(via the Eagle Times blog): Way back in October 1975, Elton John recorded Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future), written by Bernie Taupin, for the Rock of the Westies album, a song lamenting that he won’t be joining Dan on his rocket, but also revealing that he secretly prefers The Mekon to Dan.
27 years after the song’s release, it featured as the theme song for the Dan Dare Corporation‘s Dan Dare Pilot of the Future CGI cartoon series, which was shown in the UK on Channel 5, and is now (partly) available on DVD.
The song is of course just one of many pop culture references to Dan Dare, many detailed on this web site.
Here, via YouTube, is a rare live (audio) recording of the song performed by Elton at the Rainbow Theatre, London on 13 May, 1977.
• While scouring the web for more information on the song, I came across Colonel Dan Dare’s MySpace page. Weirdness!
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Audio, British Comics
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