This 1967 song,"Psyche Rock" by Pierre Henry, is allegedly the song that inspired the theme from Futurama. Some insisted that the Futurama theme was based on "Louie, Louie," but I'd always heard a similarity to "Wild Thing," at least in the bass line. Then again, I'd always thought that Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was somewhat similar to The Rock's entrance music. So don't take my word for it:
Speaking of Futurama, the show was apparently named after an exhibit
presented by General Motors at the 1939 World's Fair, which was called
the Futurama Pavilion. Acording to Wikipedia,
it was widely held to have first introduced the general American
public to the concept of a network of superhighways connecting the
nation.
The artist pictured above is Arthur Radebaugh. More of his work can be
seen in an online exhibit, The
Future We Were Promised. This style, sometimes called raygun
gothic or populuxe, epitomizes
the spirit a generation demanded, looking excitedly upward towards a
bright, technological and futuristic age.
An age which never quite
arrived. Instead, we got the Seventies, the Eighties, and the Nineties.
Is it any wonder nobody seems very optimistic anymore? Or is it just
that the dollar trumped utopianism? Still, wouldn't it be amazing if
that spirit could return in some form?
Well, a man can dream, can't he? A man can dream...
