- Time – 1979
- Place – De Lane Lea Studios Wembley – Bronze Studios
- Artist – Nostromo
Nostromo
Was a studio band I put together 1979 to release a disco single from the theme of movie ALIEN.
Although the single never made the charts over they years it has become somewhat of a cult record.
It was used as the opening theme in many 80’s big club nights.
I followed this single with 2 more Sci Fi Movie themes The Black Hole and The Empire Strikes Back.
These are the only singles I have ever made, where there has been almost as much interest in the B sides as the A.
Over the years I have received many question about the band Nostromo and have seen several kind comments and reviews about the recordings on the net and places like Youtube.
Review.
“There was a good reason sci-fi soundtracks played such a prominent role in the formation of space disco: “official” soundtrack LPs were pricey; knock-offs were not.
After Meco’s brilliant and bestselling adaptation of Star Wars, it was a free-for-all.
Could something as dark and eerie as, say, Jerry Goldsmith’s score to Ridley’s Scott’s Alien be repurposed for maximum ass-shaking? Why, yes, it could!
Nostromo was Englishman Kenny Denton, a musician, producer, and engineer who released singles under the pseudonym (if you’re slow, Nostromo was the name of the besieged cargo ship in Alien).
The other was the disco-fication of John Barry’s The Black Hole theme.
Both are surprisingly effective and contemporary sounding.
Even though Alien apparently gained some play in clubs at the time (there’s even a sample of the beast’s dying squeal!),
I think The Black Hole is even better: lush and replete with quirky laser blast effects; and, unlike Meco’s stab at the bleak and lovely Disney film, this one actually resembles Barry’s score.”
Review 2.
“Kenny Denton’s space-themed alias has produced a number of science-fiction-themed disco covers.
The name Nostromo was taken from the spaceship that appeared in the movie “Alien” (1979) directed by Ridley Scott.
Around The World In 80 Seconds (The B side) is a cult work that was often played at LIFE FORCE.”
The story behind Nostromo
In mid 1979 my good friend Colin Hankins was the advertising director at “20th Century Fox” London.
Colin invited me to a preview of a movie that 20th Century was to about distribute called Alien.
This was a relatively small budget movie and was the first major film project for the director Ridley Scott.
Due to the restriction of the budget the only named actor to appear in the movie was John Hurt, who was the first to be killed off in this haunted house scenario.
No one knew before its release if this movie would be a success, but it certainly had all the hallmarks of reaching cult status.
Alien Programme 1979
Colin/20th Century offered me a small budget to produce an alternative version of the main theme for a commercial radio release.
I jumped at the offer, but decided I would fund the project myself on the condition that 20th Century would give me their full co-operation, which they agreed to.
I then hired Dave Lawson, in my opinion the best music programmer around at that time.
David had previously provided the synth sounds in the space bar scene in Star Wars.
He was a true master with this recently new and expanding technology.
As David hadn’t seen the movie, I took a cassette of the John Williams theme to his small production room in his flat in North London.
It took about 3 /4 hours to lay the basic format down, then a couple of hours to decide on the sounds.
A few days later we went into studio 2 at De Lane Lea Wembley for a 3-hour session and transferred the music to 24-track 2-inch tape.
I then contacted Colin to give him an update and asked if it would be possible to have a few sound bites of dialogue of the actors to use in the track.
All agreed except for Sigourney Weaver, whose agent demanded a ludicrous fee and a high percentage of the record and more credits than xxxxx
With time restrictions due to the movie close to release and my budget dwindling, I decided to whisper and scream a few lines myself and add a sound effect of a cat meowing.
This would be a dam site cheaper than Ms. Weaver and I feel a lot less trouble.
Colin kindly arranged a copy of the Alien sound that screamed over John Hurts face from the pod.
This would have been impossible to recreate and something from the Movie that didn’t required a percentage or a credit.
I finished the track and played it to my friend Alan Sizer who was the head of A & R at Polydor records.
Alan adored it and immediately offered a deal.
On the same day I played the track to another friend Robert lemon who worked for Bronze records as head of promotion, he asked me not to take the Polydor deal until he played it to the owner of the company, Gerry Bron.
