Jasper Leach has very kindly compiled and sent to me concise guides to who did what and when on the albums Trout Mask Replica and Ice Cream For Crow. I'm hoping he will be able to continue this for all the Magic Band albums, and all will be made available in the discography once Jasper has compiled them. If you can add any more info to these, do get in touch. Many thanks indeed to Jasper for his time and trouble.

A new edition of the radio show is now available.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm off to the Golden Marlett pub in Hellingly (E Sussex, UK) to meet up with a few Fire Party members and see Benjamin Horrendous' Beefheart-inspired band The Fourfathers. If you are in the area in the afternoon, drop in for a pint. After that I'm on holiday for a few days to go wandering over some rolling hills in my old hometown in Dorset, so there won't be any Radar Station updates until next Saturday. I will still be contactable by e-mail, however. See you next week!

James Silberbauer has very kindly sent me a bundle of information about Eugene Chadbourne and Jimmy Carl Black's Beefheart tribute album Pachuco Cadaver which I have added to the discography. Mat Laferty has also sent me a review for this same album. Many thanks to both.

Chris Morris has kindly sent me an article he wrote for the 2nd July edition of the LA Weekly looking at the flurry of Beefheart re-releases we have enjoyed this year, called simply Captain Beefheart. Many thanks to Chris for sending this and for granting permission to reproduce it here. Find it in the music info archive.

The readers' stories and tributes section has a new and amusing story, this time from Bruce Kirschbaum, entitled An Original Canter's Deli-Wrapper Van Vliet.

Erik Kempke has ponted out that I had made an error with the naming of two files on the Original Bat Chain Puller - Flavor Bud Living and A Carrot Is As Close had somehow had their titles swapped around. This has now been corrected. Cheers Erik.

William sent me a tip-off about a Beefheart reference in an article in which Greil Marcus talks about his favourite albums. Cheers William - find it at http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/col/marc/1999/08/23/second/index.html

Steve Dashney sent me the URL for an article from The Globe and Mail about the Captain's recent rebirth which is kind enough to mention this site. The URL is the longest in the world ever, so I'll keep it buried away and just direct you here.

Just a very quick update today to pass on the fantastic news (for UK visitors only, sorry) that the highly recommended BBC documentary The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart will be repeated this Sunday (29th August) evening at 11.30 pm on BBC 2 as part of their special celebrations for John Peel's 60th birthday. Here what the Beeb has to say about it:

11:30pm John Peel Night: The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart. John Peel tells the story of California's Captain Beefheart, regarded as one of the most original musical figures to come out of the 60s and today a successful painter under his real name, Don Van Vliet. He created a unique blend of blues, jazz, poetry and rock with albums such as `Trout Mask Replica'. Contemporaries recount tales from his eventful life Repeat. Ceefax, Nicam Digital Stereo.

Non-UK visitors should book their flights over here as soon as possible, itis worth it.

A very big thankyou to everyone who has sent in their congratulations for the Artist Dirct award nomination, and any other reason you have had to contact me. My mailbox is in trouble again but I will be getting back to people as soon as I can. If you haven't voted yet, please do. Cheers.

New up today is the latest edition of the radio show.

I have just had some very exciting news about this site. The Radar Station has been selected as one of five nominees for the Artist Direct Music Awards and appears in the category Best Rock Fansite.

The nominations were made by 'an academy of of online and music industry profesionals', however the winners in each category are chosen by the general public through an online voting form.

The results will be announced on 7th October at an awards ceremony at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles and will be beamed out live on the Internet.

I'm shocked and stunned, basically - this isn't one of your ten-a-penny scam awards sites, this is the real thing and I'm proud as punch. Artists Direct own UBL and iMusic and are getting bigger - this is the Grammies / Brits of the internet. If you value the Radar Station and would like to see Captain Beefheart mentioned at a big-ass cheesy industry do, hot-foot it along to the Artist Direct web-site and cast your vote.

Naturally, if the Radar Station wins I'll request that The Blimp is played during the ceremony at punishing volume. Nothing less would do.

Don't forget to register to vote! ;-)

Serious egg-on-face balls up ahoy! I have removed all the 'Distant Cousins' tunes (rare and unreleased early seventies Beefheart outtakes) so far posted, and will not be posting any more.

