Saturday morning tunes: Voyage

Today is actually the 17th anniversary of the day “The Macarena” hit the top of the charts in 1996 (you can look it up), but – although we're serious rumba fans here at p3 – we're going to give that moment a big miss.

Instead, we're celebrating the undersea arrival of the US nuclear submarine Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine, at the North Pole on this day in 1958. The landmark journey inspired the 1961 Irwin Allen fantasy/scifi film “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and, in 1964, the TV series of the same name, also created by Allen (reusing sets and props from the film to keep the TV production costs down).

And that, in turn, finally gets us to today's tune, the series main theme, composed by Paul Sawtell. (VttBotS also brought on board several other well-known composers for various episodes, including Jerry Goldsmith, Nelson Riddle, Alexander Courage, and Morton Stevens. )

If your browser won't display the embedded version, click here. 

And finally, just because I can (click to enlarge):