Sci Fi Bytes: Nuggets, anecdotes, trivia, and more from the worlds of sci fi and fantasy television.
Of course, every Science Fiction fan knows about the U.S.S Enterprise and the many crew-members that have populated the different versions of the starship through multiple television shows and theatrical movies. And some may even know about William Shatner’s “musical” (I use that term loosely) career that he pursued after first appearing as Captain Kirk. But several more actors that appeared aboard Enterprise and in other Star Trek shows had musical ambitions as well.
For those who don’t know about Shatner’s infamous foray into music, he has put out several albums where he speaks the lyrics of popular songs accompanied by music. His first album The Transformed Man came out in 1968 (while Star Trek was still on the air and possibly the real reason that NBC tried to cancel the show) and it included covers of songs like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” (and you can listen to a samples the album’s “songs”, if you dare, at the link provided above). Shatner’s ambitions have received much criticism and have been the butt of many jokes, but that apparently never dissuaded him. He released a double live album in 1977 and in 1978 he did a version of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” for the Science Fiction Film Awards. He later resumed his spoken word “singing” for a series of Priceline.com commercials in the 90’s and has even released several albums in the 21st century including Has Been, in 2004, Seeking Major Tom in 2011, and the Christmas-themed Shatner Claus in 2018. Most of his albums are included with Amazon Prime if you dare to check them out, and those might be a ton of fun at a geek party accompanied by plenty of alcohol.
But William Shatner is not the only Trek alum who has had musical ambitions.
Leonard Nimoy actually beat Shatner to the punch in musical recordings, releasing his first album a year prior to The Transformed Man. With the early popularity of Star Trek and especially the Spock character, Dot Records approached Nimoy about doing a series of recordings which resulted in the release of five albums from 1967 to 1970. He both spoke and sang on the albums and his performances were better received than those of Shatner’s, though both were considered the height of camp. Among the more popular songs that Nimoy did were “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins” and “Highly Illogical”. You can sample some of his work on the compilation CD Spaced Out: The Best of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner.
Nichelle Nichols, who starred as Lieutenant Uhura on the original series, also got into the recording game, and she actually has a beautiful singing voice (as we heard a few times on the show). She released Down to Earth in 1967, and later took another stab at a singing career with Out of this World in 1991. The latter includes her singing to the theme or Star Trek with lyrics that she added.
But the musical ambitions of Star Trek actors go beyond the cast of the original series. Brent Spinner who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation put out an album of pop covers titled Ol’ Yellow Eyes Is Back (a reference to the color of Data’s eyes as well as an allusion to Frank Sinatra’s “Ol’ Blue Eyes” nickname). And in 2010, he teamed up with singer Maude Maggart on Dreamland. Jonathan Frakes (TNG‘s Commander William Riker) appeared on an album by Phish playing trombone. Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko from Star Trek: DS9) is a jazz singer and released an album with saxophone player James Spaulding. And Tim Russ (Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager) released several albums. So there is plenty of music out there from former Trek cast members, and much of it is included with Amazon Prime, for those interested in hearing another side of their favorite actors.
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