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Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded
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.
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.
302 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
46 people are currently reading
1058 people want to read
About the author
Jason Heller
36 books69 followers I'm a Denver-based writer who contributes regularly to The A.V. Club and Alternative Press. Quirk Books will publish my debut novel, Taft 2012, as well as a series of middle-grade horror books (to be announced). I'm also the nonfiction editor of Clarkesworld Magazine and am represented by Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
August 24, 2024
"Mick Farren - the pioneer of gonzo sci-fi rock with the Deviants [a 60's era psychedelic band from the United Kingdom] who had turned his talents to writing sci-fi novels - talked of hopping on the Star Wars bandwagon. 'After I'd seen [the movie] last year, I wanted to do a Darth Vader record with his peculiar voice on it. To do almost a disco record with lots of weird electronics on it,' he said in 1978. The mind reels at what THAT might have sounded like." -- on page 173
Covering a decade's worth of material - roughly from David Bowie's 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired inaugural hit single 'Space Oddity' during the summer of 1969 (smartly coinciding with the Apollo 11 lunar landing) to the death of disco and the premiere of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 - Heller's Strange Stars was not quite as much fun as I expected it to be. While Bowie glides through this non-fic narrative as a sort of de facto central figure - no surprise at all, given his respected, diverse and often otherworldly 1970's musical output PLUS starring as an extraterrestrial in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth - so much of the remaining discussion involves music acts that I was unfamiliar with and/or were just waaaaay to niche for my tastes. (In other words, I felt adrift amongst the stars in a galaxy far, far away. 😆) While it was occasionally fun to glance back at this truly unique era - a time when a veteran R&B/soul singer Rufus Thomas (who was a mainstay at the legendary STAX label in the 60's, alongside Otis Redding) would actually release a song called 'Funky Robot' in 1973 - it felt like the author veered close but then avoided the more interesting topics, such as the various sci-fi films (director Ridley Scott's Alien from 1979 criminally receives ONE paragraph) from that period.
Covering a decade's worth of material - roughly from David Bowie's 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired inaugural hit single 'Space Oddity' during the summer of 1969 (smartly coinciding with the Apollo 11 lunar landing) to the death of disco and the premiere of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 - Heller's Strange Stars was not quite as much fun as I expected it to be. While Bowie glides through this non-fic narrative as a sort of de facto central figure - no surprise at all, given his respected, diverse and often otherworldly 1970's musical output PLUS starring as an extraterrestrial in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth - so much of the remaining discussion involves music acts that I was unfamiliar with and/or were just waaaaay to niche for my tastes. (In other words, I felt adrift amongst the stars in a galaxy far, far away. 😆) While it was occasionally fun to glance back at this truly unique era - a time when a veteran R&B/soul singer Rufus Thomas (who was a mainstay at the legendary STAX label in the 60's, alongside Otis Redding) would actually release a song called 'Funky Robot' in 1973 - it felt like the author veered close but then avoided the more interesting topics, such as the various sci-fi films (director Ridley Scott's Alien from 1979 criminally receives ONE paragraph) from that period.
March 5, 2018
Great title, great cover, great concept, "meh" content. By the end, I really felt like Heller had had to dig to find artists and songs to support his thesis, relying heavily on the obscure and only vaguely sci-fi-ish. There was also a lack of first-hand research and/or personal interviews, which gave the book a dry, academic tone. In the end, the result is a book that a.) could have been a 50-page paper, rather than a 200-page book and b.) will likely have limited appeal to the general public, in spite of its subject matter.
February 8, 2021
In 1976, a Canadian rock trio calling themselves Klaatu (a familiar name for any nerd who saw the movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) released a song called “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”. (Here’s the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ4IU...) It was even covered later by The Carpenters. (Here’s that video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBV0...) Both versions are pretty awesome, in my opinion.
Okay, so that was a total Chris Farley moment. (Remember Klaatu? Yeah, they were awesome…) My only point in bringing it up is that I literally discovered the song (both versions) a few days ago, after reading Jason Heller’s book “Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded”. In fact, thanks to Heller, my knowledge of ‘70s sci-fi-related pop music has nearly tripled.
I had heard of a few of the bands and artists Heller mentions in the book—-Bowie being only one of many—-but I have either re-discovered or discovered for the first time some phenomenal music in the genre that Haller dubs “sci-fi rock”. Thank God for Google, too, by the way, as a lot of this music can be found on the Internet. Who knew?
Anyway, Haller’s fascinating, trippy, and incredibly fun foray into the ‘70s starts, inevitably, with Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, a film that Bowie watched obsessively, as did many young sci-fi nerds at the time. It led to the creation of the song that would catapult Bowie’s career into orbit, “A Space Oddity”.
The story of Major Tom, argues Haller, opened the door for many more sci-fi-themed songs and concept albums. Paul Kantner (of Jefferson Airplane) created one of the first full-length sci-fi rock albums, Blows Against the Empire in 1971, an album that earned a nomination for the Hugo Award, the first and (until 2017’s nomination of the band Clipping’s album Splendor and Misery) only rock album to have that honor.
Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Tarkus, also from 1971, was another influential album. The ‘70s quickly saw the formation of a slew of bands, such as Hawkwind and Parliament Funkadellic, that were incorporating sci-fi themes in their music. Along with the new bands were bands and artists that had been around for a while—-Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and T.Rex, to name two—-that were jumping on the sci-fi train.
It’s no exaggeration to say that science fiction really did explode in the ‘70s. The genre’s heyday arguably began in the late-1960s, but it continued to gain incredible popularity throughout much of the ‘70s, with authors like Harlan Ellison, Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov, and Michael Moorcock doing some ground-breaking stuff and culminating in the film that changed both sci-fi and cinema forever: George Lucas’s 1977 “Star Wars”.
Haller’s book is a love letter to both science fiction and music and a must-have for any nerd who has a vast library of ‘70s paperbacks and vinyl albums. Or for anyone who wants to start one.
Okay, so that was a total Chris Farley moment. (Remember Klaatu? Yeah, they were awesome…) My only point in bringing it up is that I literally discovered the song (both versions) a few days ago, after reading Jason Heller’s book “Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded”. In fact, thanks to Heller, my knowledge of ‘70s sci-fi-related pop music has nearly tripled.
