Vintage Rock Instrumentals: #7 "Out of Limits" The Marketts (1963)

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Sound familiar? Yes, “The Outer Limits” theme but not quite. TV series creator Rod Serling sued over name use thus title change to “Out of Limits” and “borrowing” the famous first four notes of the theme. The Marketts were founded in 1961 by Michael Z. Gordon and session musicians at Rendezvous Records in Hollywood. Composed by Gordon, the song appears on the album of the same title and successful peaking at Billboard #3. Despite the science fiction aspect, “Out of Limits” belongs to surf rock which was the fad in California music. The Marketts had two other top 40 hits in “Surfer’s Stomp” and “Batman Theme.” Gordon was a busy person having another group at the same time. The Routers had a hit with “Let’s Go (Pony)”. The Marketts ended in 1966. Gordon went on to a prolific career as songwriter as well as movie producer-writer. “Out of Limits” is frequently samples in movies and TV including “Pulp Fiction.”