Northampton Development Corporation encouraged aliens from outer space

Northampton is a much stranger place than I had realised. And it's not just because of its wholly fictitious underground railway or its secret passages.

Back in 1980 the town's development corporation wished to persuade more people to settle there. So, naturally, it hit upon the idea of issuing a single that described distressed extraterrestrials reaching the town and finding it much to their liking.

Or as the lyrics put it:

Aliens from Outer Space
Who needed help from the human race;
And they found new energy
At Northampton.

You can learn more about how this remarkable piece of music came to be issued in an old news report.

Two other points are worth noting.

The first is that "Energy in Northampton" was sung by Linda Jardim, who went on to appear on the rather better known "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles.

The second is that if you liked "Energy in Northampton" you may enjoy the B-side too.