''Space Jazz: The soundtrack of the book Battlefield Earth'' is a music

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

companion to the novel '' Battlefield Earth'' by L. Ron Hubbard, released in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists ...

. Type of Work: Visual Material, Registration Number / Date: VA0000332218 / 1988-12-05, Application Title: Space jazz album cover., Title: Space jazz : the soundtrack of the book Battlefield Earth., Description: commercial print : record jacket., Copyright Claimant: Norman F. Starkey, as executor of the Estate of L. Ron Hubbard, Date of Creation: 1972, Date of Publication: 1982-12-23, Authorship on Application: Church of Scientology of California, employer for hire. Hubbard composed the music for the album.

History

The album was recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1982 and released by Applause Records. A 1983 press release put out by the Church of Spiritual Technology subsidiary company Author Services Inc. marketed the

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

as "the only original sound track ever produced for a book before it becomes a movie". The album includes performances by prominent musicians

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

(keyboards),

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

(bass),

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

(keyboards) and Gayle Moran (keyboards/vocals). Hopkins was known for his work in rock and roll, the others mainly as jazz musicians; all were, at the time, associated with Scientology. The album features extensive use of the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

synthesizer. A demonstration of the "computer space jazz" soundtrack was one of the festival displays at the 1982

US Festival The US Festival is the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals held near San Bernardino, California. Background Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 197 ...

rock concert in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. L. Ron Hubbard's son Ronald DeWolf filed a probate case in November 1982, after his father had not made any public appearances since 1980, requesting to be appointed trustee of Hubbard's estate on the grounds that his father was missing or dead. In 1983, attorneys representing Hubbard produced a letter in Hubbard's handwriting and with his fingerprints, in which he wrote that he had not had a leadership role in the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

for "nearly 17 years", and mentioned his new novel ''Battlefield Earth'', his recently released album ''Space Jazz'', and 10-volume novel '' Mission Earth''. "I am actively writing, having published ''Battlefield Earth'', and my ''Space Jazz'' album; a projected ten-volume work, ''Mission Earth'', is in the pre-publication stage at the moment", said Hubbard's statement. In conjunction with the release of Hubbard's letter, Church of Scientology President Heber Jentzsch told the press that Hubbard had produced ''Space Jazz'' around December 1982, and wrote the majority of songs and

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

for the computer-based music on the album. In 1984, the LP was retitled to ''Battlefield Earth''. According to a 1987 statement from Norman F. Starkey, the executor of Hubbard's estate, the copyright to Hubbard's works passed to the Church of Scientology after his death. In addition to copyright of ''Space Jazz'', other copyrighted music titles by Hubbard included "Tarzan", "The Black Cape" and "Snake Head".

Reception

A 1983 review of the work for ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...

'' commented that the wording used in the jacket copy of the album was "hyperbolic". In a 2003 review for ''Locus Online'', Jeff Berkwits noted: "The eclectic 1982 album is reportedly the first soundtrack ever written for a book, and highlights performances from jazz greats Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke". A copy of ''Space Jazz'' was given out to the first prize recipient in the 2006 Worst Record competition by the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

newspaper the ''Hunterdon Democrat''. '' The Vinyl Factory'' Amar reviewer Ediriwira said, "if this isn't one of jazz's worst, it's certainly its craziest".

Track listing

;Space Jazz

Personnel

;Artists * L. Ron Hubbard *

* Rick Cruzen *

* Tamia Arbuckle * Fernando Gamboa * Tomo Allison * Charlie Rush * Gayle Moran ;Production personnel *All arrangements and orchestrations by – Rick Cruzen and Tamia Arbuckle *Under the direction of – L. Ron Hubbard *Recorded and mixed at – Mad Hatter Recording Studios in Los Angeles *Produced by – Golden Era Musicians *Engineered by – Bernie Kirsk *Technician – Gary Lew *Assistant Engineer – Eric Westfall *Mixed by – Rick Cruzen

References

External links