It appears that a record company who I have been in regular contact with over the past 9 months is extremely interested in these tunes, and will be including them on a series of releases to appear in the hopefully not-too-distant future. It should have occurred to me to check with them first but stupidly it didn't, hence the sudden about-turn.

I am sorry that this tantalising glimpse of these real treasures was very brief, and apologise to those of you disappointed by their disappearance. However, this is excellent news. A legitimate, good sounding, nicely packaged release can do so much more justice to these outtakes than my mp3s.

Please do not write to me asking for the remaining files as the answer will have to be no. As soon as I am able I will naturally pass on whatever information I can. Just be patient....

The Dust Blows Forward, the first ever worthwhile best of Beefheart compilation, is released today! Read all about it on the info page. My review will follow as soon as it is complete.

There are two more Distant Cousins tunes to download, the mighty Pompadour Swamp and Funeral Hill. If anyone spots any errors with the track listing, please do let me know.

I have also finally got around to updating the message board for traders, and there are plenty of new listings. I was recently sent a message from Nefarious Parker who was listed in the message board, saying:

I received a copy of the Mallard LP, thanks very much to Keith. It is excellent. Thanks to all who emailed with offers and suggestions. This is a great community.

I'm very pleased the message board is of use, but please do remember to drop me a line and let me know when you have got what you are lookng for so I can remove your message. Thanks to Mr Parker for his kind words.

Chris James has also been in touch recently, commenting on some Beefheartisms encroaching on mainstream television:

Watch out for the new Holstein Pils ad by the Fast Show "Elliot Ness and the Unpronounceables", they go through trying to order a drink, spluttering through various central/east European names before ordering "Polstein Hils" and "Holstein Pils", the ad ends with a "Fast 'n Bulbous" voice over.

Sometime during the week ending 7th Aug a BBC2 extreme sport program features Zig Zag Wanderer as the accompaniment to a piece on down hill MTB racing. This program is aimed at teenagers!!

The NME has given Grow Fins a rave review, read all about it at NME.com. Thanks to Erik for the tip-off.

Rhino Records have spawned a new record label called Rhino Handmade. They produce exclusive, strictly limited, lavish reissues of long unavaliable or unissued albums from a range of artists, many of whom are likely to be of interest to the Beefheart fan. The first release was from Wild Man Fischer (still available at time of writing) and there will be a new collection released every two weeks. Well worth keeping an eye on.

The Radar Station has been nominated for and given an Open Directory Cool Site award. Click their button to check out the experimental music section in which it is featured.

I'm back from a pleasant weekend's camping in the small Sussex town of Rye and am thrilled with today's update. I have been sent two fantastic sounding CDs of outtakes from the Decals, Spotlight / Brown Star and Clear Spot session and have started to upload this hour-and-three-quarters worth of unreleased music to the rare music archive, under the title Distant Cousins (There's A limited Supply). The first three top quality mp3s are now available to download.

I think this is probably the finest addition to the rare music archive ever and I'm sure you will enjoy them. I haven't heard a lot of these tunes on any bootlegs, so some may not be in circulation (though I'm not at all sure about this as yet). Those that I have heard before have never sounded this good. I am hoping to upload two or three of these 31 tunes every day, so pop back often for more.

If you have any more information about any of these tunes, or spot any that are incorrectly titled, please let me know.

Because of the enormous amount of space taken up on the server by these tunes, I have removed the old files for the NYC 1973 show, and won't be improving and uploading the entire show again as I originally intended and promised. It is a fantastic show, but the sound quality isn't great. Instead, I'll add a few of the highlights to the Booglarized By Beefheart miscellaneous live section once I have finished uploading the 'Distant Cousins' tunes.

Firstly, some news. I have been sent a press release from Past and Present Records concerning their reissue of the last five Captain Beefheart albums on vinyl. Limited to 1,000 copies each and only available for three months these are destined to be hot collectors' items. For now you can read the press release, and I'll bring you more news as soon as I get it.

Sheldon Reber has kindly sent along a striking tour poster from 1981, designed by his friend Jere Smith. Find it in the music info archive.

Malcolm Riviera has sent me a couple of scans of Beefheart 8 tracks which I have included in the discography (for TMR and Shiny Beast). He tells me he has more which will be arriving soon. Malcolm runs the 8 Track Heaven web-site,so if you have any interest in that particular format I'd recommend you head there.

