Hope
ARTIST: Klaatu
RELEASE: 1977
INTERVIEWEE: Terry Draper
The kernel of the idea for Hope's concept came from Terry Draper. "I was reading a science book by Isaac Asimov; a book on astronomy," he recalls. Within the book was a postulation that based on certain laws of physics, certain planets should exist in specific locations in rotation around our Sun. Inspired by that perceived conundrum, Draper came up with a story idea. "There used to be a planet there, and these people -- because of their politically aggressive behavior, not unlike your United States of America -- blew themselves to bits." A lone survivor of that cataclysm took it upon himself to build a laser-flare lighthouse to guide spaceships through the detritus of his dead planet. "It was the least he could do," says Draper.