The Shat...man?

I am such a big fan of William Shatner you would not believe. He is truly a renaissance man. He can act, sing, write books and ride horses. Shatner's roasting this week on Comedy Central (in the US) has caused me to reflect on what makes him so great. I think he's great as Captain James T. Kirk (complete with toupee and lots of eye makeup - not to mention the shoddy acting), I like how he's totally made a comeback in the form of Denny Crane, and I absolutely love his singing career. Now, we've all heard "has been" - the recent album Shater did with Ben Folds (and others), but my favourite Shatner singing moments come from the 1960s-70s, when Shatner, hoping to capitalise on the publicity of Star Trek, made an album called The transformed man, including such gems as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "How insensitive", not to mention his Shakespeare monologues set to outtakes of Star Trek background music! Truly Shakespearian!! My two standout favourites, two that I can never go past regardless of how often I hear them or what other Shatner works are on display, are "Mr Tambourine Man and Rocketman (that's a link to a video clip - proving once and for all that three Shatners are better than one).

Incidentally, Shatner is not the only Star Trek alumni to release an album. He is rivalled by Leonard Nimoy, who could at least almost hold a tune, but who drives up the insanity index with "The ballad of Bilbo Baggins", not to mention Nichelle Nichols (she could sing), Brent Spiner, and Tim Russ.

Anyway I'd advise all of you to get yourself a Shatner education. It's something you'll never forget.