Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
| "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" | |
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| Single by Klaatu | |
| from the album 3:47 EST | |
| A-side | "Sub-Rosa Subway" |
| Released | 1976 |
| Format | 7-inch single |
| Recorded | 1976 |
| Genre | Progressive rock, space rock, psychedelic rock |
| Length | 3:23 (single edit) 7:14 (album version) |
| Label | Daffodil |
| Writer(s) | Terry Draper, John Woloschuk |
| Producer(s) | Klaatu |
| "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Single artwork painted by Star Trek designer Andrew Probert.
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| Single by the Carpenters | ||||
| from the album Passage | ||||
| B-side | "Can't Smile Without You" | |||
| Released | September 9, 1977 | |||
| Format | 7-inch single | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, soft rock | |||
| Length | 7:06 (album version) 3:59 (single edit) |
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| Label | A&M | |||
| Writer(s) | Klaatu | |||
| Producer(s) | Richard Carpenter | |||
| the Carpenters singles chronology | ||||
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"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" is a song by Klaatu, originally released in 1976 on their first album 3:47 EST. The song would open night transmission of pirate radio station Radio Caroline. The year following its release, the Carpenters covered the song, using a crew of 160 musicians. Both versions of the single had the entire name of the song on the label (the picture sleeve of the Carpenters' single had the subtitle in small print); re-issued singles of the Klaatu version had the title shortened to "Calling Occupants".
John Woloschuk, a member of Klaatu and one of the song's composers, has said:
The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the "International Flying Saucer Bureau" sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed "World Contact Day" whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words..."Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!"
The Carpenters' version from their Passage album charted worldwide and appeared on several of their hits compilations. The song title appears on the Carpenters' version above the tagline "(The Recognized Anthem Of World Contact Day)". The success of their version led to the duo receiving many letters from people asking when World Contact Day would be held. The song ultimately led to a successful Carpenters television special, The Carpenters...Space Encounters.
While Klaatu's original opens with various sounds of living species, the Carpenters' version opens with a radio DJ on a request show. The DJ identifies a phone caller as "Mike Ledgerwood". When the DJ asks Mike for his song request, an alien-sounding voice responds. The DJ is voiced by longstanding Carpenters' guitarist Tony Peluso, who can be seen in that role at the start of the video for this track.
Karen Carpenter's vocals range from the low note of B♭3 in the first verse to the high note of F♯5 before the last chorus (Once the F♯5 drops to an E5 a faint harmonized G♯5 seems present on the isolated vocal track from The Singles: 1969–1981 SACD but this is equivocal; it is undecided whether it counts in the vocal range).
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Wikipedia