MAGIC POP FILE: THE UFO RECORD THAT STOLE ROCK & ROLL
In 1956, flying saucers were everywhere. Not necessarily in the sky. They were in newspapers, movies, paperback books, radio broadcasts and the increasingly overheated American imagination. The UFO had become a cultural virus. Then Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman figured out how to make it dance. Their record was called “The Flying Saucer.” The premise was beautifully crooked. A radio announcer reports that a flying saucer has landed on Earth. Reporters rush to interview witnesses and participants. But whenever somebody answers a question, the response isn't performed by an actor. It's a piece of somebody else's hit record. Little Richard. Elvis Presley. Fats Domino. The Platters. The record jumps frantically between fake news reports and tiny pieces of songs the audience already knew. Today we'd call it sampling. Or a mashup. In 1956, the record business had another expression for it: What the hell are these guys doing? Buchanan and Goodm...