Inside Star Trek
Joe Siegler
- AllMyVinyl #138
- Band: Gene Roddenberry
- Album Title: Inside Star Trek
- Release Date: ? 1976
- Date purchased: 12 May 2020
- Location purchased: Amazon
- Color of vinyl: black
- Number of discs: 1
- Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]
This album is an oddity in my collection. My vinyl collection is mostly music. This is one of the few that isn’t. This is (mostly) a spoken word album about well.. Star Trek. This originally came out in 1976 (on a date I can’t find now) and was the second thing I ever got on vinyl. The first thing I got on vinyl I’ll get to later (and it’s embarrassing), but this came out when I was 11 – bought it myself (although these days I don’t recall how). At the time, the only Star Trek that existed was The Original Series as well as The Animated Series. That was it. The one thing I loved hearing back then was the original theme to Star Trek by Alexander Courage. That’s why I had this for the most part. I wanted to be able to hear that theme song at any time, so getting this album let me do it. The other stuff meant less to me, but I wanted that theme tune. That’s pretty much the main reason I bought this.
As time went by, this album didn’t survive. I’m not sure what happened to it, but when I got my old collection back from my mom’s basement in 2023, this wasn’t part of the collection. I have no memory of disposing of it, so unless it just didn’t survive my mom’s basement (it did get flooded at one point), I have no idea what happened to my OG copy from the 1970’s. However, shortly after I got my turntable in April of 2020, I remembered this and looked around. I found a copy in good shape for only $8, so I reacquired it as one of the first purchases I made during lockdowns. That’s what today’s play will be – this new copy of an old friend from 50 years ago.
This review will be unlike most of my series, because this isn’t about songs. It’s mostly Gene Roddenberry (or someone else) talking “about” Star Trek. The 11 year old version of me in the mid 70’s desperately wanted to hear something about Star Trek that wasn’t the same episodes I had watched over and over, so this was a big draw for me back then. Due to the nature of it, I’ll describe some of the segments, but the usual types of things I post aren’t relevant here. There’s no music videos to link out to for example. :) Anyway, the album starts with Gene Roddenberry talking about the album. I’ll just quote his speech at the start, a fair idea of the whole thing..
Gene: “Star Trek – how did it happen? When did it start? What are the people, the things that we couldn’t say on television? What are the stories that haven’t been told? These are the voices of Star Trek. The way we think, some of what we think about, some of what we talk about in private. This is Gene Roddenberry, and I’ll be brining you William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, or will it be Capt Kirk & Dr. McCoy? You’ll have to decide where fiction leaves off and reality begins. You may find they’re both part of the other. You’ll also hear from a science fiction great – Isaac Asimov. Also from Spock’s Vulcan father, Ambassador Sarek, plus more. Welcome to Inside Star Trek.”
It then goes into the Star Trek theme, which as I’ve already said was the primary reason I wanted this. It’s a bit of an extended version, a little more than what was on the standard Star Trek episode. It then repeats the version we know from Star Trek.
As I listen to this in 2025, most of the stories about behind the scenes stuff and things along those lines I know already. Most things about Star Trek are known all these years later, but in 1976 this stuff was all gold to me. Some of it was recorded at live sessions at Star Trek connections. As such some of those live answers were delivered in comical fashion. From what I’ve read, Leonard Nimoy was still in the midst of his then legal battles with Star Trek people over his likeness in merchandise, hence his non appearance.
There’s an odd segment where Gene Roddenberry talks to the “character” of Sarek talking about how Spock was conceived – a segment on Vulcan pon farr, how Amanda wasn’t destroyed from being impregnanted by a Vulcan in pon farr. It’s an odd segment. Surprised I have no memory of this being here as 11 year old me would have been intrigued by it. Then it got weird about the fetus Spock being removed from his mother twice – it’s a really weird segment.
Gene’s story about the other show of his (The Questor Tapes) show really shows how much of TNG’s Data was in that character.
DeForest Kelley in his segment mentions “When Star Trek is made again….” Given this came out in 1976, it was close to the time that the aborted series “Star Trek Phase II” would have happened, so I wonder if they knew about that when this was recorded.
Gene also has a segment called “The Star Trek Philosophy” where he talks about humans and how we actually want to achieve the version of humanity that is in Star Trek being better than the version that we are in real life. It’s actually a segment that more Trek fans should hear, as it tends to discount some things people think Star Trek is in what it’s become all these years later.
There’s another segment where Gene reads a “letter from the Network censor” about the story of the Bible which is really got NOTHING to do with Star Trek. The final segment when Gene talks about “The Star Trek Dream”… It’s got squat to do with actual Star Trek and is a bit boring, IMO – odd way to close the album.
This album is something only for true Star Trek hardcores. In 2025, it’s not something I think a ton of people will find a lot of enjoyment from. I could be wrong, but for ME only, I see this as a piece of my youth that I am able to look back on from playing the vinyl today.
I sit here and wonder what happened to my 1976 original vinyl – it’s gone. I don’t think I would have intentionally gotten rid of it. It was nice to revisit this today, but it’s an album I like owning now because it’s something from my youth vs something I see myself listening to. In fact, since I reacquired it in May of 2020, this was the first time I’d actually listened to it. :)