I had heard of a few of the bands and artists Heller mentions in the book—-Bowie being only one of many—-but I have either re-discovered or discovered for the first time some phenomenal music in the genre that Haller dubs “sci-fi rock”. Thank God for Google, too, by the way, as a lot of this music can be found on the Internet. Who knew?
Anyway, Haller’s fascinating, trippy, and incredibly fun foray into the ‘70s starts, inevitably, with Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, a film that Bowie watched obsessively, as did many young sci-fi nerds at the time. It led to the creation of the song that would catapult Bowie’s career into orbit, “A Space Oddity”.
The story of Major Tom, argues Haller, opened the door for many more sci-fi-themed songs and concept albums. Paul Kantner (of Jefferson Airplane) created one of the first full-length sci-fi rock albums, Blows Against the Empire in 1971, an album that earned a nomination for the Hugo Award, the first and (until 2017’s nomination of the band Clipping’s album Splendor and Misery) only rock album to have that honor.
Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Tarkus, also from 1971, was another influential album. The ‘70s quickly saw the formation of a slew of bands, such as Hawkwind and Parliament Funkadellic, that were incorporating sci-fi themes in their music. Along with the new bands were bands and artists that had been around for a while—-Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and T.Rex, to name two—-that were jumping on the sci-fi train.
It’s no exaggeration to say that science fiction really did explode in the ‘70s. The genre’s heyday arguably began in the late-1960s, but it continued to gain incredible popularity throughout much of the ‘70s, with authors like Harlan Ellison, Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov, and Michael Moorcock doing some ground-breaking stuff and culminating in the film that changed both sci-fi and cinema forever: George Lucas’s 1977 “Star Wars”.
Haller’s book is a love letter to both science fiction and music and a must-have for any nerd who has a vast library of ‘70s paperbacks and vinyl albums. Or for anyone who wants to start one.
April 8, 2018
This is fantastic.
I was a child in the '70s and I am familiar with much of the music and books Heller discusses (not so much on movies although I do know Star Wars and Star Trek which was more than enough to get me through) so I figured this would be a fun "trip down memory lane," as it were.
Nope. Not one piece of nostalgic fluff in sight! (That's not a bad thing, in case you aren't sure.) I was so absorbed with the connections I hadn't considered (or wasn't aware of) that it was as if I'd never heard/read/seen/lived it. To have a new view of David Bowie's Space Oddity, for example, just seems impossible. It's decades old, overplayed, clearly in the cannon of songs that pretty much everyone knows, and yet here I am, listening to it with new ears and new insights. (The old lady in me is supremely happy about this since she will do something drastic if she has to hear one more auto-tuned piece of shit while searching for new music, but we'll talk about that some other time.)
That said, the list of unknown (to me) musicians and songs is embarrassingly long. I can't even begin to imagine how Heller found them all (it must be a personal passion.) Even more impressive is that despite the overlap of themes, topics, and names, despite the levels of influence from authors to musicians and back again, the timetable is seamless. Rather than feeling insulting, repetition is relevant and short, assuming the reader can remember something said twenty pages ago and be reminded with a little "shorthand."
I'm making it sound too academic Really, this is a book I could not put down. It's encyclopedic in the content but it is also compellingly written. And did I mention it's fascinating?
Bowie, of course, takes center stage but we also see a good bit about Jefferson Airplane/Starship, P-Funk, Hawkwind and some other biggies I'm sure I'm forgetting. You're probably saying to yourself, "Yeah, but I bet he doesn't cover (insert obscure '70s band here)." If they wrote a sci-fi song, I'd put good money down that you're wrong. The only two omissions that surprised me were Frank Zappa and the Residents but neither of them could, in any reality, be considered pop.
I ended up with three pages of notes (mostly stuff I need to listen to, watch, and/or read) and can't stop obsessing over the topic so I think this has become a long-term commitment for me. I doubt it would be easy for anyone to read it and forget it.
Apparently it is good form to tell you that I received a pre-pub of this book for free, but as I like to point out, I get books from my library for free all the time, too, and you just need to look at my reviews to see that it doesn't seem to influence me.
I was a child in the '70s and I am familiar with much of the music and books Heller discusses (not so much on movies although I do know Star Wars and Star Trek which was more than enough to get me through) so I figured this would be a fun "trip down memory lane," as it were.
Nope. Not one piece of nostalgic fluff in sight! (That's not a bad thing, in case you aren't sure.) I was so absorbed with the connections I hadn't considered (or wasn't aware of) that it was as if I'd never heard/read/seen/lived it. To have a new view of David Bowie's Space Oddity, for example, just seems impossible. It's decades old, overplayed, clearly in the cannon of songs that pretty much everyone knows, and yet here I am, listening to it with new ears and new insights. (The old lady in me is supremely happy about this since she will do something drastic if she has to hear one more auto-tuned piece of shit while searching for new music, but we'll talk about that some other time.)
That said, the list of unknown (to me) musicians and songs is embarrassingly long. I can't even begin to imagine how Heller found them all (it must be a personal passion.) Even more impressive is that despite the overlap of themes, topics, and names, despite the levels of influence from authors to musicians and back again, the timetable is seamless. Rather than feeling insulting, repetition is relevant and short, assuming the reader can remember something said twenty pages ago and be reminded with a little "shorthand."
I'm making it sound too academic Really, this is a book I could not put down. It's encyclopedic in the content but it is also compellingly written. And did I mention it's fascinating?
Bowie, of course, takes center stage but we also see a good bit about Jefferson Airplane/Starship, P-Funk, Hawkwind and some other biggies I'm sure I'm forgetting. You're probably saying to yourself, "Yeah, but I bet he doesn't cover (insert obscure '70s band here)." If they wrote a sci-fi song, I'd put good money down that you're wrong. The only two omissions that surprised me were Frank Zappa and the Residents but neither of them could, in any reality, be considered pop.
I ended up with three pages of notes (mostly stuff I need to listen to, watch, and/or read) and can't stop obsessing over the topic so I think this has become a long-term commitment for me. I doubt it would be easy for anyone to read it and forget it.
Apparently it is good form to tell you that I received a pre-pub of this book for free, but as I like to point out, I get books from my library for free all the time, too, and you just need to look at my reviews to see that it doesn't seem to influence me.
August 25, 2018
This took a while to finish because I kept having to look up songs. I knew most of the Bowie stuff, but not a lot of the other stuff. Would've liked a little more anecdote/humanizing, but the connections themselves were enough in the end. Clever to structure it around the decade, more or less opening and closing it with Major Tom.
