HUMAN DECISION REQUIRED
Some personal notes on Space: 1999
by Erkki Rautio

Space: 1999 and modern pop culture trappings

Though Space: 1999 is, compared to, for example, Star Trek, a relatively small cult, it has its own dedicated fans and also some references has been made to it in modern popular culture and pop music. For example, British dub/trip hop pioneers Renegade Soundwave have a snippet of S99 in one of their videos, the pop act Saint Etienne named one of their albums Foxbase Alpha; some fashion designers are known to have taken influences from Rudi Gernreich's striped uniforms for the series, retro-design fans are fascinated by its 70s-style futuristic settings and so on. Also the music by Barry Gray (who composed the original score for the soundtrack of the First Season) with its angry wah-wah pedal guitars, has found its fans among modern pop fans, who eagerly sample sounds from old records:

"There are certain records that get put out on in Portishead's studio when things aren't going so well. They're played for inspiration, and the theme of Space: 1999 is one of them. It's just a mad tune that starts off with loads of strings and goes into the hardest, heaviest disco beat you've ever heard."

Andy Smith of British trip hop act Portishead on what's so special about the theme music for the series. Smith is also prone to sneak Space: 1999 theme into his DJ sets, among old soul funk and hip hop. (Source: The Face magazine (UK), June 1998)

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