Acapella Sci Fi

Acapella, meaning "without accompaniment" has been a popular singing style for years. In the Sixties, a couple of singing groups brought acapella to the fore, and for some hitherto unexplored reason, put it in the service of Science Fiction. One major group in that regard was the Swingle Singers, about whom I got nothing, and the other was the Mike Sammes Singers. Their tunes were not always acapella, but even when instruments were involved the smooth and easy scat singing, a mellifluous doobie-doobie-doo-dooby-dooby-doo sound, was all over the skiffy landscape.

You'll remember the Mike Sammes Singers theme tune for Supercar, of course, a Gerry Anderson beaut.



And the Mike Sammes Singers theme tune for Gerry Anderson's Stingray. Anybody who doesn't love the theme tune for Stingray is not allowed in my club.



And while we're at it, there's the Mike Sammes Singers theme tune for Gerry Anderson's The Secret Service.


Ok, maybe it was just Gerry Anderson and the Mike Sammes Singers. The rest of science fiction probably just muddled along on the theremin until Massive Attack was invented.

Today, I came across this, and was made new again.

(Edited to improve links, 07/2017)

Dancing Japanese Robots

Just that - Dancing Japanese Robots. Nothing else to say, really. I like the way they subverted my expectations, which is that all Japanese robots are masculine. The only thing that could be better is if they were to be Dancing Japanese Robots playing teh thereminz, because that would riches beyond the dreams of avarice.

Classical music update - teh Theraminz

Two different Theremin techniques -

1. Jimmy Page, Seattle, 77
2. A Japanese Cat

Jimmy Page is cuter and more fluffy, but the cat has nice eyes. The floor cat at the end - dubbed "WTF? Cat" on teh intarwebs, is just classic.

Lev plays the Theremin.

A robot playing a Theremin.


It's cool. Because it's a robot - playing a Theremin!

I've posted before, rather briefly, about a Theremin, and there I think my point (if I had one) was that there was something awesome about Jimmy Page, a man who could not only play a Theremin, but also influence another man into being an instrument for him. It's entirely fitting that somebody somewhere can make a robot play a completely electronic instrument.
It's not quite as spiritually or as emotionally captivating, but it has something transcendent about it nevertheless. And you have to admire a man (I guess it's a man) who has the technical know-how, the patience AND the playfulness to pull it off.
Seen via Making Light.