April 18, 2018
Heller uses sci-fi to tie together everything from Sun Ra to Bowie to X-Ray Spex and even some New Romantic stuff from the 80s. It's really all I could ever ask for in a book and possibly the most interesting music book of 2018.
August 10, 2022
I enjoyed this book very much, but to me, it was the very definition of a mile wide and an inch deep. Heller tracks down and catalogs what seems to be every one of the hundreds of science fiction themed songs recorded during the 70s and duly notes if they were inspired by any specific book or movie. What's mostly missing is any sort of broader historical context as to exactly why any of this stuff was happening - beyond "Star Wars came out and was really popular," Heller doesn't seem too interested in getting at why certain themes emerged in music while others faded, beyond vague waves of the hand at topics like the death of 60s idealism, etc. What did any of this actually mean? Strange Stars doesn't really answer that, and that's what prevents it from being a great history book rather than just a really good one. Still, it's ridiculously well-researched and comprehensive, though there are a few irritating, obvious mistakes, such as attributing the Roger Waters-penned "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" to Syd Barrett. Overall, though, this is a fun, very readable book that unearths a ton of music I never knew existed, even if it's not very concerned with explaining why it existed.
April 27, 2019
Great overview of the many, many artists who were influenced by Sci-Fi and incorporated it into their music in the 1970's. (There is only brief mention of music after 1980.) Many of the examples are well known, such as David Bowie, Sun Ra, Hawkwind, and Rush, but many more are not. This took a long time to read because I kept wanting to search for and listen to the listed songs. (There is probably no reason to read this unless you also want to seek out the songs.) I wish there were a website accompanying the book with quick and easy links to all songs, but that is too much to ask for.
Some of the new-to-me things I found from this book:
Paul Kantner - "Blows Against the Empire": perhaps the first Sci-Fi concept album. Nominated for a Hugo Award in 1971.
Marvin Gaye - "A Funky Space Reincarnation". Not great, but still, it's Marvin Gaye!
Dream Boys - "Outer Limits". A future actor who played Dr. Who was already singing Sci-Fi punk in the 70's.
George Duke - "The alien succumbs to the mucho intergalactic funkativity of the funkblaster". Hey, P-Funk weren't the only ones to make space funky! Fabulous!
Jimmy Castor Bunch - "Bertha Butt Encounters Vader". One of many Star-Wars influenced songs.
Alan Parsons Project - "I Robot". Note the absence of a comma in the title. The rights for "I, Robot" had been sold to someone else.
Queen - "39". Inspired by Heinlein.
Julian's Treatment - 'A Time Before This'. Another early Sci-Fi concept album, with related novels: Waiters on the Dance
I need to add this book to my collection so I can slowly listen through all the songs mentioned.
Some of the new-to-me things I found from this book:
Paul Kantner - "Blows Against the Empire": perhaps the first Sci-Fi concept album. Nominated for a Hugo Award in 1971.
Marvin Gaye - "A Funky Space Reincarnation". Not great, but still, it's Marvin Gaye!
Dream Boys - "Outer Limits". A future actor who played Dr. Who was already singing Sci-Fi punk in the 70's.
George Duke - "The alien succumbs to the mucho intergalactic funkativity of the funkblaster". Hey, P-Funk weren't the only ones to make space funky! Fabulous!
Jimmy Castor Bunch - "Bertha Butt Encounters Vader". One of many Star-Wars influenced songs.
Alan Parsons Project - "I Robot". Note the absence of a comma in the title. The rights for "I, Robot" had been sold to someone else.
Queen - "39". Inspired by Heinlein.
Julian's Treatment - 'A Time Before This'. Another early Sci-Fi concept album, with related novels: Waiters on the Dance
I need to add this book to my collection so I can slowly listen through all the songs mentioned.
February 16, 2021
Um livro que mistura ficção científica (Asimov, Burroughs, Kubrick, etc), música boa (Bowie, Rush, The Clash, etc) nas mãos de um jornalista que claramente fez a lição de casa e conseguiu criar uma linha do tempo relacionando lançamentos de álbuns e filmes aos contextos históricos mais relevantes (homem na lua, guerra do vietnam, surgimento do movimento punk) tinha tudo pra ser sensacional, né? Só que isso não aconteceu aqui...
Podem haver várias hipóteses, mas a que eu tendo a acreditar mais é a que divide a responsabilidade da experiência de leitura com o próprio leitor. Evocando as sábias palavras de Arnaldo Antunes, a televisão me deixou burro, muito burro demais, aí quando um autor descreve minunciosamente detalhes das capas dos discos, roupas dos artistas, a tentativa de alguns deles ao trazerem novos equipamentos de som para emularem sons espaciais e os vários trechos de música listados, a sensação que fica é que minha imaginação não é suficiente pra aproveitar tudo isso.
Daí que concluo que o formato ideal do livro - pelo menos pra mim - seria uma mistura de audiobook com e-book para que o leitor possa navegar nos formatos que desejar, audio, video, etc. e curtir a experiência do seu jeito...
Podem haver várias hipóteses, mas a que eu tendo a acreditar mais é a que divide a responsabilidade da experiência de leitura com o próprio leitor. Evocando as sábias palavras de Arnaldo Antunes, a televisão me deixou burro, muito burro demais, aí quando um autor descreve minunciosamente detalhes das capas dos discos, roupas dos artistas, a tentativa de alguns deles ao trazerem novos equipamentos de som para emularem sons espaciais e os vários trechos de música listados, a sensação que fica é que minha imaginação não é suficiente pra aproveitar tudo isso.
Daí que concluo que o formato ideal do livro - pelo menos pra mim - seria uma mistura de audiobook com e-book para que o leitor possa navegar nos formatos que desejar, audio, video, etc. e curtir a experiência do seu jeito...
October 3, 2018
I'm disappointed in a way I have criticized others before in other reviews, in so much as I'm wishing this book covered things it doesn't.
I did enjoy what is there. It puts forth an interesting premise. But I think it misses things that should have been included: Chariot of the Gods, Zolar X, Kiss (previous to Phantom of the Paradise, which does get mentioned,) The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Vambo Rools!) and Dhalgren by Samual R. Delany.
I did enjoy what is there. It puts forth an interesting premise. But I think it misses things that should have been included: Chariot of the Gods, Zolar X, Kiss (previous to Phantom of the Paradise, which does get mentioned,) The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (Vambo Rools!) and Dhalgren by Samual R. Delany.
