I'm a big fan of images from the past who's concept of the not-so-distant future made it seem like it was going to be so much fun once we finally got there. It was going to be like the Jetsons! We were going to colonize the moon, and keep martians as pets! Robots* would do everything while we sat on the patio and drank tiki drinks..!
What happened?
That 'future' in some cases is now, and what i want to know is- Where is my robot* butler? Or my flying car?
Where the hell is my jet-pack!? Huh?
Some future this turned out to be. I was robbed.
One of, if not the, finest musical looks at the future through the eyes of the past is Zager & Evans' "In the year 2525"
It's a dramatic tale of doom and gloom, with lots of key changes and a groovy beat.
From 1969, The pride of Lincoln, Nebraska, Zager & Evans.
"In the year 2525"
A post like this wouldn't be complete without the space age sounds of The Tornadoes' Telstar, now would it. That Joe Meek was a master of the technology of his day. Supposedly some of the sound effects on this one are a toilet flushing, and something involving a glass ashtray. (I'm not making this up- you can dial it up on any one of your interwebs.) There's probably some other far out noise in there too, but it all sounds like space to me...
The song was named after the Telstar sattelite, which went into orbit in July 1962. The record, which was released just five weeks later, featured a clavioline, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive electronic sound.
Dig it.
"Telstar"
Here's a neat site that i hosed some of these pictures from.
Check it out. Fun stuff.
For even more space age sounds, check out This Post i did a while back. You'll be glad you did.
*It's better if you use the Rod Serling pronunciation: 'Robits'
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