Lt. Uhura, Song Report

Way back in 2009, I posted Nichelle Nichols' album, "Out of This World". In the post, I stated that this was her second album and that I did not own the first one, "Down To Earth". Since that time, I have come to own "Down To Earth" and thought I would share it with you all. I stated in the 09 post that I thought it might be pretty good. In my opinion, though it is way better than "Out of This World", it still sounds like someone who is trying way too hard. But all in all, not terrible. You decide when you listen to Nichelle Nichols' "Down To Earth". Enjoy!

Nichelle Nichols - Down To Earth

For some added enjoyment, here is the post from 2009 featuring "Out of This World".


Many Star Trek cast members have released albums over the years. There is the infamous "The Transformed Man" by William Shatner (along with the great follow up, "Has Been"), Leonard Nimoy's classic records and even Brent Spiner got in on the act in 1991 with an album called "Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back". But for my money, it doesn't get any more "far out" then Nichelle Nichols' musical contribution to the world of celebrity recordings. In all fairness, we must remember that Nichelle started out as a professional singer. Her first gigs were with some big time heavy weights named Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. This was all before she donned the infamous short red dress and went down in the history books as Lt. Uhura. And in 1967 she banked on this fame and released her first solo album entitled, "Down To Earth". 23 years later she would release her second album. That's the one we are going to talk about today! It's called "Out Of This Word" and believe me, it is! I have never had the privilege to hear "Down To Earth" but I have owned "Out of This World" for years. I picked up a copy back in the mid 90s and hold it in my collection but never put it on. I am going to assume that "Down To Earth" is not all that bad and that Nichelle really shines (if anyone has a copy, please feel free to share it with me as I will pay the favor forward forward and share it with everyone here). With "Out Of This World", Nichelle has completely gone in the opposite direction. Her singing is not the problem. It's also not the cure! However, what really tends to stick out more than anything is the poor songwriting and even worse production. The whole album sounds like it was put together with Casio Keyboards and a Tascam Porto-Studio. There's a whole batch of "space-inspired" songs and Nichelle evens takes a stab at singing the immortal Theme from Star Trek. Then there's "Gene". Nichelle's tribute to her former lover (yes, you read right!). There are two versions of "Gene" here. The first is sung and the second is spoken and both are bad. At the end of the album is an interview track that lasts just about the same amount of time as the songs do. All in all, a complete package. But don't let my opinion sway you. Take and a listen and judge for yourself as I present to you "Nichelle Nichols: Out of This World". Enjoy!

Nichelle Nichols - Out Of This World

BONUS:
While listening to the caucaphonus sounds of Miss Nichols, why not color Uhura?! (click picture to open a new window with the full size)

Christmas in The World of Wonder: Boldly Going Where No Wishbook Has Gone Before

Before Star Wars, there was of course, Star Trek. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars still rocks and the toys that they put out for Star Wars were and still are awesome. But the toys for Star Trek were a little more, I don't know, adult feeling. Take for instance the Star Trek Communicators.

These babies were real. Heavy plastic with real working walkie talkie parts! They came in a package of two and you could use these anywhere! What was really cool was when you hit the little red button on the side it made a high pitched squeal that if hit at the same time as the talk button, could be broadcast to the other communicator! How cool is that?!?!? I still have one of these communicators and it still works! I also had the super cool phaser gun that shot discs! This rocked as well. You loaded up the phaser with the discs (mine were multi-colored, not like the ones in the picture) and just pulled the trigger. Toys like this would never be approved today but back then, they were the best!!!! I'm sure my poor sister took many a plastic disc to the body and face from this plastic weapon.


The action figures for Star Trek were more like the old super hero action figures. They were tall and wore real uniforms complete with utility belts, tricorders and small phasers. Again, these small pieces would never pass inspection today. I had Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and a Klingon. These came with the Enterprise Playset!

This was an amazing toy! On the outside was a drawing of space with the Enterprise soaring through it. The inside was the bridge of the Enterprise, complete with Captain's Chair, Command Center and a screen that could be changed with various scenes of planets and aliens and such. The coolest feature was, without a doubt, the transporter. You would put an action figure in the transporter and spin the dial on the top. There were two buttons to stop the spinning. The red one put the action figure facing the outside while the green one put them facing the inside. Super cool!!!!!! This toy was designed really well because when you were done playing with it, you just folded it up with everything inside and stored it on the shelf (or on top of the toy chest in our house!)

The last Star Trek item I want to show you is the Telescreen Console. This was pretty cool. You could sit Captain Kirk (or any other character for that matter) in the Captain's Chair and then play a pseudo-video game where you would have to hit various asteroids and planets and such. It was pretty cool and from what I can tell, very rare. I haven't seen too many of these around, even on e-bay. They're hard to come by! Anyway, it provided me with lots of good times! A special thanks to Plastic Stallions and The Mego Museum for the pictures. I know not all of the pictures are from the Wishbook, but I assure you that they were in there!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Today is Halloween! Sorry I didn't post more this year in terms of Halloween flavored stuff but I'm on the road and didn't really plan this far in advance to make sure I had all of my halloween goodies with me. (That and the fact that both blogger and rapidshare have been acting up lately) I do hope you enjoyed what little I did share. Anyway, enjoy the day and here's one last fun video for you! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Edd Byrnes Gets Kookie

Schadenfreudian Therapy posted selections from the soundtrack to the television series "77 Sunset Strip" which makes me want to be part of the action. One of the cast members of "77 S.S." was a fellow by the name of Edd Byrnes. Fans of "Grease" know him as Vince Fontaine. Fans of the Love Boat know him as many different characters. And fans of Sunset Strip know him as Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III. Kookie was famous for his duck tail hair-do and his constant combing of it. It became such a phenomenon that Edd Brynes and Connie Stevens recorded a novelty number entitled "Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb." The song was such a big hit, a complete album of "Kookie" related songs was released by Warner Brothers. Incidentally, singing the female parts on all but the "Lend Me Your Comb" track is none other than Joanie Summers, who would have a hit of her own with "Johnny Get Angry". One final note: the character of Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III was not originally a part of the series regulars. Edd Byrnes starred in the pilot in the role of a continuously hair-combing serial killer in the pilot, Girl on the Run, and was so popular as a result that he was brought back the following week as a regular cast member in a different role! At the beginning of the episode which followed Girl, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. broke the fourth wall with the announcement:"We previewed this show, and because Edd Byrnes was such a hit we decided that Kookie and his comb had to be in our series. So this week, we'll just forget that in the pilot he went off to prison to be executed." Here's Edd Byrnes, Connie Stevens and Joanie Summers having a ball with the full length "Kookie" album! Enjoy!

Edd Byrnes - Kookie