June 3, 2021
If you were a sentient music lover in the 1970's, you may have noticed a trend in rock and pop music with science fiction themes. You weren't alone. Jason Heller weaves together the common thread, from "Space Oddity" to "Ashes to Ashes" in "Strange Stars." The book started as an encyclopedia of sci-fi music but morphed into a tale of popular culture's obsession with space, UFOs, aliens and robots. I'm glad Mr. Heller chose that path, as it is a very enjoyable read. Especially as I am well familiar with the SF books and movies of the period but apparently not as familiar with the many varied forms they took in music. And I am a big music collector. Recommended for music and science fiction geeks everywhere.
My only quibble with the book is the author's tendency to repeat himself from one chapter to the next. A story or thought told once does not have to be repeated simply because it is in a different chapter.
My only quibble with the book is the author's tendency to repeat himself from one chapter to the next. A story or thought told once does not have to be repeated simply because it is in a different chapter.
August 11, 2018
My teenage musical interests tended to be deep and specific. As I read more about 1970s pop music the more I realize that I'm ignorant of so much of it even now. This book filled in some very serious gaps.
This book isn't just about songs that literally reference sci fi (though there is that - remember disco Star Wars?) but also about the interaction between sci fi authors and rock musicians (Hawkwind and Moorcock) and the fact that a lot of 70s prog and glam rockers were inspired in both sound and appearance by their love of science fiction (Bowie would watch 2001 repeatedly). Like a lot of aficionados of post punk I wrote off prog rock as overblown and didn't realize how much they innovated in terms of theme albums and use of synthesizers.
If you have an interest in 70s rock with a look at broader 1970s sci-fi culture, this book comes highly recommended. If you're interested in Bowie and his ilk in general this and Simon Reynolds' "Shock and Awe" are excellent primers for what to listen to and how it came about.
This book isn't just about songs that literally reference sci fi (though there is that - remember disco Star Wars?) but also about the interaction between sci fi authors and rock musicians (Hawkwind and Moorcock) and the fact that a lot of 70s prog and glam rockers were inspired in both sound and appearance by their love of science fiction (Bowie would watch 2001 repeatedly). Like a lot of aficionados of post punk I wrote off prog rock as overblown and didn't realize how much they innovated in terms of theme albums and use of synthesizers.
If you have an interest in 70s rock with a look at broader 1970s sci-fi culture, this book comes highly recommended. If you're interested in Bowie and his ilk in general this and Simon Reynolds' "Shock and Awe" are excellent primers for what to listen to and how it came about.
July 24, 2018
it's fun and all, but i can't help but feel that it's just another in a series of books which follow such a particular pattern that certain aspects of it can't help but feel shoehorned in. i really wanted heller to tie bowie in more often to the other things he was discussing, but it seems like the throughline floats above the rest of it at too much a remove.
for all its flaws, dave thompson's children of the revolution did a better job of a similar task, using the story of marc bolan as the connecting thread for the history of glam rock. there's just too much listing here, rather than exploring connecting stories and themes.
i understand that it's all about sci-fi, but a discussion as to why so many metal bands looked to fantasy literature -- and especially tolkien -- instead of science fiction would've provided excellent contrast. there are also some interesting omissions.
for all the discussion of rare and obscure singles by bands which never went anywhere, leaving out brownsville station's 'martian boogie' -- which not only went to 59 on the billboard hot 100, but ties into the novelty hits of the '50s and '60s like 'purple people eater,' 'flying saucers rock 'n' roll,' and the like -- is a real missed opportunity.
for all its flaws, dave thompson's children of the revolution did a better job of a similar task, using the story of marc bolan as the connecting thread for the history of glam rock. there's just too much listing here, rather than exploring connecting stories and themes.
i understand that it's all about sci-fi, but a discussion as to why so many metal bands looked to fantasy literature -- and especially tolkien -- instead of science fiction would've provided excellent contrast. there are also some interesting omissions.
for all the discussion of rare and obscure singles by bands which never went anywhere, leaving out brownsville station's 'martian boogie' -- which not only went to 59 on the billboard hot 100, but ties into the novelty hits of the '50s and '60s like 'purple people eater,' 'flying saucers rock 'n' roll,' and the like -- is a real missed opportunity.
November 10, 2018
Actually a 4.5, because I appreciated the amount of genres taken into consideration.
As the subtitle suggests, David Bowie fans will enjoy this book; and indeed his music is the anchor that holds the theme together. However, non-fans will enjoy it too, if they are music and/or sci-fi fans, as many musical artists and genres are discussed, from folk to glam to funk to new wave to electronica to disco to hard rock to indie. Sci-fi novels and movies get a look in, too, as they serve as inspiration for the music. The period covered is the late 60’s to early 80’s, the book is really readable, and the author’s passion for the subject shines through. Recommended for music fans and sci-fi fans.
As the subtitle suggests, David Bowie fans will enjoy this book; and indeed his music is the anchor that holds the theme together. However, non-fans will enjoy it too, if they are music and/or sci-fi fans, as many musical artists and genres are discussed, from folk to glam to funk to new wave to electronica to disco to hard rock to indie. Sci-fi novels and movies get a look in, too, as they serve as inspiration for the music. The period covered is the late 60’s to early 80’s, the book is really readable, and the author’s passion for the subject shines through. Recommended for music fans and sci-fi fans.
June 1, 2022
An intriguing if, occasionally dull, look at the crossover between sci-fi and music. Not unnaturally it starts and ends with David Bowie. I was twelve when I saw Starman played on Top of the Pops and, even though we only had a black and white television, it felt like it was in colour. This was my introduction to David Bowie however I had enjoyed sci-fi since first seeing Star Trek, then getting into classic films of that genre and reading Wells and Wyndham. Some new bands (to me) to check out and a few authors too, so I am glad I took the time to read this.
June 17, 2019
Very enjoyable! I was mostly here for Bowie but tons of other interesting stuff too.
March 22, 2020
A mind-exploding collection of albums inform this fascinating exploration of the intersection of music and science fiction. Too bad the writing doesn't live up to its topic and ultimately gets overwhelmed and thinned out by trying to be comprehensive as it strays far away from the central concern with David Bowie.
