Danger and expense, expense and danger, danger and expense. These things comfortably head the list of space travel’s main obstacles. According to my logic at least . In about 2006, I was at a Virgin Retail works BBQ and the director Simon Douglas made a little speech during which he reported the latest news that he’d picked up from the section of Virgin Group devoted to space trips and space hotels. Apparently, the Virgin Galactic guys had said everything was going smoothly and their current over-riding concern was the issues surrounding licensing. Licensing for a hotel in space.
There’s a version of this anecdote where I put my hand up at the end of the speech and mention my observations about danger and expense, hinting that they might be more pressing worries than licensing, and then my colleagues are in hysterics as I suggest that Virgin Galactic might want to adjust their priorities. Obviously, I didn’t actually do any of that. What Barbecue-ees want is nosh….pronto, rather than moderately amusing snark at the expense of a company’s astral wing. We all know that, so I kept my hand resolutely down, and my thoughts to myself. Curiously enough, and sadly too, 8 years later a co-pilot, Michael Astbury, was killed when a Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashed during a test flight. A much crasser me might have been tempted to attend the funeral with a placard reading, “I occasionally daydream that I told you so. At a BBQ.” But how could I be sure that Simon Douglas would have passed on my imaginary message anyway?
Billionaire space antics continue to this day, and there´s a hint that !!! might have had this in mind when they chose the songs for their new single, cover version of Fast Car and Man On The Moon. The sleeve design shows a car in space, which looks a bit like the Tesla that Elon Musk sent up, although !!!´s version has a driver and a passenger, whereas Musk´s only had a driver. Who was a dummy, which meant he didn´t die.
The band´s frontman, Nic Offer, has been quoted suggesting less involved motives behind the song selections.
REM was known as the killer house party band in Athens, years before they became MTV darlings. We re-imagined 'Man on the Moon' as something they would play at those house parties, in the thick of the James Brown/Ohio Players sample era. The goal was to make 'Fast Car' sound even faster. Something you would play in a FAST FUCKING CAR. The verses are the bitter small town feel of it all and the chorus is the fast car on the open highway -- into a night of possibilities....
It is a pretty bonkers and speedy version of Fast Car, with a proper electro chassis. The vocals on the chorus from Nicole Fayu do a nice job of grabbing attention as they zoom by, like neon accents or funky wing mirrors if you´re on a budget. What won me over really was the clear abandonment of cool. !!! must be getting on a bit now, so REM and Tracy Chapman are natural choices. Their last covers EP from 2005 featured tracks by Nate Dogg and Magnetic Fields, artists who reflect a greater concern with trendiness. So they´ve successfully adjusted their priorities, just like I didn´t tell Virgin Galactic to.
THIS WEEK
!!! – Fast Car
792 views since 8th Sept Weekly Average Views – 616
LAST WEEK
Sink Ya Teeth – The Crown
Weekly Average Views – 15 Blog Week Views – 12 (oh dear)
EXTRAS
!!! – Man On The Moon
!!! – Take Ecstasy With Me
!!! – Get Up