of the toilet...:))
"The Approaching Storm" (Normal Jazz type number like mid-60's "cool" sound)
"Man vs Man = The End" (Contemporary almost 12-tonal in sound, definitely not
like "normal" Chicago)
All in all, this is a good piece. The songs are cohesive, transitions are
smooth and subtle. (If you couldn't tell by now, yes, I am a Chicago freak).
--- Ed Eastridge
----
The Church:
Their last three albums ("Priest = Aura", "Gold Afternoon Fix", and
"Starfish") contain a good deal of SF material, such as:
"Pharaoh", "City", "Terra Nova Cain", "Priest = Aura", and "Dome".
Clannad:
New-age Celtic-folk stuff; numerous songs about druids, Stonehenge,
that sort of thing. Also did much of the music for the British
"Robin Hood" TV show, as well as the film "Last of the Mohicans".
Borderline for inclusion here, since they tend more toward New Age
stuff rather than sf&f.
Clark, Dave:
"Time", a musical with a lot of notable musicians and singers (e.g.
Freddy Mercury, Leo Sayer, Dionne Warwick, John Christie...) about the
people of the Earth put on trial --- are they worthy to continue their
existence?
Clarke, Stanley:
Jazz bassist, who spent considerable time with Chick Corea and Al Dimeola
in "Return to Forever". His self-titled solo release (mostly instrumental)
has a vocal track called "Vulcan Princess", about a woman he has loved
"through eternity". This track also appears on a recently released CD
of his live performances, "Stanley Clarke Live 1975-1976". "Modern Man"
is about an invasion or Mars, some similar space-opera theme.
Clash, the:
A band pretty much centered in the (then) Now, but had a couple songs
taking place in the future. "Groovy Times" (from "Black Market Clash")
is roughly about a fascist state, apparently sparked by the sight of
chain-link fences around a soccer stadium. "London Calling" (from the
LP of the same name) is about the apocalypse, a possibility which is
treated rather ambivalently. "Atom Tan" (from "Combat Rock") is about
the apocalypse again, from sort of a Beat-Marxist angle.
Clark, Anne:
On her "Changing Places" album, "Sleeper in Metropolis" deals
with loss of all human contact in a future (or present) world;
"Poem for a Nuclear Romance" is about what will happen to two
lovers in a nuclear war.
Clarke, Allan:
Formerly of the Hollies. The song "The Survivor" is specifically
about reincarnation. "Driving the Doomsday Cars" on this album is also
sf-oriented, while the title track refers to comic-book heroes, and "The
Only Ones" refers to flying away from Earth to start a new life.
Clinton, George (and Parliament/Funkadelic):
Parliament released a series of albums during the seventies with overt
SF themes: "The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein", "Mothership Connection",
and others. Clinton had a solo hit with "Atomic Dog" in the mid-80's.
All this music ranges from slow-burn funk to beat-heavy disco.
(Their influence is still felt in a number of places -- e.g. one
of the sequences in the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" film.)
Clouds:
Australian pop music quartet. Have a song "Fox's Wedding" inspired by
a Japanese fairy tale. Their debut album "Penny Century" is named after
the character in Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez' comic book "Love and Rockets".
Colourbox:
A track from their "Colourbox" LP entitled "Just Give "em Whiskey." has
quotes from "Prisoner", "2001" and "West World" on it.
Comsat Angels:
Named after a J.G. Ballard short of the same name.
Concrete Blonde:
The entire album "Bloodletting" is about vampires, a la Anne Rice's
vampire novels.
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