From: MayberryRitz@aol.com

I wrote this song many years ago, and just never knew what to do with it until my friend Al Romanelli (Now a respected producer) approached me one day and suggested we send it to you. He thought your and/or your listeners might get a kick out of it. So, we have since re-recorded the song, and I am sending it to you along with a little "Story." I hope you guys like it, and Thank-You for your consideration.

Dennis "Copa" Antonacci

THE STORY OF THE SPACESHIP SONG

Dennis Antonacci and Al Romanelli met while working together in a music store in 1980. That same year, Dennis (Or Copa as he is professionally known) entered the American Song Festival Contest with the Spaceship Song as his entry.

Copa played the song for Al and other employees of the store before sending it to the contest. They were all impressed, and amused with the simple catchiness of the tune and it soon became a favorite of the employees. Out of approximately 200,000 entries, The Spaceship Song received 1 of 100 Honorable Mention awards.

As time went on, Copa and Al went their separate ways but that catchy tune always stayed with Al, to the point of him singing it to his two daughters when they were growing up. Al's oldest daughter now sings it to her young son.

In 1999 Al got a job at night at Network Studios. Getting done with work early in the morning, Al would drive home with Art Bell keeping him company. Upon arrival home the show was so interesting Al would continue to listen to it.

In the mean time, strange things were happening at the studio. In August of 1999, Al started seeing black streaks go flying by. They typically flew from left in back of him to left in front of him. These sightings were years before "shadow people" were being discussed on the air.

One day Richard Kirk, the studio engineer was arriving for work when he saw Al quickly turn his head to the left.

Rich asked "What's the matter?" Al answered, "Oh, nothing."

Rich looked around and asked, "Are you seeing the black thing?"

Al nearly fell over! Numerous sightings have happened since then with other employees and clients as well. There have also been reports of figures standing in doorways, garbage can lids moving back and forth, and bells ringing in the studio lounge. All of these additional events were mentioned to Al or Rich as matter of fact and were completely unprompted.

In early 2001, al heard Art Bell discussing "Shadow People" with callers. Again Al nearly fell over when he realized that other people were seeing the same thing that he was. At that point the light bulb went off... The Spaceship Song and Art Bell.

Al tracked down Copa after not being in touch for almost 20 years. Copa explained that over the years the song had become a family and fan favorite. He had performed the song with a band for a several years, and it was always at the top of the request list. In addition, Copa's father-in-law, an avid camper, became enamored with the song. He has worn out several copies of the original version at sing-a-longs with friends and total strangers at campgrounds in various parts of New Jersey and surrounding states.

Their discussion led to setting up a schedule to re-record The Spaceship Song to send to Art Bell. The enclosed version is the result of those sessions.

Somehow, the odd events at the studio were brought to the attention of Weird New Jersey Magazine. Nick Clemente, one of their writers has approached Al and Rich and there will be a feature story on the studio some time in early-mid 2002.

This information, and a CD of the song were going to be sent early in September 2001, but certain technical difficulties backed up that date. Then....9.11.01. The day the world changed. Mayberry Ritz, thinking the light humor of The Spaceship Song was inappropriate, shelved the whole idea.

Of course once it was decided to give the project another shot, Art Bell was no longer accepting parcels because of the anthrax situation. So here we are, now in MP3 format. One last try.

Even in the worst of times, because a little smile never hurt anyone, the band hopes Art, his listeners and others will enjoy being entertained by this silly little song. Enjoy!!!