Dixigas has kindly sent me scans of the promo vinyl interview disc which featured a 24 minute chunk of the 1969 Meatball Fulton interview. I've added them to the interview page, and will also tuck them in the discography as soon as I get the chance. Incidentally, Dixigas is currently selling a copy of the promo vinyl interview at eBay.

No new radio show this weekend, I'm afraid, nor any new updates until mid-next week as I'm off camping for a few days in Rye, though I have no idea what to expect from Rye as I know absolutely nothing about it. See you then!

The visitors' stories and tributes section has two new stories, one from Tom Ellis about a wasted opportunity entitled Waiting At The Bar, and one from Joe Henderson about a very surreal moment at a Magic Band gig entitled A Tribe Of Troglodytes. Many thanks to both for sending their stories along.

I've had some news about the next issue of Steal Softly Thru Snow, the highly recommended Beefheart collectors' fanzine from Paul Brown. Paul's computer crashed recently and he lost all his files, so is currently re-typing all his information. Hopefully issue#8 entitled I Don't Like To Talk About These Records But I'm Gonna Do It Anyway, looking at both Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans and Moonbeams will be with us soon.

Many thanks to Mark Dobson and James Silberbauer for providing the sleeve scans that I asked for which I have now added to the relevant pages of the discography.

Does anyone have a copy of the Zappa / Vliet script for Captain Beefheart Meets The Grunt People? Not only have I never read it and would love to do so, it would also make an excellent addition to the Radar Station. If you can help me out, drop me a line.

Many of you have asked if I was still intending to improve the NYC 1973 files in the rare music archive as I promised a while back. I did re-encode the whole show, but had the levels a little too high and so every song contained patches of distortion. As soon as I get the chance to do so, I'll be uploading better versions, but you can expect this to take a while yet.

As promised, my review for Grow Fins is now available, entitled My Ears Stand Up When I Hear That Sound. Please feel free to send me your comments.

Don Truby has very kindly scanned, corrected and sent me two interviews with Don, the first can be found in the music info archive and is called An Artist, A Heartist from 1978, the second, An Old Fart At Play from 1983, can be found in the miscellaneous biographical items section. Both are well worth a read - after you've read my review, of course ;-)

I have a mountain of other stuf still to upload, but time is short at the moment, so I'll try to do small, frequent updates until I've managed to get on top of of all. Hopefully more tomorrow.

I've just got back home, and hurriedly compiled this week's edition of the radio show.

I've been sent plenty of info over the last six days to upload, got on top of my mail, and even written my review for Grow Fins, but you will have to wait until tomorrow for anything new at the Radar Station as I'm off to sit in the sunshine and relax for the rest of the day (or until the sun goes in anyway). Enjoy the show for now.

Michael Eivaz has very kindly sent me some photographs that he took at two Magic Band gigs (actually one is a Tragic Band gig) which I am very pleased to present in the music info archive. They are from New York 1974 and New York 1977. Many thanks indeed for these, Michael.

If anyone else has any pictures that they took at any Magic band gigs, please do get in touch as I would very much like to include them at the Radar Station if at all possible.

I'm still continuing with the integration of Home Page Replica with the Radar Station, and have added Justin's info on Bluejeans and Moonbeams, Bongo Fury, Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) and Doc at the Radar Station to the discography section in the music info archive. If you can help me update or correct any of the info on these pages then I would love to hear from you.

I'm also in need of good quality scans of the front covers of Bluejeans, A&M Sessions and Doc as my covers are either damaged or on LP and therefore too big to scan in one go. If you can help out, drop me a line before sending your scans and I'll get back to you - otherwise I could end up downloading 1,000 different scans of the same album ;-)

I'll be away for five days next week from tomorrow and therefore unable to update the site. Next update should be on Saturday 7th August. I will still be contactable by e-mail, so drop me a line - I should have some more time to get through my backlog of mail while I'm away, so hopefully I'll be all up to date by the time I return. Cheers.

The new edition of the radio show is now available.

As promised yesterday, you can now find full information about the second volume of the vinyl edition of Grow Fins. Rather than pile it all in with all the other Grow Fins bumpf, I've split it off from the main Grow Fins page and put it onto a separate Vinyl Grow Fins page.

Detlef Juergens has added another year to his ongoing quest to fill in the cracks of the Magic Band's history. You can now read all about 1972 at his extremely good indeed Live Performances and Rehearsals web site.

Apologies for the silence over the last week - such is the horror of the world of work. I've assembled a bumper crop of new items for you today to make up for it.

