"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", sometimes cited as "(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper", is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Max West of

Typically Tropical Typically Tropical were a British band comprising two Trojan Records audio engineers, Jeff Calvert and Max West. They are best known for their 1975 number one hit record "Barbados" and for writing the 1978 disco hit " I Lost My Heart to a Stars ...

and performed by

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

and the dance troupe

Hot Gossip Hot Gossip (1974–1986) was a British television dance troupe and recording group. Formation Arlene Phillips moved to London to teach American jazz dance routines, working at Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. ...

. It was the debut of the 18-year-old Brightman, and reached number six on the UK singles chart.

Background

The song is a

space disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

track, released amidst the popularity of the original ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' film. The lyrics include the lines "And evil

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

he's been banished to Mars" and "Or are you like a droid, devoid of emotion". Other science fiction references include: "I lost my heart to a

starship trooper "Starship Trooper" is a song written by British musicians Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Chris Squire, which first appeared on Yes' 1971 album ''The Yes Album''. The song is in three parts, "Life Seeker", "Disillusion" and "Würm". "Life Seeker" ...

", "

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

's left me, he's gone to the stars", "What my body needs is close encounter three", "Static on the comm – it's Starfleet Command" and "Fighting for the

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

". The song uses musical themes from ''Star Wars'', ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche; it was published in four volumes between 1883 and 1885. ...

'' (from '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''), and the "spaceship communication" melody from ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...

''. The song was performed on ''

The Kenny Everett Video Show ''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (later renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'') is a British television comedy and music programme that was made by Thames Television for ITV from 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981. Overview Philip Jones, Tham ...

'' by its regular dance troupe Hot Gossip. Its lead, Sarah Brightman, was dressed in a silver catsuit and black

thigh-high boots Thigh-high boots, known also as thigh-length boots or simply thigh boots, are boots that extend above the knees to at least mid-thigh. Other terms for this footwear include '' over-the-knee boots'', a name originally used for 15th century riding ...

. In 1997, Brightman rerecorded the song, with producer

Frank Peterson Frank Peterson (born 20 December 1963) is a German music producer known for his work with Enigma and artists such as Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Gregorian, Princessa, and Andrea Bocelli on his first international album, ''Romanza''. Peterso ...

, and released it as a single to coincide with the film ''

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of ...

''. Although the single carried artwork from the film, the song itself was not in the film.

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

A video of a live dance performance of the songSong lyrics
1978 songs 1978 debut singles Sarah Brightman songs Song recordings produced by Steve Rowland British disco songs Ariola Records singles Songs about spaceflight {{1970s-pop-song-stub