TRACK #265:

Hear the Engines Roll by Ian Sera

Let’s hang out here for a little longer on The Satellite of Love and listen to a couple more choice cuts from Mystery Science Theater 3000’s 11 year reign of terror.

Perhaps the most famous of the terrible songs Joel and The Bots had to sit through was Hear the Engines Roll, also known as Burning Rubber Tires, from the bizarro Spanish E.T. knock-off, Extra Terrestrial Visitors, also known as Pod People.

Idiot Control Now (as Joel and the bots sing in their parody) serves as a nice respite from some of the heavier and darker songs populating this playlist, and I actually kinda like it.

I dunno. It’s fun, catchy, and hearing it just makes me happy. It kinda reminds me of Everybody But You from Night Train to Terror, which is another song that kinda just makes me happy to hear.

Maybe that’s familiarity, or MST3K nostalgia, or just a general disregard for my own well being. Call it whatever you’d like, just don’t get me wrong here, cause there’s no doubt this is an awful song. It’s just an awful song I like hearing. But it’s still awful.

And Pod People itself isn’t any better. Strange puppets, stranger voice dubbing, and one overly enthusiastic young weirdo. It also features Trumpy, the bizarre anteater E.T. named after our President, Donald J. Trump. I keep hoping someone will Deepfake Trumpy into a Presidential debate or some shit, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. Get on that, Interent!

However you may feel about this song, or this film, it’s makes for some great Satellite of Love fodder, and it has definitely become an MST3K fan-favorite. I have to imagine at least some of that can be chalked up to this strange tune.

Now, I don’t know about you gang, but I got a sack of monkeys in my pocket, and my sister’s ready to go!

Idiot Control Now!