VA - Greatest Hits From Outer Space (2013)

Ace’s odyssey through time and space to bring you this compilation has taken almost as long as the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. The 40th anniversary of the moon landing had yet to be celebrated when this CD was first scheduled for lift-off. It has taken a fair old while to get to the launching pad, but we haven’t Saturn our backsides waiting for mission control to clear us for lift-off. The Ace-tronauts of Steele Road never lost sight of their mission statement – which was to boldly go where no CD of its type had gone before; maybe even to The Final Frontier as far as space-themed compilations go. Nearly five years after the final countdown first began, we are ready for the blast off! “Greatest Hits From Outer Space” offers a stellar collection of music that can truthfully be said to be nothing less than out of this world. Whether you live on Jupiter or in Jesmond, on Venus or in Ventnor, on Pluto or in Prestwich, Ace’s lab-coated boffins have bet their moonboots that, unlike Houston, you won’t have a problem in enjoying this voyage around the galaxy of space-related music. We don’t claim to be definitive in our quest – to be so would require a boxed set, at least – but we do feel that we’ve left no moon rock unturned in an attempt to bring you the best selection of space-related music ever to orbit around your CD player.

Our trip around the galaxy embraces all manner of other worldly sounds. You won’t be hearing from any purple people eaters with the kind of sped-up voice which make your Mercury rise and which Mars any listening experience, but you will hear all sorts of other weird and wonderful sounds as you spin through the musical orbit. Your flight time is around 75 minutes, during which time you will thrill to the Theremin’s eeriness, hear legendary space and sci-fi related 1950s and 60s movie and TV music, catch a few popular songs by such space age talents as Bobby Womack, the Ames Brothers, Moon Mullican and Thelma Houston relating specifically to our old friend Mr Green Cheese, and much more besides – including what we believe to be the first appearance of a piece of classical music on an Ace compilation, courtesy of that nice Mr Strauss and his ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, a favourite of all would-be astronauts since the days when even 2001 seemed an impossibly long way off, never mind 2014. Older listeners may feel the urge to hide behind the nearest sofa when the original theme to Doctor Who appears about halfway through the trip. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

By Tony Rounce

Tracklist

1. Berliner Philharmoniker – Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op 30
2. The Ames Brothers – Destination Moon
3. Les Baxter Orchestra – Lunar Rhapsody
4. Moon Mullican – Rocket To The Moon
5. David Rose & His Orchestra – Forbidden Planet
6. Billy Riley & His Little Green Men – Flying Saucers Rock'N'Roll
7. Dick Hyman & Mary Mayo – Maid Of The Moon
8. Ella Fitzgerald & Sy Oliver & His Orchestra – Two Little Men in A Flying Saucer
9. Jimmie Haskell & His Orchestra – Rockin' In The Orbit (Space Satellite)
10. Vernon Green & The Medallions – Rocket Ship
11. The Tornados – Telstar
12. Lightnin' Hopkins – Happy Blues For John Glenn
13. Gene Vincent – Spaceship To Mars
14. BBC Radiophonic Workshop – Doctor Who
15. The Ventures – Twilight Zone
16. Bobby Womack – Everyone's Gone To The Moon
17. Leonard Nimoy – Theme From Star Trek
18. The Byrds – Mr Spaceman
19. Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley – Visa To The Stars
20. David Bowie – Space Oddity
21. Thelma Houston – Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon
22. Johnny Harris & His Orchestra – Footprints On The Moon
23. I Roy & Lee Perry – Space Flight
24. John Stewart – Armstrong