Although Bronze was mainly a heavy rock label, Gerry loved the track and also loved the idea of an instrumental synth band.
He offered a deal with a lot less advance money, but the deal would include a guarantee of 2 more singles.
I also figured they didn’t have as many acts to work on as Polydor, so the record would get more attention, so the deal was done.
Having to come up with an artist name for the record and the contract, I decided to call the band Nostromo the name of the ship in the movie.
Bonze also paid £1000 to 20th Century for the usage of a picture of the iconic Alien to be used on the single’s front cover.
With the movie due for release in less than 1O week’s time became the enemy, I urgently needed a B-side.
Not having the time to write and record and mix something or the funds to pay David Lawson, I used an old B-side from a track I wrote and had released in 1975.
Although it was a funk type feel I just gave it a more spacey mix and added a few simple synth lines and that became Around The World In 80 Seconds.
To help with the promotion of the record Bronze hired the Empire Cinema Leicester Square every Thursday afternoon for 6 weeks, before the official release of the movie.
Each Thursday, at midday in a small room in the theatre a buffet and drinks were served for a selected invited audience of DJ’s and music press etc, which was followed by a private preview of the movie.
By the time the movie was on general release I could lip sink the entire movie.
Although the single didn’t sell in large volume, it did however receive some good radio play and excellent reviews, which 20th Century were more than happy with.
As we now know the movie went on to gross worldwide $106,285,522 and become, not just a cult movie but an all time classic
The lack of a chart entry didn’t deter Gerry Bron in the least, he still very much believed in the idea of the band.
Soon after the Disney Movie The Black Hole became the next adventure.
The Black Hole Single
The format was pretty much the same except Dave Lawson’s fee had escalated and we didn’t hire the cinema.
The B-side was derived in the same way using a previous old B Side, remixed in same spacey vibe this was called Gom Jabbar.
At the time, I mixed several versions of this track, so I had to give them different titles to differentiate the mixes.
Years later listening back to some very old tapes I discovered my favourite mix turned out to be a mix called Close Encounters of a Nostromo Kind.
The final Nostromo recording, was a hideous piece of music called, Darth Vader’s Theme‘ from the movie The Empire Strikes Back, written by John Williams.
But having to contractually deliver a third recording for Bronze and my relationship with Colin and 20th Century I set about creating a track.
David Lawson’s fees had now reached astronomical proportions, so along with my dislike for the music I took a back seat and let David truly earn his money.
David’s headed invoice paperwork had a full keyboard across the top of the page.
On paying his invoice I couldn’t resist returning a copy of his paperwork to him, with each note on the keyboard, I wrote £10 for C £ 5 for a A and so on. Sharps were 50 pence dearer.
One full chord could add up to £30 each time he played one.
Unfortunately David never saw the funny side of my humour.
Gerry Bron also insisted we use his brand new digital recording studio in his building to record the track.
I had always used De Lane lea at Wembley and had no idea how Gerry’s new studio worked.
It was very strange trying to produce a track that I had no input with the arrangement or the sounds, in a studio that I had no control over.
In fact everyone in the room just stood there whilst the machines did everything.
This was truly the end for me of the Nostromo project. Although I remained good friends with Gerry until his sad passing in 2012.
The highlight of my involvement in this track was I was able to take our 6-year-old son to the premier of the movie The Empire Strikes Back and he saw all the actors who he only knew by their movie characters names.
I am sure he was the only child in the audience.
When the movie was over, Colin was at the bottom of the stairs of the theatre talking to various people.
Behind him in the foyer were a huge line of StormTroopers
As we arrived he asked our son, if he would like to meet the Stormtroopers.
Speechless, Colin took his hand and took hm over to the line, I watched from a distance as they gave him several gifts including the most amazing Lightsaber.
I can’t thank Colin enough for that night and his wonderful friendship during this time.
Although none of the Nostromo records sold in large volume, by today’s sales we would have easily entered the top twenty.
I have read so many wonderful very kind comments over the years about these recordings, which I am so truly thankful for.
Please Note: Recently discovered Nostromo recordings from the 90’s.
The Complete Nostromo Collection (Available from all good download sites)
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