The reader's stories and tributes section has an excellent new addition, a musical tribute created entirely from samples of Trout Mask Replica by Bulbous Boy Slim aka Andy Throat entitled The Puffin Face Replica Sessions. Recommended listening! Don't forget to let Andy know what you think - his e-mail address is included on the page.

The Picture Gallery has its first new addition for ages with Trinket Village, a painting from 1988, kindly sent along to me by David Kidney. Incidentally, David runs Rylander, the Ry Cooder quarterly fanzine. Drop him a line for more info.

The Meatball Fulton streaming audio interview from 1969 is now complete, as I have added the final two parts. Find the whole lot in the miscellaneous biographical items section.

Mark Beebe has very kindly sent me a copy of his cartoon telling the story of the Magic Band which you can find in the pictures section of the music info archive.

Also up today in the music info archive is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle entitled Captain Beefheart's Musical Genius Back In The Spotlight which tales a look at the sudden explosion in Beefheart releases.

Finally, a news item. The second of the three double vinyl sets of Grow Fins is due to be released on 21st September 1999 by Xeric / Table Of The Elements, and features the Trout Mask sessions portion of the set. I'll post the track list and other information tomorrow.

At last!! My copy of Grow Fins has finally arrived and I'm currently in the process of listening to it for the very first time. I am well aware that the vast majority of you have probably already heard it many times, but I'm still going to write a review for it, for my own enjoyment if not yours! I've listened to the first two CDs so far and am having a grand time.

I've made some minor changes to the Grow Fins page, correcting my old tracklisting, including a few extra links to various reviews, and including a review from this week's Chicago Reader which also kindly makes a mention of the Radar Station.

The new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra is now available.

I've also received a message from none other than Mr Mark Boston / Rockette Morton, who would like me to post the following notice:

Hello, my name is Rockette Morton and I still run on lazer beans. I am currently working on a new album project of my own. I will have my own web address very soon and will gladly communicate with Beefheart and Mallard zealots from anywhere in the known, and/or unknown universe. Stay tuned to this station.....The old fart is still at play...

I will be including this in the message board when I next update it (hopefully tomorrow) but thought you might appreciate my drawing your attention to it here. Welcome to the Internet, Rockette, cheers for getting in touch!

I'm afraid I still have a huge backlog of unanswered mail which I'm hoping to start going through either tomorrow or Monday. Apologies if you have written to me recently and haven't received a reply. Right now I'm off to the beach to sit in the sunshine, have a beer and start reading the Grow Fins sleevenotes. What more could I ask for?

New up today is The Guardian's recent look at Grow Fins, entitled Bully for Beef which you can find in the reviews section of the music info archive.

Dag Weiser has sent me a poster for a San Francisco Magic Band show, but neither of us can work out exactly when it was - either 1972 or 1978 - any ideas?

The reader's responses section, Low Yo Yo Stuff, has a new contribution from Richard Rainey pleasingly titled Up Me 'N Up The Canyon.

Part three of the Meatball Fulton audio interview is now available.

Many thanks to everyone who answered my querie yesterday about Don appearing on One Size Fits All. Having had so many assurances that Don does play harmonica on this Zappa album, I think it is safe to include in the Zappa / Beefheart collaborations section of the on-line store. I've also included Zappa's Strictly Commercial which features a tune from One Size. Thankyou everyone who sent in information.

New up today are two audio interviews which you can stream directly to your ears. From 1969 there are the first two parts of a stunning Meatball Fulton interview which I strongly recommend you listen to. The remaining three parts will appear over the next few days.

Secondly there is a complete telephone interview which was broadcast live on KHSU radio in 1972 in which the dj appears entirely unable to deal with Don's mind. Both of these interviews were very kindly sent to me by Scott McFarland, so a big thankyou to him.

Find them both in the catch-all miscellaneous biographical items section, which I have slightly rearranged to separate the audio interviews from the press interviews. If you try to listen to any of these and the streams are busy, try again in a few days when they are likely to have quietened down again.

Apologies to those of you who have contacted me over the last week or so and haven't received a reply yet. I do try to answer all the mail that this site generates, though I occasionally get a little behind when things like life get in the way. Many thanks for your patience!

If Maarten Van Steen is reading this, could you drop me a line again please? I have tried to get in touch with you but my messages keep bouncing back at me. If you could leave your files up until after next weekend, I'd be very grateful. Cheers.

