Michael Z. Gordon was just 20 years micold when he formed The Mar-Kets (soon changed to The Marketts) and penned an early, killer surf instrumental — Surfer’s Stomp. Within three years, he’d write a million-seller called Outer Limits… and it’s a fascinating story.
This is why I was stoked for a little record swap I did recently — a copy of the 1970 debut by Scottish band Stone The Crows for a nice mono copy of Out Of Limits by The Marketts. I’d been keeping an eye open for this thing for years, and this one is still in the shrinkwrap with a 66¢ sticker from Coles. No brainer. Sorry Maggie Bell.
Why did I want this thing? Well, I have a soft spot for instrumental songs about outer space from the ’50s and ’60s. It doesn’t matter if they’re of the surf variety, psychedelic variety or the Moogsploitation variety. I love ’em.
This album was built around its title track, the big single Out Of Limits. Written and produced by Gordon, it was recorded on Sept. 18, 1963 at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles. Originally, it was called Outer Limits (as you can see from the YouTube link above) — named by Gordon after the ABC-TV show which debuted the same month the song was recorded. The sci-fi fantasy show was conceived to be a competitor to CBS’s popular anthology The Twilight Zone, then in its fourth season. Rod Serling’s classic show had one of the most beloved and recognizable original theme songs in television history — up there with Doctor Who, Batman, Spider-Man and Hawaii 5-0.
That amazing theme song was written by an acclaimed Romanian ballet composer, Marius Constant. It debuted in The Twilight Zone’s second season — replacing the original theme music, composed by Bernard Hermann (Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Psycho, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Cape Fear…). The famous guitar part was performed by jazz guitarist Howard Roberts on a 1952 Telecaster. Roberts was signed to Verve Records as a studio musician, and got a lot of work as a member of L.A. session musician collective known as The Wrecking Crew. He later signed with Capitol and put out two records of his own — Color Him Funky and H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player. This is what he was doing when he got the Twilight Zone gig. And then he got a slew of other theme song sessions which you’ve probably also heard many, many times. Roberts’ lead guitar is featured in the TV themes for Batman, The Munsters, Bonanza, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, Get Smart, Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith, Peter Gunn, Lost in Space, Dragnet, Mission: Impossible, The Odd Couple, Dick Van Dyke and I Dream of Jeannie. He’s the GOAT.
And Gordon would probably agree. He took Roberts’ famous four-note guitar lick from the opening bars of The Twilight Zone theme, and made it the basis of his own composition, Outer Limits. Surprisingly, Constant didn’t sue him, but Serling sure did. It was bad enough that Gordon ripped off his theme music, but when he named it after Serling’s rival show, Rod dragged Gordon into the cease-and-desist zone, forcing him to rename his song Out Of Limits.
Surprisingly the original Outer Limits copies of the single aren’t all that valuable or expensive. There’s one on Discogs right now for $8 US. The Marketts song was enormously successful, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year. It was featured on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and sold more than one million copies — enough for Gordon to be awarded a gold disc.
According to The Wrecking Crew, members of their collective served as the band on the single — one of six tracks recorded the same day. There really was no Marketts band, per se — just Gordon and session players. As it happens, Roberts wasn’t one of them. The musicians on the recording include session leader Leon Russell on keys, arranger Jack Nitzsche, Ray Pohlman on bass, Hal Blaine on drums, and Glen Campbell and Tommy Tedesco on guitar. I’m not sure which one of them was playing the guitar lick.
The whole record is great, though — and also includes a song called Twilight City (lol). It fits quite nicely in my collection of outer-space instrumentals. The top of the heap in this collection at the moment is my copy of The Ventures In Space. This album is notable for containing covers of BOTH The Twilight Zone theme AND Out Of Limits. The song titles on the record are as good as the songs — The Bat, Moon Child, Love Goddess Of Venus, War Of The Satellites, Exploration In Terror, Solar Race and The Fourth Dimension.
Fun tidbit about this Ventures album is the little declaration on the back of the sleeve, “All of these unusual and other-worldly sounds have been created with musical instruments rather than electronic gimmicks.” Seems to be a dig at the electronic pop of Perrey-Kingsley (The In Sound From Way Out) or The Tornados, who had a huge hit in 1960 with their Joe Meek-penned and produced instrumental Telstar.
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Area Resident is an Ottawa-based journalist, recording artist, music collector and re-seller. Hear (and buy) his music on Bandcamp, email him HERE, follow him on Instagram and check him out on Discogs.