Science fiction and music or sound is a woefully under-developed area of written analysis and history, with only a few existing essays, articles, or books (Kodwo Eshun's "More Brilliant than the Sun," for one, may well be the very best among them). Jason Heller's "Strange Stars" is at times thrilling, a fast-paced flight through science fiction and the music of the '70s, linked together by the ever-evolving David Bowie, but touching on every genre of music that has some connection to sci-fi. Some artists discussed -- like Bowie, Devo, Meco, Paul Kantner, Gary Numan, Sun Ra, George Clinton and P-Funk, and many more -- are eager to make music a science fictional form in its own right. Others, like Boston or ELO, get caught up in the image of sci-fi on album art and stage shows but without necessarily writing sci-fi songs. But in either case, the author makes the point that science fiction in image, word and sound, is more than a mere meme but an important means by which we navigate technically accelerated culture. Unfortunately, though, the book ultimately only scratches the surface of this insight, and gets overwhelmed by the zeal of listing an increasing catalog of albums.
The book is relatively short, and conversational, but my wish is that the author had delved more deeply into the implications of his discoveries and observations before moving on from one artist or album to another. The book is fun and informative but not particularly thought-provoking. It's a very light read, its focus on the '70s (with brief discussions on either side of the decade) leaving readers on their own to think about the implications of the connections between music in its many forms and the field of science fiction as something that goes beyond pop culture to get at the heart of the human drive through technoculture.
The best thing about it? I ended up with a hell of an awesome space disco playlist after reading this! How had I never heard Mandré? The worst thing about it? I wish I had been given more substantial things to think about, as this is a topic that means so much to me, and I can't help but feel like an opportunity was missed here.
Science fiction and music or sound is a woefully under-developed area of written analysis and history, with only a few existing essays, articles, or books (Kodwo Eshun's "More Brilliant than the Sun," for one, may well be the very best among them). Jason Heller's "Strange Stars" is at times thrilling, a fast-paced flight through science fiction and the music of the '70s, linked together by the ever-evolving David Bowie, but touching on every genre of music that has some connection to sci-fi. Some artists discussed -- like Bowie, Devo, Meco, Paul Kantner, Gary Numan, Sun Ra, George Clinton and P-Funk, and many more -- are eager to make music a science fictional form in its own right. Others, like Boston or ELO, get caught up in the image of sci-fi on album art and stage shows but without necessarily writing sci-fi songs. But in either case, the author makes the point that science fiction in image, word and sound, is more than a mere meme but an important means by which we navigate technically accelerated culture. Unfortunately, though, the book ultimately only scratches the surface of this insight, and gets overwhelmed by the zeal of listing an increasing catalog of albums.
The book is relatively short, and conversational, but my wish is that the author had delved more deeply into the implications of his discoveries and observations before moving on from one artist or album to another. The book is fun and informative but not particularly thought-provoking. It's a very light read, its focus on the '70s (with brief discussions on either side of the decade) leaving readers on their own to think about the implications of the connections between music in its many forms and the field of science fiction as something that goes beyond pop culture to get at the heart of the human drive through technoculture.
The best thing about it? I ended up with a hell of an awesome space disco playlist after reading this! How had I never heard Mandré? The worst thing about it? I wish I had been given more substantial things to think about, as this is a topic that means so much to me, and I can't help but feel like an opportunity was missed here.
March 30, 2018
This was a heck of a lot of fun to read. My interest in sci-fi is fairly minimal, but it was delightful to read about how different sci-fi authors and stories and franchises influenced rock music, especially David Bowie - who is the main thread through the book. You better have YouTube or Spotify handy while you read because you’ll be picking up lots of new tracks to listen to, and I finished with a small list of sci-fi novels I’d like to try. If you’re a fan of Bowie, read it. If you like 70s rock, read it. If you like the sci-fi genre, read it. There’s something for most everyone in the book.
August 3, 2020
This book is a fascinating examination of the cross-pollination between music and culture, specifically science fiction culture.
Tons of meticulous research both in the musical and literary realms, jam-packed with bands and stories I'd never heard of. As I teach a college course in SF Literature, I was surprised to read about stories I'd never heard of, which made me want to go look those stories up right away.
If you love books about the history of music and you love SF, I highly recommend this book.
Tons of meticulous research both in the musical and literary realms, jam-packed with bands and stories I'd never heard of. As I teach a college course in SF Literature, I was surprised to read about stories I'd never heard of, which made me want to go look those stories up right away.
If you love books about the history of music and you love SF, I highly recommend this book.
April 1, 2019
Interesting, if not a bit superficial. Read like a list of sci-fi connected music more than an exploration of it. Yet, still entertaining.
