It is a well-known fact among pop culture trivia addicts that original Star Trek crewmates William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both stubbornly pursued musical careers in the 1960s and 1970s, despite a notable lack of encouragement. Shatner released his infamous, histrionic The Transformed Man LP in 1968, plus a live album in 1977. (A follow-up, Has Been, wouldn’t be released until 2004.) Nimoy released roughly a half-dozen albums, including repackages of old material, between 1968 and 1976 on at least four different labels. The recordings of Shatner and Nimoy have become camp classics, turning up on novelty compilations like Rhino’s Golden Throats. But the bridge of the Enterprise did contain at least one performer with actual singing chops: Nichelle “Lt. Uhura” Nichols. Over at Dangerous Minds, Ron Kretsch has assembled a mini-history of Nichols’ singing career, which included performing with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton, plus a handful of albums of her own, released between 1986 and 1991. Nichols also put her vibrato-heavy voice to good use in the Trek episode “Conscience Of The King,” in which she serenades a doomed crew member with a little number called “Beyond Antares.”
Like Nimoy, who occasionally sang in character as Mr. Spock, Nichols referenced her television fame in her recordings. Her albums had titles like Down To Earth and Out Of This World, and in 1986 she released the obscure, cassette-only Uhura Sings, containing nine songs and poetic verses. Among her strangest, most ill-advised tracks was a disco-style remake of the Star Trek theme with lyrics.