Deodato ~ Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) 1973 Jazz Funk Purrfection Version

For inspiration I sometimes turn to the charts...and see what was big back for say February 1973. There was a definite vibe, music became more of a comfort as Eumir Deodato demonstrated with his contemporary take on the classical composition from Richard Strauss known better as Theme to "2001", Also Sprach Zarathustra.
This one hit the right spot! Groovy, spacey and insanely catchy with all that jazzy keyboard synth so deftly woven into this masterpiece of pop. Eumir was born June 12, 1942 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
He is a self taught keyboardist who learned bass and guitar making his professional debut winning the honors in Brazil with icon Astrud Gilberto providing the music for her entry at a Rio song festival called "Spirit Of Summer".
Soon Deo was in the US working with Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra and jazz great Wes Montgomery. Emboldened by this success, he turned his production skills on himself and updated the Strauss composition anchored by his synths and a steady drum beat and turned it into a funky #2 Hot100 single. Roberta Flack and her "Killing Me Softly With His Song" kept him out of the top spot.
Deodato became a household name when he helped produce Kool & The Gang's "Ladies Night" and "Celebration" LP's that contained that certain jazz quality to their brand of R&B/Soul that cemented their appeal. Deo did release a favorite song of mine "SOS (Fire In The Sky) a bombastic synth funk dance tune from 1985 that peaked at #6 on the Disco/Dance Chart. Fans in the UK should also know that Deodato produced Dexy's Midnight Runners vocalist Kevin Rowland's debut album.
I was 13 when this came out and the space program was enjoying a lot of attention which was examined in the 1968 movie "2001:A Space Odyssey". Once you see the movie, "Also Sprach Zarathustra" stayed with me, all the music had a majesty to it that added a surreal effect to the movie.
So when a remake comes out five years later when I am glued to the radio and this comes on one frosty school morning and i found it inspiring. It was not like anything else, that jazzy underpinning made it sound well, groovy! I remember being in class and thinking about that song, it stayed with me for a long time.