September 10, 2018
So, full disclosure, I love music (not as much as I love the person who gave me this book, though) and I'm a bit of a David Bowie obsessive. Seeing his face and name on the incredibly pretty cover of this book definitely got me interested
The cover and title actually happen to be a bit misleading, because the book doesn't really have all that much to do with Bowie, certainly not enough for him to get top billing. If you're looking for a biography of David Bowie, look elsewhere (The Age of Bowie is a good, if needlessly wordy, one). If you're looking for a book that dives into his music, there's a really great book that analyzes a great deal of his tracks whose title I wish I could remember. If you're looking for an outline of the relationship between science fiction and music throughout the 1970s, this is your book. As far as I was concerned, it was a surprise to be sure but a welcome one
It all began in the late 60s, when a lot of prog rock groups took inspiration from their favorite sci-fi authors and integrated elements from their work into their music. Then came the moon landing in 1969 and with it came Space Oddity, David Bowie's seminal single that began music's dalliance with sci-fi in earnest. And then came the 70s, and Jason Heller charts the relationship between rock and sci-fi and the spread of that influence to funk and disco and then waning of sci-fi's presence in popular music as 1980 rolled around, closing with a slightly deeper dive into the remake of Space Oddity and the release of Ashes to Ashes, David Bowie's ending bookmark of the 70s
This is a book about entire scenes of music that persisted through and past a decade. It would be so easy for a writer to get bogged down in the minutiae of sci-fi/prog rock or sci-fi/rock or sci-fi/funk or whatever, but Heller glides smoothly through the era, introducing us to the many individuals and bands that thrived in this era. These include acts that have become hallmarks of the genre - Bowie himself, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, etc - but it also includes bands that I'd never heard of before - Hawkwind is almost as big a player in this story as Bowie. I actually went ahead and made a big list of these acts that I want to listen to, and if you're also in search of some great sci-fi music, this book has got the goods. While you're at it, make a point to read the novels that inspired these artists as well, they must be pretty legit
The lack of Bowie in this book doesn't really bother me, nor did it come as a huge surprise. Though he's the face of sci-fi music, only a handful of his 27 albums are actually sci-fi, and of them, only a few were released in the period covered by this book. I'm glad that Blackstar got a mention at the end, such a great album
My only complaint with Strange Stars is that it does get a bit boring, which really shouldn't be happening in a book filled with 70s rockstars. I've read Bowie's biography and I'm familiar with all the insanity that happened in his life, but none of it shows in this book, and the same is true for all the other bands as well. The coverage of the Altamont Free Concert was so bare, considering what a defining moment that was for music as a whole. What does come across well in this book is the way so many artists wound up inspiring each other over the years. The music industry is a small world, as it happens
If the subject matter interests you, Strange Stars is an engaging and interesting chronicle of an era of music that occasionally leaves out some of the juicier details. That being said, if you want a deep dive into Bowie or any of the other artists mentioned in this book, you'd be better off searching elsewhere
The cover and title actually happen to be a bit misleading, because the book doesn't really have all that much to do with Bowie, certainly not enough for him to get top billing. If you're looking for a biography of David Bowie, look elsewhere (The Age of Bowie is a good, if needlessly wordy, one). If you're looking for a book that dives into his music, there's a really great book that analyzes a great deal of his tracks whose title I wish I could remember. If you're looking for an outline of the relationship between science fiction and music throughout the 1970s, this is your book. As far as I was concerned, it was a surprise to be sure but a welcome one
It all began in the late 60s, when a lot of prog rock groups took inspiration from their favorite sci-fi authors and integrated elements from their work into their music. Then came the moon landing in 1969 and with it came Space Oddity, David Bowie's seminal single that began music's dalliance with sci-fi in earnest. And then came the 70s, and Jason Heller charts the relationship between rock and sci-fi and the spread of that influence to funk and disco and then waning of sci-fi's presence in popular music as 1980 rolled around, closing with a slightly deeper dive into the remake of Space Oddity and the release of Ashes to Ashes, David Bowie's ending bookmark of the 70s
This is a book about entire scenes of music that persisted through and past a decade. It would be so easy for a writer to get bogged down in the minutiae of sci-fi/prog rock or sci-fi/rock or sci-fi/funk or whatever, but Heller glides smoothly through the era, introducing us to the many individuals and bands that thrived in this era. These include acts that have become hallmarks of the genre - Bowie himself, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, etc - but it also includes bands that I'd never heard of before - Hawkwind is almost as big a player in this story as Bowie. I actually went ahead and made a big list of these acts that I want to listen to, and if you're also in search of some great sci-fi music, this book has got the goods. While you're at it, make a point to read the novels that inspired these artists as well, they must be pretty legit
The lack of Bowie in this book doesn't really bother me, nor did it come as a huge surprise. Though he's the face of sci-fi music, only a handful of his 27 albums are actually sci-fi, and of them, only a few were released in the period covered by this book. I'm glad that Blackstar got a mention at the end, such a great album
My only complaint with Strange Stars is that it does get a bit boring, which really shouldn't be happening in a book filled with 70s rockstars. I've read Bowie's biography and I'm familiar with all the insanity that happened in his life, but none of it shows in this book, and the same is true for all the other bands as well. The coverage of the Altamont Free Concert was so bare, considering what a defining moment that was for music as a whole. What does come across well in this book is the way so many artists wound up inspiring each other over the years. The music industry is a small world, as it happens
If the subject matter interests you, Strange Stars is an engaging and interesting chronicle of an era of music that occasionally leaves out some of the juicier details. That being said, if you want a deep dive into Bowie or any of the other artists mentioned in this book, you'd be better off searching elsewhere
September 27, 2022
I was really looking forward to this book, but it has to be said I am, for some reason, vaguely disappointed in it. I was a teenager in the 70's and was an avid SF fan from the age of 12 and also a huge fan of music that related to my book fixation. However, being in the UK my music collection was primarily of the prog rock, heavy metal variety, moving into punk and synth as the decade progressed, I had absolutely no interest in disco, funk and other music that I considered populist pap (sorry, but it was kind of a pseudo intellectual affectation that a lot of us teens at the time who were considered a bit off because we liked SF had, especially us girls, who were somewhat of a rarity in places like Forbidden Planet (famous SF bookshop in the UK), at the time), this book does have a lot about the disco and funk genre in it, which I am afraid rather bored me as I had not heard the music; this is not the author's problem, it is mine. The book's chapters are split into years, with an introductory and final chapter dealing with the 60's and 80's, within the chapters the book tends to wander from one type of music to another without much of a signal, all the notes are at the end of the book and footnotes would have been helpful. I am afraid I could not work out whether this was supposed to be an academic study of the influence of SF literature on music, or a critical analysis of the music of the decade with reference to the influence of SF literature thereon. It was certainly not, as I had hoped, a jolly romp through the amazing music created at the time that had a very SF leaning to it. I am not sure how old the author is, but he certainly failed to capture the profound influence this music had on the intense teenage SF fans of the time and how it fired our imaginations. There are no interviews with fans, the book has no illustrations to show the joie de vivre of the album covers, the atmosphere at the concerts, in general it is rather a dry tome. It would have been a lot better with a few illustrations...
January 13, 2019
This is a fascinating treatise on the influence of science fiction on popular music from 1968 to the early eighties. David Bowie is the titular focus, although the book ranges from rock, to funk, to disco, to techno, and so forth. Bowie read so much, thought about and occasionally borrowed what he read, and was constantly reinventing himself and influencing others in the rock and pop world, that this is a good place to start (Example: Bowie saw 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and the next year released his first single, Space Oddity. Pretty similar, huh: Space Odyssey and Space Oddity?) But Author Jason Heller is interested in the influence of science fiction from ALL media: from novels by popular sci-fi authors, to TV shows of the period (the original Star Trek ran from 1966 to 1969), to of course movies (Star Wars was released in 1977 and immediately caused as much a sensation in music as it did elsewhere). Here's an example of the writing: "(Gary) Numan never undertook a direct adaptation of the works of Dick, Coney, or any other writer. "Influences, when used wisely, should be a series of little sparks that just ignite your own ideas," he said. Instead, he absorbed his favorite sci-fi books and movies, converting them into raw material to be molded into new yet hauntingly familiar shapes. In that sense, Numan exemplified pop music's relationship with sci-fi throughout the '70's: science fiction could be a direct source of subject matter, but it could also be a catalyst for one's own concepts and narratives." While this is fascinating stuff, a word of warning: Strange Stars is not light reading or something you would read on a whim. Author Jason Heller seemingly has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music during this time, and the research to formulate this must have been formidable; at times the prose is dense, almost impenetrable. But, if you're a science fiction and/or music geek (and you know who you are), you will definitely grok this book.
