51 Weeks: 51 Songs From the Past: Week 4: Calling Occupants….

For Hugh’s 51 Weeks: 51 Songs From the Past: Week 4– I am sharing Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. I encountered this song through The Carpenters but as I researched the history of the song, I was surprised to find it connected to a little bit of mystery and the Beatles.

It was originally released by a group called Klaatu in 1976. The following year the Carpenters released a cover of the song.

The song, written by Klaatu, was based on a book- The Flying Saucer Reader, an anthology of writings about UFO’s, including World Contact Day. According to Wikipedia- “World Contact Day was first declared in March 1953 by an organization called the International Flying Saucer Bureau, as a day on which all IFSB members would attempt to send a telepathic message into space.” You can read more about the song’s origins here. 

Here is the Carpenters version of the song:

I was curious about Klaatu and looked a little deeper. Originally this group’s existence was shrouded in mystery, with no clues as to who the members of the group were, except for rumors that they were actually the Beatles. While speculation circulated, the group’s albums received much attention. You can read more about the clues that helped to cultivate the rumors at  Klaatu Identities and Beatles Rumors.

SPOILER ALERT***

*
*
*
*
*
*

Klaatu was not the Beatles.  You can listen to their version here:

Thanks for stopping in and listening!

-Kat