x-posted with Bitches because of our earlier discussion of Crystals and Angels from other planets....

I'm digging this trippy 1977 video of The Carpenters, with a full orchestra, covering Klaatu's amazing "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft." From the Official Klaatu Homepage:

The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the "International Flying Saucer Bureau" sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed "World Contact Day" whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words..."Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!"

blog thingie: [link]

video: [link]

The video starts out with this cheesy, corny bit of comedy (I think) of aliens calling a radio station's request line.

Is this the most awesome video ever, or what?

One of my brother's and my favorite songs when it came out. Probably still around on LP in one of our homes.

I loved it when it came out, but even then I thought it was a little too goofy for me to love any more than I did.

Please interstellar policeman....

eta: If anything, I love it more now. I have embraced the cheesiness....

In a less goofy, more sciency vein (but still just as weird), I bring you... audio illusions!

Shepard's ascending tones(MP3) - This is a recording of Shepard's paradox synthesized by Jean-Claude Risset. Pairs of chords sound as if they are advancing up the scale, but in fact the starting pair of chords is the same as the finishing pair. If you loop this sample seamlessly then it should be impossible to tell where the sample begins and ends.

Falling bells(MP3) - This is a recording of a paradox where bells sound as if they are falling through space. As they fall their pitch seems to be getting lower, but in fact the pitch gets higher. If you loop this sample you will clearly see the pitch jump back down when the sample repeats. This reveals that the start pitch is obviously much lower than the finishing pitch.

Quickening Beat(MP3) - This recording is subtle. A drum beat sounds as if it is quickening in tempo, but the starting tempo is the same as this finishing tempo.

Freaky. Like, I know how they're doing the first two, but I still hear the illusions....

[link]

I loved it when it came out, but even then I thought it was a little too goofy for me to love any more than I did.

My buddy Ed and I knew we were going to be pals forevah when we realized we both had not only the first album, and Hope, but also Sir Army Suit, and liked it (20 years after the fact). I never knew about the fifth album.

Awesome Carpenters video!

We are observing your earth... and we'd like to make... a contact... with you... baby.

Oddly, I can't think of this song without hearing the Langley Schools version in my head.

Christie's is having a Rock & Pop Memorabilia Auction next week. The catalog is online.

Now playing: The Carpenters tribute album If I Were a Carpenter (it came out in the mid-'90s). So far it's really holding up. The standout track is Sonic Youth's "Superstar." The lyrics of that song are kinda' creepy, and they take the creepy and run with it....

The Shonen Knife track is really awesome, too.

Yeah. My sister loved that song (the original). When she was about two or three, we would play the song for her and she'd climb on top of a chair ("top of the world") and dance and sing along....

eta: And Sheryl Crow's "Solitaire" is good too. The Carpenters really wrote some melancholy songs....