Sci-fi music is a genre as ill-defined as its namesake in literature. This makes it easy to put together a playlist, but it risks wandering aimlessly, like an astronaut drifting in the ether. Thus, in this episode of Runka Punka Go Go, we move from Daft Punk to The Tornados to David Bowie to Sun Ra, and on and on.
The alternate title for this show is, “What Is This Emotion You Humans Call Love?” a sci-fi trope our guest host KMG has identified as one of his favourites.
Back in the day, when every alien planet in movie-dom was amply supplied with oxygen and beautiful, innocent females wearing space miniskirts, this trope was merely amusing. But now, perhaps, it hints at something greater. Outer space did once fuel the sci-fi film fantasies of young boys, but now the fantasy of aliens and space travel has replaced death as the great undiscovered country where an increasingly irreligious society projects all it hopes and fears and dreams.
The live stream starts every Saturday night at 9 PM Mountain Time on X @yusipka and on Rumble, where past shows are archived. You can donate to Runka Punka Go Go here
SHOW NOTES
TV Tropes: What Is This Thing You Call “Love”?
The Marketts on YouTube, posted Jul 28, 2016: Out of Limits
Video supported by footage from The Forbidden Planet
Daft Punk and Fortnite on YouTube, posted Nov 7, 2025: Contact
Fotoscenen on YouTube, posted Nov 5, 2011: David Bowie – Space Oddity 1969
Genius: Space Oddity Lyrics
BeastieBoys on YouTube, posted Sep 14, 2009: Beastie Boys – Intergalactic
HermanTheMole on YouTube, posted Mar 1, 2011: Sun Ra, Outer Space Employment Agency
Simply Sheneka on YouTube, posted Dec 17, 2025: Space Is The Place: Sun Ra [Full Movie]
Soundcloud: The Capacitors – Reanimator
Video supported by footage from They Came from Beyond Space and Dimension 5
Capacitors – Planetary Defence
Video supported by footage from Mars Needs Women and The Phantom Planet
Wikipedia: Dolores Faith
Murder Ballad Inspiration
The Guardian, Jun 29, 2026: US man dies while discarding body of girlfriend he fatally strangled, officials say
АЛЕКСАНДР АТАМАНОВ on YouTube, posted Apr 18, 2015: The Tornados – Telstar
IMDB: Telstar: The Joe Meek Story 2008
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Telstar
Added note to last week’s show (bolding mine)
“A mother of two daughters, the woman told the ticket resale site she spent $5,100 for three tickets to watch the singer wrap her Eras Tour at B.C. Place on Dec. 8, 2024, knowing the seats were “split up” and accepting they wouldn’t have a “full view.”“
CBC, Jul 15, 2026: ‘Absolutely crushed’: Inside the investigation that saw StubHub refund ‘devastated’ Taylor Swift fans