One of my great joys in life is discovering new music. We purchased Manfred Mann's space odyssey Solar Fire yesterday and loaded it onto our ipods. First released in 1973 it is (thankfully) as far away from Blinded By the Light as you can imagine. I am already a fan of (some) progressive rock and this particular album is a little Yes, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple rolled into one. Almost a religious experience.
Interestingly, it was 50 years ago today that Yuri Gagarin, dubbed the 'Columbus of the Cosmos' became the first human in recorded history to travel into space; orbiting the earth aboard the Soviet Union space capsule Vostok.
Yes, and oddly enough mankind has been too busy fighting or something to accomplish much beyond that first trip. When I was a kid, I really thought we'd have lunar stations and far orbiting ships by now, and instead we have the one space station serviced by 60's built soviet shuttles. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteSo true, it's pathetic when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteI noticed in the news that it was 50 years since Yuri Gagarin's first space flight - the sad thing is that I remember it quite clearly!
ReplyDeleteI haven't come across Solar Fire but remember Manfred Mann from the group's very early days. Am now playing it on YouTube - I like it and it's definitely very different to their early stuff.
Hi Rowan, I wasn't quite around for this one, but I do remember watching the first manned moon landing :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you enjoyed Manfred Mann.