I’m betting I’m not the only person here who grew up—or at least spent many a happy hour—watching the documentary series “Wings” on the Discovery Channel, before educational TV completely imploded.
But one of the things I actually remember most fondly was the music—it varied by the sub-season (“Wings of the Luftwaffe” tended to use Beethoven, for example), but mostly synth-heavy, “ambient” stuff. Occasionally with orchestral or martial touches. “Electronica” would probably be the blanket term, if I had to guess.
Basically “production music,” sure. But damned if it wasn’t perfect for backing up archival footage of jets cruising over the desert or jumping off a flight deck while Ron Davis or Stuart Culpepper warmly relate dry facts about Kelly Johnson and Linebacker II. Good times.
In that spirit—and to back up my occasional flight sim exploits—I’ve actually been compiling a list of “(Not) ‘Wings’” style music for awhile, now. So far, I’ve got…
•“Mammagamma”—The Alan Parsons Project
•“Half the Man”—Methodic Doubt
•Cloudscape—Phillip Glass
•“The Son of Flynn”—Daft Punk
•“God Particle”—Hans Zimmer, Joshua Bell
•“Birth” and “Look Closer” from the soundtrack to 2013’s “The Machine”
•“Storming New Caprica” and “Launch Vipers” from the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack. (How could I not?)
•“The Last Stand”—Two Steps from Hell.
But, I’m always up for more suggestions. 'Any other propellerheads and/or Music from the Heart of Space fans here have any recommendations? I’ve got some Skunkworks projects that are itching for some atmospheric backing.