Mr Brainpang has very kindly sent me a cutting from this week's Village Voice featuring a review for both Grow Fins and The Dust Blows Forward entitled Hungry and Weird.

Paul Stevenson has sent along his tribute to the Captain's music entitled Lick My Vespa Off Baby! (the title become clear when you read it!). Find it in Low Yo Yo Stuff, the reader's stories section. Cheers Paul.

There is an excellent article mainly about Grow Fins at the Nashville Scene website entitled Nature Boy. Many thanks to Claudia Rubin for the tip-off.

Markus Engvall sent along a small version of the painting Tilde Wholde which you can see in Scratch O' Light - The Don Van Vliet Picture Index. Cheers Markus.

Thanks to both Brainpang and Dave Liebesman for pointing out that the Zappa / Beefheart collaborations page in the on-line store was missing Zoot Allures which features Don on harmonica for one song. I've also added Bruce Fowler's intriguingly titled Ants Can Count album and the soundtrack to the film Short Cuts (featuring Bruce) to the former Magic Band members section.

Visitors in the south of England may be interested to know that a Beefheart covers band will be playing for free in Sussex at The Golden Martlett, Hellingly on 29th August. I hope to be going, as do a few members of the Fire Party Beefheart discussion list. For directions and further information, contact Benjamin Horrendous. Hope to see you there.

This week's edition of the radio show is now available, hope you enjoy it.

Apologies to anyone who tuned into Radio 1 on Thursday night to hear Mike Barnes' interview and missed it. After I had gone away and was unable to update the site, I received a message from Mike who had just found out that it was only being broadcast in Scotland as part of their 'North of The Border' feature. I'm hoping someone has a tape of the interview that I can make available here. Drop me a line if you can help out.

More tomorrow.

The new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra radio show is now available.

As mentioned below, Mike Barnes, who is currently adding the finishing touches to his Beefheart biography, will be interviewed on BBC Radio One this week. Mike has now had confirmation of the date of the broadcast, which will be on Thursday 15th July during the Steve Lamacq Evening Session (8 - 10pm British Summer Time).

Mike says it will only be a relatively short spot, though there is the slim possibility that Karl Hyde from Underworld will be also be joining in as he is a big Beefheart fan (apparently Underworld almost always listen to the Captain before going on stage to get them in the right mood). Tune in if you can.

This will be the last update until the next edition of the radio show on Saturday 17th July (when I will also bring you whatever news is available) as I am going away for a few days to help my mother do battle with her garden - a very welcome break for both of us. As usual, I will still be contactable by e-mail so feel free to drop me a line.

Only a small update today as I'm knackered. I've been doing a few days' work in the local county council's recycling offices and it has been a big shock to the system!

The final few Original Bat Chain Puller mp3s are now available for you to downlaod from the rare music archive.

British visitors should listen out for an interview with none other than Mike Barnes on BBC Radio 1's Steve Lamacq Evening Session towards the end of next week. Mike will be talking about his long-awaited but almost-finished Beefheart biography. As soon as he is able to find out the exact date and times of the transmission, I'll pass the news along to you.

The first volume of the vinyl edition of Grow Fins has already sold out, though you may still find the odd copy in certain shops. Revenant are hoping to make a second pressing of this first volume available as soon as is possible.

Those of you lucky enough to have bought a copy of the first pressing will have noticed the absence of the promised poster, due to a delay at the poster printers. Revenant are intending to include the poster with the second volume of the vinyl set (not with the second pressing of the first volume, but with the second volume). Again I'll post any further news about these matters as soon as I have it.

New up today is the latest edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment, and it's a cracker.

The rare music and video archive has the beginning of a new section entitled Booglarized by Beefheart which will feature a selection of live mp3s for you to download, spanning the Captain's career. The first tune up is a version of Willie The Pimp recorded live with Frank Zappa in 1975, kindly sent to me by Mark Hawling.

Also, the Bat Chain Puller mp3s have been improved once more (for the last time, I hope) and are now available to download.

The Radar Station now has a search facility which you can access at the top and bottom of every page in the menu bar. Hopefully this will make it much easier for you to find what you are looking for within the 550+ pages that comprise this site. The page descriptions given on the search results page are all identical at the moment, but I will be working on correcting this as soon as I can alter the meta tags on every page (ouch!).

