John Phillips - Man On The Moon

One small step for man, a giant flop for theatrekind

Inspired by the exploits of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Phillips hit on the idea of a lunar stage musical, a bonkers tale of an astronaut catapulted to the Sea Of Tranquility to defuse a bomb accidentally left behind by the Apollo crew. His standing as the creative force in The Mamas & The Papas no doubt opened doors to getting it made, but it was light years away from Monday Monday’s pop sensibilities.

Phillips envisioned the project as a vehicle for his third wife, actress Genevieve Waite, and it’s likely her off-key helium squeak of a voice played no small part in the Warhol-produced off- Broadway production being panned by critics and closing soon after its 1975 debut. This disc brings together surviving recordings of the stage show, plus Phillips’ own demos of the score: intergalactic belters such as Wee Funkie Little Bats and Midnight Deadline Blastoff suggesting the playfulness of Harry Nilsson but with none of the charm.

The show’s failure was a major factor in Phillips spiralling further into drug abuse, he later claimed, though it sounds like he was dabbling quite a bit when he wrote it. A curio some may be intrigued to hear once before being jettisoned into the stars with all the other space junk.

2 stars 2 stars

Varese Saranbande | 3020669652

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
<< Back to Issue 369

You might also like:

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk