There’s so many things to feel and see while you’re awake…

Don Van Vliet / Captain BeefheartCombining elements of free jazz, blues and rock, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band produced what is commonly regarded by critics and fans as one of rock’s few truly original bodies of work.

Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) retired from the music industry after 1982’s Ice Cream For Crow album to concentrate on his primary love – paint.

The Radar Station is a purely fan-run site which aims to document every twist and turn in the tale of this unique individual.

Header photograph copyright Anton Corbijn, used with kind permission.

Don Van Vliet: 1941-2010 – tributes and fond farewells

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Astounding, astonishing, awesome and any number of superlatives all the way through to zut alors (or should that be zoot alors!) This tour de force is THE craziest attempt at covering Beefheart’s music ever … but it works. An exact five-part harmony a cappella version of every sonic second of one of the most challenging albums of all time. So exact, in fact, that you can play the original and the cover together and they will mesh perfectly! Here is the proof : This is not the first attempt by The 180Gs at covering the seemingly impossible. After an amble through the foothills of strangeRead More →

Don Vliet's graduation photograph

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Don’s school career is shrouded in misinformation, mainly from the man himself. What the school he attended thought of him at the time we’ll probably never really know. However … on Thursday 19 September 2024 Don, Class of 1958, was given recognition by his old high school when he was inducted into the Antelope Valley High School Hall of Fame along with three other former pupils and staff of the school. According to the AVPress (who seemed a bit confused over the spelling of ‘Vliet’) : Van Vleit, Class of 1958, was nominated in the Visual and Performing Arts category, Van Vleit, who died in 2010,Read More →

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Track list Side 1 I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or the Big Dig) My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains Click Clack Side 2 Low Yo Yo Stuff Too Much Time Clear Spot Lick My Decals Off, Baby Big Eyed Beans from Venus Rhino blurb : Captain Beefheart’s “Now Playing” vinyl LP includes 10 seminal tracks from across the artists’ catalog. Introducing Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band ‘Now Playing’- a diverse mix of blues, soul, and experimental rock, featuring songs like “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby” and “Her Eyes Are aRead More →