May 19, 2019
This was a fun read overall, but I had a few problems with it.
One of the main issues is that it doesn't feature nearly enough David Bowie. I didn't learn many new things about Bowie (though, to be fair, I've already read several Bowie biographies...) and he was mostly mentioned in the first and last chapters. Bowie functions as a bookend for 1970's sci-fi music - and that's an interesting way to look at things, but it also makes for a misleading cover and title.
Along the same lines, there is a LOT of information in this book that doesn't involve Bowie. Each year of the 1970's has a chapter dedicated to it and these chapters are filled with information about important sci-fi music released that year. But there's SO MUCH MUSIC that's mentioned - it's difficult to follow along or care too much about each artist or album when you know a completely different artist will be focused on in the next paragraph. I think I might've appreciated this book more if there was a focus on a few of the most important or influential song/albums of each year and it was connected to Bowie.
That being said, there were a few artists that were mentioned quite a bit in this book and I enjoyed learning more about them. I gained new appreciation for Jefferson Airplane, P-Funk, and X-Ray Spex - bands that I previously haven't given much thought to. This book helped me understand their connections to sci-fi music and how they influenced later groups.
Overall, this is an interesting read if you want a larger context in which to appreciate David Bowie's work (and to learn about contemporary artists). However, the scope of it is too big to really have an overarching thesis or theme - beyond the fact that David Bowie released popular sci-fi songs in 1969 and 1980. I'd love to read more focused work on David Bowie's connections with science fiction - but this book didn't provide that sufficiently.
One of the main issues is that it doesn't feature nearly enough David Bowie. I didn't learn many new things about Bowie (though, to be fair, I've already read several Bowie biographies...) and he was mostly mentioned in the first and last chapters. Bowie functions as a bookend for 1970's sci-fi music - and that's an interesting way to look at things, but it also makes for a misleading cover and title.
Along the same lines, there is a LOT of information in this book that doesn't involve Bowie. Each year of the 1970's has a chapter dedicated to it and these chapters are filled with information about important sci-fi music released that year. But there's SO MUCH MUSIC that's mentioned - it's difficult to follow along or care too much about each artist or album when you know a completely different artist will be focused on in the next paragraph. I think I might've appreciated this book more if there was a focus on a few of the most important or influential song/albums of each year and it was connected to Bowie.
That being said, there were a few artists that were mentioned quite a bit in this book and I enjoyed learning more about them. I gained new appreciation for Jefferson Airplane, P-Funk, and X-Ray Spex - bands that I previously haven't given much thought to. This book helped me understand their connections to sci-fi music and how they influenced later groups.
Overall, this is an interesting read if you want a larger context in which to appreciate David Bowie's work (and to learn about contemporary artists). However, the scope of it is too big to really have an overarching thesis or theme - beyond the fact that David Bowie released popular sci-fi songs in 1969 and 1980. I'd love to read more focused work on David Bowie's connections with science fiction - but this book didn't provide that sufficiently.
November 10, 2024
Strange Stars: David Bowie, Pop Music, and the Decade Sci-Fi Exploded by Jason Heller is a fascinating exploration of the intersection between popular music and science fiction during the 1970s, with a particular focus on the iconic figure of David Bowie. Heller delves deep into how Bowie, along with other influential musicians of the era, was deeply inspired by the sci-fi movements of the time, and how he in turn became a pivotal figure in the genre's cultural crossover. The book takes the reader on a vibrant journey through the world of glam rock, prog rock, and other musical styles that were shaped by the futuristic aesthetics and themes found in sci-fi literature and film. Heller does an exceptional job of showing how these artists, particularly Bowie, used otherworldly and alien imagery to question social norms and push the boundaries of artistic expression.
What makes Strange Stars particularly engaging is its seamless blend of music history with a deep dive into the sci-fi culture of the 1970s. Heller explores not just Bowie’s relationship with science fiction, but also how other musicians like Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, and even lesser-known figures within the rock and electronic music scenes engaged with themes like space exploration, dystopian futures, and the fluidity of identity. The author does a thorough job of explaining the significance of Bowie's albums like Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs, analyzing how these works reflect the burgeoning sci-fi genre in both music and wider culture. While Heller’s writing can get dense with references, it is clearly intended for those with a deep interest in both music and sci-fi. Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand how the 1970s shaped not only the music industry but also the way pop culture looked at the future.
What makes Strange Stars particularly engaging is its seamless blend of music history with a deep dive into the sci-fi culture of the 1970s. Heller explores not just Bowie’s relationship with science fiction, but also how other musicians like Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, and even lesser-known figures within the rock and electronic music scenes engaged with themes like space exploration, dystopian futures, and the fluidity of identity. The author does a thorough job of explaining the significance of Bowie's albums like Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs, analyzing how these works reflect the burgeoning sci-fi genre in both music and wider culture. While Heller’s writing can get dense with references, it is clearly intended for those with a deep interest in both music and sci-fi. Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand how the 1970s shaped not only the music industry but also the way pop culture looked at the future.
January 27, 2019
Despite the title, this isn't a biography of David Bowie, though he does figure prominently in it. (It is rather bittersweet reading at times, as the author makes plain how keenly Bowie is still missed.) It is, however, the chronicle of a decade, the 70's, bookended by Bowie's Major Tom songs, 1969's "Space Oddity" and 1980's "Ashes To Ashes." The focus here is on the marriage of rock, funk, disco, New Wave, and punk music with science fiction and fantasy. David Bowie is one of this eclectic blend's foremost practitioners, but he is by no means the only one, as the author's exhaustive research demonstrates.
