Saturday, May 9, 2009

Saturday Music to Go Where No Man Has Gone Before

In honor of the new STAR TREK reboot or "prequel" this May weekend, THE FUTURIST! delved into the esoterica of celebrity attempts at warbling a tune. He found Mr. William Shatner, the original and only Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, who thought or thinks he can ... sing. His ego is legendary and so is his cult LP recording of pop tunes. Mr. Shatner, as seen in these visuals, does sincerely think he can sing and he, also, thinks he is a thespian of the highest caliber; this is indicated by his "interpretations" of these songs. It is a strange mixture of musical performance, stage acting and a full platter of hot steaming, right out of the oven greasy ham.

First, a warm up with talk show host Mike Douglas:



And, now, Mr. Shatner performs "When I was 17" ...



Finally, THE FUTURIST!'s most favorite of all. Shatner and his theatrical prop of a smoldering cigarette, plus his doppelganger perform "Rocket Man". This performance was criminally committed at the 1978 Science Fiction Awards. Bernie Taupin, who co-wrote this song with Elton John, even endorses the act and says he is proud to present it. Oh ... my.



WHEN I WAS 17
and ROCKET MAN

performed by William Shatner

4 comments:

Dara said...

Awesome.

I played Will's version of Mr. Tambourine Man for the "Not My Cup of Tea" section of The Dog Show a few months ago. I was actually going to play another one of his tunes this week for the new Star Trek movie. I have a CD called "Spaced Out" which is all songs by him and Leonard Nimoy. Very strange. Nimoy is a little bit country.

Also, have you seen the Family Guy spoof of Shatner's Rocket Man?

http://lewdies.com/video/1370/Family-Guy-Rocket-Man

Paul Webster said...

Excellent stuff, I also love his version of Common People by Pulp.

Paul Webster said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
THE FUTURIST! said...

Thank you both, Dara and Webby.

Dara:

THE FUTURIST! has heard Mr. Nimoy's voice and singing style. HE heard him sing "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" It was better than Kenny Rogers' version. Did not see Family Guy spoof. But will check out your link to it.

Webby:

Have not heard his Common People song. Is this on his cd? Will investigate. Celebrity singing is a science unto itself.