The lovely and talented actress Anne Francis passed away this past Sunday, due to complications from pancreatic cancer, per the New York Times. In honor of her amazing performance in one of the finest bits of sci-fi cinema ever, Forbidden Planet (which we will watch and ogle respectably during the swimming scene), we felt that a list of five great sci-fi-related songs was an appropriate tribute.
Of course, we have to start off with the theme song to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, "Science Fiction Double Feature," which mentions both Anne Francis herself and Forbidden Planet, in addition to a litany of science-fiction films, such as Day of the Triffids and the Day the Earth Stood Still. Also, perhaps the only song ever to name-check Michael Rennie.
From there, it only makes sense to go on to a song titled after the starlet's most famous role, that being Teenage Bottlerocket's "Forbidden Planet." I'm going to gather that, given the song's lyrical content -- such as No one can save us our time has come to pay / Destroying anything that's standing in its way -- it was written by band member Kody Templeman, whose former band, the Lillingtons, was well-known for its genre subject matter that included things like "Invasion of the Saucer Men."
Billy Lee Riley's "Flying Saucers Rock 'n' Roll" is 100 percent an artifact of the 1950s. Does that matter? No, not really. It's catchy as hell, and for whatever reason, it has become a rockabilly one-hit wonder that has managed to outlive the whole '50s saucer craze. Why? I imagine that the idea of little green men coming to teach humankind how to do the bop -- rather than anally probe all of humanity -- has its appeal.
There are several bands that present themselves as coming from outer space and playing rock 'n' roll. Man...Or Astro-Man? is the instrumental one. All of its songs are goddamn amazing, bringing in diverse elements like theremin or, in the case of some live shows, a Tesla coil. This is a band that not only pretends to come from outer space but also brings a device that creates CONTROLLED FUCKING LIGHTNING onstage. Add in things like the launch countdown at the beginning of "Rocketship XL-3" and you've a recipe for sci-fi success.
Outer-space dress-up band No. 2 is the Phenomenauts. They go one step further than Man...Or Astro-Man? and travel in a van modded to look like a spaceship, in addition to dressing in uniforms and referring to their fans as "cadets." They even go so far as to sell uniform jackets that look like something the Rocketeer would sport. Their latest album, For All Mankind, came in a deluxe foldout digipak that formed into a rocketship. "Infinite Frontier" is devoted to the hopes and dreams of all outer-space travelers.
For more science-fiction songs, check out our colleagues over at Topless Robot, who did a list of the 15 Greatest Science-Fiction-Based Pop/Rock Songs last February.
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