Indeed, the progression of forgotten artists and songs across these pages is amazing. (And amusing, such as the anecdotes of Jefferson Starship, apparently post-Grace Slick, acting as the holo band in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, and a pre-Doctor Who Peter Capaldi singing and playing on an SF song with his group, the Dreamboys.) The prog-rock band Hawkwind, with its SF connection being the novelist Michael Moorcock, is almost as prominent as Bowie and Paul Kantner, who, with Jefferson Airplane, released the first Hugo-nominated album, Blows Against the Empire, in 1970. There's also a very interesting discussion of the amount of music inspired by Star Wars in 1977, including the disco-fied Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk (which I remember owning once upon a time! It might've been worth something now, dammit!).
This book's twelve chapters cover the marriage of SF and music from the end of the 60's to the beginning of the 80's, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to the birth of MTV. What a long, strange trip it was, and I'm grateful to the author for chronicling it.
Indeed, the progression of forgotten artists and songs across these pages is amazing. (And amusing, such as the anecdotes of Jefferson Starship, apparently post-Grace Slick, acting as the holo band in the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, and a pre-Doctor Who Peter Capaldi singing and playing on an SF song with his group, the Dreamboys.) The prog-rock band Hawkwind, with its SF connection being the novelist Michael Moorcock, is almost as prominent as Bowie and Paul Kantner, who, with Jefferson Airplane, released the first Hugo-nominated album, Blows Against the Empire, in 1970. There's also a very interesting discussion of the amount of music inspired by Star Wars in 1977, including the disco-fied Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk (which I remember owning once upon a time! It might've been worth something now, dammit!).
This book's twelve chapters cover the marriage of SF and music from the end of the 60's to the beginning of the 80's, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to the birth of MTV. What a long, strange trip it was, and I'm grateful to the author for chronicling it.
January 28, 2019
Hugo Award–winner Jason Heller traverses the realm of 1970s science fiction in his thorough cultural history that examines how the genre influenced music and musicians, from David Bowie’s 1969 “Space Oddity” to the “tipping point” in 1977, when Star Wars, Alan Parsons Project’s I, Robot, and Styx’s “Come Sail Away” were all released. Never before has anyone written a book on how sci-fi paved the way for major musical and pop culture innovations. David Bowie’s career is a constant thread throughout, from his “Space Oddity” song (inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Apollo 11 moon landing), which Heller establishes as the catalyst for sci-fi infiltrating 1970s music, to its sequel “Ashes to Ashes” in 1980, demonstrating the Bowie was at the forefront of musical innovation within this decade that often gets ridiculed for disco. Heller excavates sci-fi influences across genres including the influences that shapes Rush's classic album 2112; the robotic aesthetic of electronic duo Kraftwerk and their cold, mechanical, synthesizer-driven music; the dystopian lyrics of postpunk bands such as Joy Division; and the extraterrestrial liberation baked into the identity of seminal funk band Parliament. Heller concludes that, while countless bands wrote songs about science fiction, Bowie stood apart because he “was science fiction.” Heller concludes the book with a brief discussion on Bowie's last album and his elusive death. It's really all I could ever ask for in a book and possibly the most interesting music book of 2018. My only critique is that I wished he wrote an epilogue that briefly discussed the late 80s and 90s.
September 6, 2020
The writing is sometimes flat, but the research is awesome. Strange Stars documents permutations of science fiction-related pop music from the late '60s to the early '80s, with David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona and his later otherworldly collaborations with Brian Eno as the locus. Parliament/Funkadelic, Hawkwind, Kraftwerk, T. Rex, and Devo make significant experiences, along with artists I hadn't previously heard of, like Klaatu, Nektar, Ray Cathode, and Joe Meek & the Blue Men. They made some very cool, experimental music that drew heavily on the work of Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, George Orwell, and Michael Moorcock, not to mention classic movies such as Metropolis and, eventually, Star Wars. Not every genre-adjacent song of the decade was great, but there are plenty of gems to be found in Heller's tour of this interesting era in SF—it's easy to draw threads between some of the music documented here and the more recent work of Daft Punk and Janelle Monáe, just to name two of the very best current examples. It's a fun ride through a variety of genres and styles, rendered in serviceable prose.
For the interested and the adventurous, here's the days-long Spotify playlist I assembled from most of the music that received a significant mention in the book:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Yo...
For the interested and the adventurous, here's the days-long Spotify playlist I assembled from most of the music that received a significant mention in the book:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Yo...
July 12, 2023
Strange Stars is a look at the connection between Sci-Fi and the genre of Sci-Fi Music. It covers the years between the release of David Bowie's Space Oddity and the sequel Ashes to Ashes in 1980 with Major Tom as a character. This book is meticulously researched and reads more like an encyclopedia of "Sci-Fi Music", something the author stated he did not want to do. I enjoyed the book, but I think one of the issues I have is what defines Sci-Fi music. The book seems to have multiple interpretations; a Sci-Fi sounding title or lyrics to a song or album; a professed love of Sci-Fi novels and authors by the writer or even a connection to an established Sci-Fi novel, film or TV show; having a Sci-Fi writer contribute to the lyrics are also included; the use of synthesizers and technology also gets a mention. Even just having a Sci-Fi like album cover with nothing else Sci-Fi related would be included. There are some really obscure references, but I find it hard to believe that artists like Jean Michel Jarre and Tomita, synthesizer heavy music that feel like Sci-Fi are not mentioned even in passing. Oxygene is a classic album that came out in the mid 70's and I must think that a cover showing the earth peeling back it's skin to reveal a skull below and the synthesizer exclusive sounds classifies as Sci-Fi music. Maybe it is the fact they are not "pop" music, I am not sure.
Still an interesting book to read but I feel it was a bit forced in its interpretation.
Still an interesting book to read but I feel it was a bit forced in its interpretation.
December 30, 2018
STRANGE STARS would have benefited from a sharper focus on fewer artists. Beginning with 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and ending in the early '80s, it runs down the 1970s with a chapter on each year, tracing sci-fi imagery in pop music. But for every bit of thematic analysis of Bowie, Kraftwerk, P-Funk, Hawkwind or Gary Human that Heller engages in, he just lists obscure prog or disco songs that came out in the year he's writing about which referred to robots or outer space without having anything substantial to say about them. The book also could've benefited from examining the ways sci-fi changed over the decade he's covering: the differences between 2001 and Star Wars, the two most influential films he writes about, are telling, although the post-punk/New Wave artists to whom STRANGE STARS devotes most of its final 2 chapters drew far more from Ballard and Dick than any films. Heller mentions writing a chapter on the influence of Ballard on post-punk for an academic journal's issue on sci-fi and music as the spur for this book, but it seems drawn too thin.
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