Bill's Next Frontier

By Rebecca Winters

Forget Spock. WILLIAM SHATNER'S new wing man is...Ben Folds? The Priceline.com pitchman has teamed with the piano-pounding rocker on a pop album due in October. Shatner's first record, a 1968 spoken-word effort that became an icon of classic camp, earned him Folds' respect--and a duet on the hipster's 1998 album. Now cerebral crooners like Aimee Mann and Henry Rollins will pitch in on Shatner's CD. "Ben told me to tell the truth," says Shatner, who wrote most of the lyrics. "I hope it's musically valid." The record's title does suggest a refreshing honesty--it's called Has Been.