I first became aware of John Anealio when he released the parody song, “Summer Glau.” SF Signal editor John DeNardo had written the lyrics, set to the tune of Seals and Crofts’ 70s hit, “Summer Breeze.” John found the lyrics and set them to his own music. The results debuted on his blog, Sci Fi Songs, where he puts up music inspired by science fiction books and music, as well as by happenings in the science fiction community.
It wasn’t long after that that John released “The Return of Titus Quinn,” music inspired by Kay Kenyon’s novel Bright of the Sky (on which I served as editor). I’ve been a fan of John’s ever since, and earlier this month, we actually ran the sheet music and lyrics to his “The Ballad of Wilson Cole” in the appendix of Mike Resnick’s Starship: Flagship. Resnick’s five book Starship series has just published its completing volume, and the ballad is an overview of the events of all five books, written as if by someone in the future of the series, immortalizing its protagonist in song.
Now, John has come out with his first CD, the appropriately titled Sci Fi Songs. Here’s the playlist (explanations snagged from SF Signal):
1. “The Return of Titus Quinn” inspired by Kay Kenyon’s Bright of the Sky
2. “Rachel Rosen” inspired by Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep/Blade Runner
3. “Leodora” inspired by Gregory Frost’s Shadowbridge
4. “Cylon #6” inspired by Battlestar Galactica
5. “Summer Glau” inspired by Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity
6. “Angels & Vampires” inspired by Anne Rice’s Memnoch the Devil
7. “Lonesome October Night” inspired by Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October
8. “Sarene” inspired by Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris
9. “Merithyn’s Promise” inspired by Elizabeth Haydon’s Requiem for the Sun
10. “The Millennium Falcon for Christmas” inspired by Star Wars
11. “Grasping for the Wind” inspired by all of the Sci-Fi Bloggers
I have been playing it constantly since I got it three days ago. My favorites are “Rachel Rosen,” “Cylon #6”, “Summer Glau,” and “The Millennium Falcon for Christmas,” but it’s all good. I love that John is out there, and I hope he sells enough of these that he can do a second CD. After all, “The Ballad of Wilson Cole” isn’t on this one, and neither is “Last Drink for Bird Head,” “Batman Smells (A Rebuttal),” and my favorite song, “NaNoWriMo,” which, actually, helped me get through NaNoWriMo itself!
There are a lot of links to John’s songs online above, even more if you poke around his blog. Give a listen and see if he doesn’t deserve your support. Then (presuming you are so inclined) give him some love and download songs at iTunes or CD Baby, or buy the actual CD. Of course, I recommend the physical CD because the accompanying photo of John features him holding/reading several Pyr books. Meanwhile, here’s a video of John playing “Last Drink for Bird Head,” the song inspired by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer’s anthology of the same name:
And hey, wouldn’t this guy make a great convention guest?
Lou Anders is the thrice-Hugo nominated editor of Pyr books, as well as a Chesley Award winning art director. He can’t keep a tune to save his life though, much to his friends and family’s discomfort.
