50 years ago, in the summer of 1969, the only group in pop-culture that could claim to be bigger than John, Paul, George and Ringo were Neil, Buzz and Michael. But 50 years down the line, in 2019, only ONE of those SEVEN names is actually in danger of going extinct in the collective imagination of the public at large.
“FORGOTTEN ASTRONAUT”
Inspired by the writing of NASA Astronaut Michael Collins, Matt Sharp’s lyrics for The Rentals new single “Forgotten Astronaut” – out today – read like an imaginary, inner-conversation the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11 may have had with himself during the 21 hours Collins spent alone waiting for Aldrin and Armstrong to return to safely to, their home away from home, the spacecraft Columbia.
“I started writing ‘Forgotten Astronaut’, while I was reading ‘Flying To The Moon’ (1976, MacMillan). When friends would ask if I had read anything good recently, I would tell them I was reading about Michael’s extraordinary life and whomever I was talking with would simply ask, Who is Michael Collins?. And then again, when I was previewing early arrangements of the song for friends, I would tell them that lyrics were being sung from Michael’s perspective and they would, without exception, hit me with that exact same question, Who the hell is Michael Collins!?.
That, all too, familiar response left Sharp to ask what, might be an even more interesting set of questions. How could you be a central figure in, what is largely considered, one of the greatest achievements in the history of all humanity and yet, nearly no one knows your name?
How does that happen? What does that say about Michael? And in turn, what does that say about us?
