Norman Connors, "You Are My Starship"

Barry Scott's weekly Lost 45s show yesterday reminded me of a number of songs I neglected to include the Friday before last in my moon/space celebration set. Rather than miscontextual fluff like "Desert Moon," I should have gone with Bobby Womack's splendid take on "Fly Me to the Moon." And how did I forget Paul Revere & the Raiders' whimsical confection "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon"?

Another bit of Barry's space travel last night was Norman Connors' R&B hit from 1976 "You Are My Starship." The smooth-jazz drummer had his sole pop crossover moment with this Michael Henderson-sung ode to a love that liberates. "Starship" is a bit crass in places - "and don't you come too soon" can mean only one thing in this context - and in the unedited album version, it seems implausible that someone would repeat the refrain twice before plunging into the verse of self-doubt: "I just can't say / It's here that you want to be." But once that doubt's reassured, once the beloved is here willfully and here to stay, "You Are My Starship" reveals itself to be a soft seduction - nothing more, nothing less, and sometimes that's all that's needed.