Behind The Mohawk

April 29, 2013 10:32 AM

Interview with Kirk Thatcher, in which he talks about the time he played "Punk On Bus" in Star Trek IV. The song "I Hate You" wasn't included on the original soundtrack and was unavailable for purchase until the soundtrack was re-released in 2012.
posted by starscream (29 comments total)

I sincerely hope that Kirk Thatcher was also responsible for applying Shatner's toupee.
posted by zamboni at 10:36 AM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

Wait, that song is now available?

I've been waiting to find a recording of it since 1986!

Okay, well, I was 7 in '86, but still.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:43 AM on April 29, 2013

In a proposed sequel, Evil Punk Spock (identifiable by his dyed blue beard) travels back in time to the 1970s and gives the Vulcan nerve pinch to some long-haired faux hippie playing some Bread on his transistor radio.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:44 AM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

When I was a high school teacher, I always liked the kids that dressed like punks. Certainly nicer and more thoughtful.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:47 AM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

"allegro con temptible"







*snerk*
 
posted by Herodios at 10:49 AM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been waiting to find a recording of it since 1986!

Any serious collector of Star Trek sounds would have had this as i_hate_you.au by, oh, 1997. You must have been taking too much LDS.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:55 AM on April 29, 2013 [11 favorites]

Then I added the scene where Scotty talks to the computer – when the guy tells him to use the mouse, and he holds it up and tries to use it like a microphone.

GREATEST SCRIPTWRITER EVER
posted by Flunkie at 10:58 AM on April 29, 2013 [12 favorites]

Double dumb-ass on you . . .


and so forth.
posted by Herodios at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

This is a great find. Be sure to click through to the second page for Thatcher's experience with the Muppets & George Takei.
posted by audi alteram partem at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2013

Why did everybody think this was Twisted Sister?
posted by boo_radley at 10:59 AM on April 29, 2013

The song itself.

As far as fake punk songs go, it's pretty good, but it's no I Hate the Queen.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:00 AM on April 29, 2013 [8 favorites]

So people really do say "flicked him off"? Is that a regional thing?
posted by humboldt32 at 11:01 AM on April 29, 2013

Wow, this interview is so great. So many wonderful little tidbits! I'd read a whole book about the behind the scenes of ST4 if he wrote it.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 11:16 AM on April 29, 2013

So people really do say "flicked him off"?

As a variant of "flapping him the bird," it's a regionalism, but perfectly cromulent.
posted by zippy at 11:32 AM on April 29, 2013 [3 favorites]

I used to work with a bloke who was obsessed with that song... but not as obsessed as with the new wave song from the Kit Kat ad (The is the best bit)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:41 AM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

An essential part of the Vulcan neck pinch is the soundtrack underscoring it with that note of menace, which I've tried in vain to find an example of on YouTube. I seem to remember the music drowning that out in the movie.
posted by JHarris at 11:45 AM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Be sure to click through to the second page for Thatcher's experience with the Muppets & George Takei.

I actually saw the Garth Brooks episode of Muppets Tonight he talks about; and he's right, Garth Brooks was perfect on that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:53 AM on April 29, 2013

Love this.

The first time DeForest Kelley saw me with this outrageous hairstyle, he looked me up and down very slowly and said, "Nice shoes". He then broke into a huge grin and ambled away.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 12:19 PM on April 29, 2013 [10 favorites]

I must have seen that film just a couple of times, as I could sing along right up until the point that Spock gives him the nerve pinch.

Surprised that this wasn't ever on Star Trek: The Astral Symphony as it's much better than the Star Trek V song that includes the cawing of what is supposed to be a menacing bird but instead sounds like a sick parrot.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:22 PM on April 29, 2013

I actually saw the Garth Brooks episode of Muppets Tonight he talks about; and he's right, Garth Brooks was perfect on that.

"For my next number, it's just going to me, my fiddle, out in the country with the chickens!"
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:24 PM on April 29, 2013

I may be wrong, but Star Trek IV always struck me as the first real, honest-to-goodness self-parody of a beloved genre. It's been copied since then (see: James Bond).
posted by Melismata at 12:27 PM on April 29, 2013

RobotVoodooPower: " You must have been taking too much LDS."

Not sure what the Mormons have to do with it, but OK...
posted by notsnot at 1:30 PM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

This scene is like Death Wish for those of us who ride transit regularly.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:40 PM on April 29, 2013

This interview is thirteen years old or so, and while it's an excellent interview, I think it needs to be elaborated upon.

This is the guy who directed the Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody!!!!!!

Now I'm all fanboy.
posted by MrVisible at 1:44 PM on April 29, 2013 [3 favorites]

See, this is why trek had to happen.
 
posted by Herodios at 1:48 PM on April 29, 2013

I was on the same bus. Camouflage jacket, beret, copy of AP/RN rolled up on the inside pocket, but visible because I was hanging onto a pole. No room to sit.
I appear ever so briefly. Then you see the Punk.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 2:31 PM on April 29, 2013 [8 favorites]

Are you sure it isn't time for a colorful metaphor?
posted by RogerB at 2:54 PM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Not sure what the Mormons have to do with it, but OK...

(Not sure if you're serious) LDS was a joke in the movie...a mixup of LSD...never mind...see the movie...
posted by Melismata at 3:19 PM on April 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

This is the guy who directed the Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT. *mind blown*
posted by zarq at 7:52 PM on April 29, 2013