"Twilight Zone / Twilight Tone" by The Manhattan Transfer

         Hey friends, thanks for checking in at my humble little slice of the internet, a place where you can be assured of finding songs that awaken your memories and please your ears. It's a modest little blog I call “Kyle's Radio Dial”, and tonight, I spotlight an early '80s disco tribute to a lasting television classic. Read on to learn about and listen to “Twilight Zone / Twilight Tone” by The Manhattan Transfer.

“With a key, you unlock the door to imagination... Beyond it is another dimension...”

Taken from the Transfer's 1979 Extensions LP, and released as a single in early '80, this disco-fied interpretation of the classic TV series came along at the tail end of the disco craze. As the highly publicized “Disco Demolition Night” of July '79 demonstrated, America was growing weary of repetitive dance floor rhythms, and as such, any new single with a beat you could dance to had a rough time climbing the charts in the early months of the new decade. It's not at all surprising that “Zone” only reached US #30, though it fared slightly better in the UK at #25.

The New York based vocal quartet comprising of Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne, was able to rebound spectacularly from the underwhelming chart performance of “Zone” with their only top 10 hit, the Grammy-award winning “The Boy from New York City”. A cover of the The Ad Libs’ 1965 soul hit, the Transfer took their jazzy remake up to US #7 in 1981.

“When I hear this melody, this strange illusion takes over me... Through a tunnel of the mind, perhaps a present or future time...”

As would be expected, “Zone” incorporates Marius Constant’s iconic “do-do-Doo-do” Twilight Zone opening title theme, and it also works in elements of Bernard Herrmann's background music that was featured in many episodes of the classic series. Alan opens the song with his Rod Serling imitation, while Janis handles the lead vocals.

The song’s verses don’t seem to reference any specific TZ episodes, but instead offer up two vague tales of a psychic girl from Memphis, and a man on an airplane flight that sees “Glen up there bopping a rhythm”. Perhaps this is some sort of Glen Miller shout out?

Interestingly, Twilight Zone (the series) has served as inspiration for many songs, both on and off the Hot 100. Iron Maiden, Rush, Golden Earring, 2 Unlimited, and The Markettes have all recorded songs which were named after the show, or featured lyrical, or musical references to, Serling’s masterpiece.

“Out of nowhere comes this sound, this melody that keeps spinning round and round... Pyramidial locomotion from this mystic unknown zone.”

It’s also not the first attempt to take a disco cover of a classic TV theme onto the pop charts, as the Wilton Place Street Band demonstrated in 1977 when they took their dance floor rendition of the “I Love Lucy” theme to US #24.

While it is unarguably a fun recording, “Zone” can't really be considered a serious tribute to Serling's iconic series, being that it's practically a novelty song. But it is a curious musical trinket of the era, best played on the jukeboxes found in the smoky corners of clubs and bars in… the Twilight Zone. (and on Kyle's Radio Dial of course!)

“Hearin' the twilight... Hearin' the twilight... twilight tone”