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Star Trek: The musical timeline
You've seen the film, now listen to the history...
Steve O'Brien, Fri 15 May 2009, 10:31 am BST
Spizzenergi: Where's Captain Kirk? (1979)
"I was beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise/What I felt what I saw was a total surprise…" Enough officialness - time for a few bands influenced by the show. Without Where's Captain Kirk, English outfit Spizzenergi would likely be forgotten as punk also-rans. With it, they were somehow Rough Trade's first signed band. REM fanboys will point to the Athenians' 1992 cover of the song for a fan club single. Trust us, it's no Radio Free Europe. See for yourself.
The Bangles w/Leonard Nimoy: Going Down To Liverpool (1984)
Leonard Nimoy may have given up the singing but he wasn't adverse to lending his face to this video by The Bangles, as a vaguely disapproving chaffeur. Best bit: when Nimoy turns the stereo off at 1.14s and looks like he'd kill the entire band with but a single nerve pinch. Actually, the best bit is trying to guess what Susanna Hoffs is constantly looking off-camera for. Ah, such a fragrant band... Where were we?
The Firm: Star Trekkin' (1987)
The Firm (otherwise known as session man John O'Connor) had already had a UK hit with novelty song Arthur Daley, E's Alright (1982). However, his reign of terror was not over and he resurfaced in 1987 with this self-pressed novelty hit. Championed on Radio One by Simon Bates, Star Trekkin' spent two weeks at number one and sold over a million copies worldwide. Why? Because this was the 80s and nobody can explain us voting for Thatcher either.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
Enough nonsense. For TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roddenberry turned to Jerry Goldsmith's (1929-2004) theme tune to the 1979 misfire Star Trek The Motion Picture. Goldsmith is mainly known for his music to The Omen and had been nominated for 18 Academy Awards. He continued scoring the Star Trek movies (with a break in the middle) until Star Trek Nemesis in 2002.
