Los Angeles singer-songwriter-guitarist David Haerle is marking May the 4th with today's release of the new single "The Great Galaxy Sci-Fi Convention Show", and to celebrate he shares the inspiration for the track. Here is the story:
My late brother Christian was about four-and-a-half years older than me and had a great love of science fiction, fantasy and horror films. In particular, he had a passion for the special effects behind the scenes of sci-fi films as well as their musical scores (think effects artist Ray Harryhausen and composer Bernard Hermann). In 1978, while attending the Los Angeles Auto Show at the LA Convention Center, my brother said 'Someday I'm going to put on my own convention here.' Well, he went back the following week and booked the convention center for November 18th of that same year. Christian was all of sixteen at the time and, sure enough, Galacticon came into being with a little help from our parents and his friends. It was a blast. The following year in 1979 my brother held the convention at the historic (now demolished) Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd.
This song pulls from my own memories of attending those two conventions as well as the World Science Fiction Convention in Miami, FL a few years prior, which I went to with my brother and his friend Danny. These memories are teeming with fans in costume, panels, screening rooms playing new and classic films, and of course the 'dealers' room,' where all sorts of collectibles and sci-fi related merchandise were offered up for sale. I was most excited by the flashing ray gun I bought and held as I ran from room to room at the convention. My brother left for the final frontier in 2019. This is a tribute to him and to dreaming big.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here
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