Frank Serafine
Star Trek Main Title
Dig It
Frank Serafine is a name you have most likely never heard, and a man whose music you’ve probably never heard. However, you have without a doubt heard sounds created by this man. He worked as a sound designer and sound effect man for several huge movies from the 1980s. You know the dope sounds of the bikes in Tron? That was him. He also created sound effects for Pumpkinhead, Short Circuit, and Manhunter. He even won an Emmy for his work on The Day After.

Frank was also the sound effects designer for the first Star Trek film, which came out in 1979. A year later, he released his discofied version of the show’s main title music on a single that came out only in Japan.

It is far better than any disco version of the Star Trek Main Title music has any right to be.

This is an insanely well-produced piece of music with a fantastic sound. The b-side, “Dig It,” is also rad as hell. It’s a groovy, flute-driven piece, with a tight guitar riff, solid bass line, and fantastic accompaniment by an excellent horns section. It’s a shame that this came out as a b-side to a disco version of the Star Trek theme in 1980. Turn the dial back a few years, put this aside “The Hustle” or some other instrumental disco jam, and it could’ve easily been a hit with the same crowd.

This record sounds so amazing that I wanted to find out more about the people who worked on it. Frank is only credited as the flutist and keyboardist here, who else made this sound so good?

The single was produced by Miki Curtis, a big name in Japanese music going all the way back to the 1950s. He’s had a diverse career that includes everything from rockabilly to prog rock, with a notable career in acting as well. I would imagine that by 1980, the dude knew his way around a studio. He’s a solid producer here, that’s for sure.

Credited as an arranger as well as a keyboardist is Ken Shima, a workhorse studio guy who’s appeared on countless albums by Japanese idols, and more internationally-acclaimed acts like DJ Krush, Towa Tei and Pizzacato Five.

But the surprises don’t stop there. As I mentioned before, the guitar on this album is tight as hell, and that makes since considering the guitarist on this record is Robben Ford (credited here as Robin Ford). Another name you probably haven’t heard but whose music you have, Ford’s worked with damn near everyone. He played guitar in the studio for Steely Dan and Kiss. He worked with Miles Davis. He played guitar on motherfucking “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. He played with George Harrison and Bonnie Raitt. He’s on a damn Tiffany record. He was even on an album of jazz fusion covers of music from the video game F-Zero, which is a really weird CD. Pee Wee Hill, who plays bass on this single, played on that album as well.

But who plays horns here? They’re so good, I just had to know. Well, according to the liner notes, someone named Don Myyk handled trumpet, while the trombone was played by one Louise Sutherfield. Those people don’t exist. I scoured Discogs and several other music sites, and couldn’t come up with a damn thing.

But you know who does exist? Donald Myrick and Louis Satterfield, both of which played with Earth, Wind & Fire throughout the second half of the 70s and into the 80s. No wonder the horns on this record sound so damn good. So why the false names? That probably has to do more with Japanese pronunciation woes than any attempt at keeping false identities. Translate those names to katakana and then back to English and you’ll end up with butchered spellings like those.

I bought this record as a joke. I figured with would be a lame attempt to capitalize off of the success of Meco’s Star Wars disco cover. Never have I been more surprised. I’ve listened to this cover so much that it’s lost all meaning as a piece of Star Trek music, and has instead taken on a life of its own as a damn fine piece of music in its own right. I’ve also fallen head over heels in love with “Dig It.” What a great melody! Again, a damn shame it never got the audience it deserved.

I don’t know how Frank was able to assemble such a great crew of international talent for such a goofy one-off release, but good for him. The results speak for themselves.

Frank’s only other music release that I can find is a new age album that came out in 2000, although he did do some work with Ravi Shankar as well. Aside from that, he mostly stuck to sound effects and film work. Sadly, the world lost Frank in 2018 in a car accident. He is missed.

The next time you watch Tron and hear those rad bike sounds, think of him.