If you’re yet to experience the histrionic un-singing style of Star Trek's Captain Kirk, then this amusing Quicktime animation of his version of Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds is a great place to start. (If you’re already familiar with Shatner’s oeuvre then, it will add another “dimension” to your enjoyment of it.) The song was originally part of his 1968 album Transformed Man, which was apparently inspired by a life-saving encounter with a UFO in the Mojave Desert.
About a year or so before recording the disc, Shatner crashed while motorcycling in the desert. After being unconscious for a while, he awoke and sensed the presence of a “shadowy phantom” that gave him the energy to right his bike and drag it through the wilderness. Following the directions of a “mysterious dark figure” on the horizon, he eventually found his way to a petrol station were he saw a flying saucer…
The album (which also includes butcherings of "Tambourine Man" and "Rocket Man") can be downloaded in its entirety from Star Trek geek site, Farpoint Station… Those aliens have a lot to answer for…
Posted by Warren at June 12, 2004 07:18 PM | Celebrity