A weird musical moment: I’m listening to this old scratchy bad Charlie Parker album I bought on a discount rack, and I realize I’m listening to the theme from Star Trek. It’s a song called “Out of Nowhere.” The CD box doesn’t say when it was recorded, but Charlie Parker died in 1955, so I’m guessing he didn’t write the Star Trek theme music.
Apparently among music types this is a well-known example of, umm, appropriation.
Similar but not the same tune…
Out of Nowhre is an old Jazz standard (1930)
Music by Johnny Green
Lyrics by Edward Heyman
” Out of Nowhere” was included in these films:
* Dude Ranch (1931)
* The Joker Is Wild (1957, Frank Sinatra) parody lyrics by Harry Harris
* They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
* September (1987, Bert Ambrose and His Orchestra)
* Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993, Coleman Hawkins and His All-Star Jam Band)
* Deconstructing Harry (1997, Django Reinhardt)
* Sweet and Lowdown (1999, Dick Hyman, Joe Wilder, Kelly Friesen)
The harmonic progression is used in the star trek theme as a tribute.