IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 32

In 1982, the year that the new version of EAGLE was launched, a pop group called Loose Talk released a single called Dan Dare, about our hero. Written by band member Ray Walton, it was heavily promoted in EAGLE and was played on Radio One, where it was Tony Blackburn's Record of the Week. A video was made featuring the band wearing costumes previously used in the James Bond film Moonraker and the TV series Space 1999 and incorporating frames from the Return of the Mekon strip from EAGLE, drawn by Oliver Frey and Ian Kennedy, but it was not a hit. Although associated with Dan's Great Great Grandson as featured in the 1980s EAGLE, a reference in the  song to 'Satellite XQY' recalls the original Dan's adventure Prisoners of Space which Ray Walton had read when it was reprinted in EAGLE in 1967. 

The group followed the song up with one about 2000 A.D.'s  Judge Dredd. However I.P.C. Magazines were unhappy with some of the lyrics and placed a High Court Injunction on the record. I.P.C. lost the subsequent case and the record was eventually released. The phrase that particularly offended IP.C. was 'Judge Dredd, he's bad'. It was argued that 'bad' actually meant 'good' in the context of the song. 

Another song entitled Dan Dare was recorded by the Punk Rock group The Mekons in 1978 and featured on their debut album The Quality of Mercy is Not Strnen (not a misprint!). As the group's name indicates, they were fans of Dan Dare. Although they have undergone significant changes in personnel and musical styles over the years and ceased activity for a while, they still perform to this day, with their latest album being released in 2020. 

Back in 1975, Elton John released his own Dan Dare song, written by himself and Bernie Taupin, on his Rock of the Westies album. Elton wanted to release the song as the album's first single, but he was overruled and Island Girl was chosen instead. His Dan Dare was never released as a single, but it resurfaced in 2002 when it was used as the closing music for the computer generated Dan Dare TV series.