My Top 1000 Songs #544: Sub-Rosa Subway

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

The 1976 debut LP from Canadian rockers Klaatu was an odd blend of proggy semi-hard rock and ornate, Beatlesque pop--somewhere between Queen and Wings and ELO. It's largely remembered these days for (a) the original version of the sci-fi epic "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," which became a highly improbable yet wonderful single from The Carpenters(!); and (b) obviously absurd rumors that the band was a reunited Beatles in disguise. The latter silliness presumably derives from "Sub-Rosa Subway," which sounds particularly McCartneyesque. Setting aside the legend, it's a wonderful little overlooked gem, the true story of the original NYC subway set to over-the-top baroque pop-rock, intricate and dense, lush orchestration and crunchy guitars, chock full of earworm hooks.