An Important Note From Space

Despite being six years away from landing on the moon, this 1963 song not only presupposes the possibility of interplanetary travel, but also that Martian culture was nearly identical to that of pre-Beatles America (i.e. bobby socks, poodle skirts, and high school hops). Talk about visionary! Well, the story doesn't end there. The band that concocted this extraterrestrial jam was also a pioneer of electronic music.

Ten years before Bob Moog invented the voltage controlled synthesizer, The Ran-Dells were manipulating sine waves and splicing tape by hand. Note the sci-fi B-movie blast-off effect at the beginning. Then take in the Doo-wop chorus. If not for the so-called "novelty" content of this song (Don't count me among the naysayers. I watched the X-Files. I want to believe! ) this song might be remembered alongside other vocal group classics. After all, Martian Hop did earn a gold record.

-Bryan



The Ran-Dells - Martian Hop

For an in-depth history of the song, check out this interview with the man who wrote it.