Ignored Obscured Restored
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first time a man walked on the moon. If you were alive at the time, you remember it like you remember where you were and what you were doing when America was attacked on 9/11.
I was totally into the space program. I knew the names of all the rockets and loved to build and launch Estes model rockets. I even built the Estes model of the Saturn V – The booster that launched the Apollo XI mission.
As you may predict, I need to find a song that is a proper tribute to the occasion. There are hundreds (thousands?) of songs that make reference to the moon and I love many of them. Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” immediately comes to mind, as does Van Morrison’s “Moondance.” There are more obscure candidates like Television’s “Marquee Moon” or “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” but I’m still not there.
This being the song of the week, I need to go even more Obscure. My pick is “Man in the Moon” by Village. I’ll bet you never heard it!
One of the reasons I picked this song is because it is of its time. It was released in 1969, the year of the moon landing, and has the psychedelic sound of its day. The “Man in the Moon” single was even released on a label called Head!
The blog site Anorak Thing describes the track as follows:
“Man In The Moon” starts out with some ethereal organ and then gets a bit heavy with some great bottom end bass. What I love about this record is it’s from 1969 and despite the organ work it’s not overly heavy like some of the plodding/wanky Deep Purple stuff of the period. Halfway through it gets a bit “improvisational” but never too “way out” either. It reminds me of early Atomic Rooster if they were a bit more “lysergic”.
Village was led by British R&B musician Peter Bardens and included Bill Porter on drums and bassist Peter Thomas, who would later to be in Elvis Costello’s Attractions. Before Village, Bardens was in Them with Van Morrison (1965). After Village, he would go on to found the progressive rock band Camel.
“That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”
Enjoy… until next week.