Music in Trek

[retroenzo]

Star Trek hasn't really had much in the way of licenced music over the years. The most obvious recent example is Sledgehammer by Rihanna which appeared in Star Trek Beyond. (There's a separate thread here to discuss that song)

So in a shameless attempt to create some kind of Star Trek music playlist on my computer, I thought I'd ask what other pieces of music have appeared in Trek over the years?

Off the top of my head I can think of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, Data's renditions of 'A British Tar' and 'Blue Skies', and Uhura and Spock singing 'Charlie's Our New Darling' in 'Charlie X'.

 

[The Old Mixer]

From First Contact, "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf and "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison.

From The Voyage Home, "I Hate You" by Edge of Etiquette, if you can find that.

Going back to pre-rock standards, the likes of "Out of Nowhere" ("The Big Goodbye") and "Isn't It Romantic" ("Data's Day")...not sure offhand about the actual performers of the versions used in the episodes, but it would be easy to find them by major performers of their original era.

Bing Crosby was one of the performers who did "Out of Nowhere" (it was his first major single), and it's noteworthy to Trek because the TOS theme uses the same harmonic progression...such that its use in the episode was something of a triple entendre, combined with the context of the lyrics in the holodeck scene.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Also, lots of classical pieces were used in TNG.

 

[1001001]

I'm sure Vic Fontaine must have sung some standards. It would be easy enough to look up.

 

[Indysolo]

From The Voyage Home, "I Hate You" by Edge of Etiquette, if you can find that.

It's available on the Star Trek IV soundtrack album from Intrada.

Neil

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm sure Vic Fontaine must have sung some standards. It would be easy enough to look up.

Oh shit, yeah...forgot all about Vic! James Darren did an entire album tied in with his performances as Vic, and it's very enjoyable:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_One's_from_the_Heart

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[USS Triumphant]

"I Only Have Eyes For You" by The Flamingos was used in the Voyager episode "Lifesigns". Great song.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^Ah, yes.

 

[1001001]

The Doctor sang several operas.

And he and Seven sang "You Are My Sunshine".

 

[scotpens]

. . . Off the top of my head I can think of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, Data's renditions of 'A British Tar' and 'Blue Skies', and Uhura and Spock singing 'Charlie's Our New Darling' in 'Charlie X'.

Leonard Nimoy mimed playing the Vulcan harp in that scene, but thankfully didn't sing. He did, of course, perform his own composition "Maiden Wine" in "Plato's Stepchildren."

Then there was the original song "Beyond Antares" sung by Uhura in "Conscience of the King."

If we're talking licensed (rather than original) music, we hear the song "Goodnight Sweetheart" coming from a radio in the window of a radio repair shop as Kirk and Edith Keeler walk by in "City on the Edge of Forever." The song was also used thematically throughout the episode by composer Fred Steiner.

Paramount let their rights to the song lapse and the recording was replaced in the 1980s with new music composed for the episode. "Goodnight Sweetheart" was later restored for the DVD releases.

(BTW, "Goodnight Sweetheart" was written and first recorded in 1931 -- a year after the events of COTEOF. Another anachronism, like Edith mentioning the "Clark Gable movie.")

 

[USS Triumphant]

(BTW, "Goodnight Sweetheart" was written and first recorded in 1931 -- a year after the events of COTEOF. Another anachronism, like Edith mentioning the "Clark Gable movie.")

It isn't *necessarily* an anachronism if you consider that their history had Eugenics Wars in the 1990s and many other differences that lead to them having Starfleet and us having ... well... whatever fresh hell this is. Perhaps in their timeline, "Goodnight Sweetheart" and Clark Gable *were* appropriate references. They probably had "Revenge of the Jedi" later, too.

 

[tomalak301]

The Doctor sang several operas.

And he and Seven sang "You Are My Sunshine".

The Doctor also did Someone to Watch Over Me in the same episode. I'm actually looking forward to Virtuoso again in my Voyager rewatch because I don't remember that episode at all and I think the Doctor did several other tunes.

 

[retroenzo]

Leonard Nimoy mimed playing the Vulcan harp in that scene, but thankfully didn't sing. He did, of course, perform his own composition "Maiden Wine" in "Plato's Stepchildren."

Oops I just meant to put Uhura down but Spock appeared as well.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

The Chinese release of Beyond has its own song. http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/08/get-lost-in-the-stars-with-chinas-new-star-trek-beyond-theme-song/

Scotty played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes at Spock's funeral.