Amazon are now back on line as usual after they were down for a very short time. Anyone who tried to order any Beefheart CDs (or anything else) through the Radar Station's Amazon-associated on-line store and failed, should now give it another go. You can now place a pre-release order for Rhino's 2 CD anthology The Dust Blows Forward.

I have recently received a brand new copy of the book Skeleton Breath, Scorpion Blush by Don Van Vliet which you can now order from the Internet Bookshop. It is a little on the pricey side at 16 pounds sterling, however is a beautiful little book featuring an essay by A R Penck, 16 Don Van Vliet paintings and 16 of his lyrics / poems.

Rhino's collection The Dust Blows Forward has had its release date put back a short time to 17th August. You can now read the extensive track notes and sleeve notes at the Rhino web-site.

New up today is a snap of Captain Beefheart on stage with Frank Zappa Bloomington, Illinois, 1975. This picture was taken and kindly sent ot me by John Petraitis, so many thanks to him for his trouble. He's also offered some more info about the gig which I hope to include soon. Find it in the music info archive.

I'm back from one of the strangest Glastonbury Festivals I've ever had. Although I enjoyed every minute of it, I managed to miss virtually every band I wanted to see, and yet ended up watching the atrocious (though wonderfully named) Gay Dad. How did this happen? I missed Patty Smith, Mercury Rev, Superfly, Underworld, Grooverider, Death In Vegas, REM, Burning Spear and everything else, but saw Gay Dad. It wasn't meant to be like that. Anyway, it was fun and the sun shone.

New up today is an addition to the news section about a new documentary about Don Van Vliet, currently in the planning & research stages, entitled Neon Meate Dreams of a Octafish: The Voyages of Captain Beefheart. The filmmaker needs your assistance, so if you can help, drop him a line.

Information about Unconditionally Guaranteed is now available in the discography, as are a few cosmetic changes and information updates - thanks especially to David Naughton for his efforts and accuracy, and for his scans of the Blue Collar soundtrack sleeve and notes. If you can offer any additional information to any of the pages now up in the discography, please do so. Good scans of rare or unusual sleeves and labels will be most welcome.

I've added some more information about The Dust Blows Forward, the soon to be released Beefheart retrospective. The advance tapes that I have heard have shown that it is a very well sequenced and representative collection, providing an excellent introduction to the Magic Band, and also three hard-to-find tunes for the completist. The sleeve notes are excellent as well. It's out on 3rd August.

Grow Fins is now widely available, and many of us are probably swinging to it right now (myself excepted as I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive - auggh!!).

Visitors to the Radar Station who would like to get in touch with other Beefheart fans to chew the cud about the Magic Band and music in general should join the regularly fascinating Fire Party - this site's Beefheart discussion list. The list does generate a fair bit of mail most days - generally between 10 and 30 messages, so busy people be warned.

As promised my review of the new Buddha reissues is now up, along with some info in the discography about both Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions. Hope you find it useful. Still to come is an interview with John Platt about these releases.

I should mention that Detlef Juergens has made a huge update as part of his ongoing Beefheart timeline project, gathering and meticulously organising every scrap of info relating to the Magic Band's comings and goings. The site is very efficiently ordered, pleasingly displayed, well written, and is an absolute goldmine of interesting information. I spent a very pleasent couple of hours browsing round it all the other evening, and I heartily recommend that you do the same. Head over to Detlef Juergens' Live Performances and Rehearsals Info.

Supplement, the Dutch radio show that brought you the three hour Beefheart extravaganza is set to do it again, this time with a complete broadcast of a Magic Band show which later became the Electric Poetry bootleg. This will also be broadcast over the internet via RealAudio. Marc Wielaert writes:

MONDAY AUGUST 16, 1999, in Supplement, Co de Kloet will broadcast a spectacular double-bill: The concerts by FRANK ZAPPA, AHOY, Rotterdam, 24-5-1980. AND CAPTAIN BEEFHEART in PARADISO, Amsterdam, 1-11-1980. In the Netherlands and some surrounding countries: Radio 4, 20.02 - midnight. ALSO Worldwide in RealAudio: http://www.omroep.nl/nps/radio/supplement/framesets/frameset_stemaf.htm !!ONLY during the broadcast!! So if you live in the US, take the afternoon off. Tune in & Enjoy!

I have been sent a copy of this month's Pulse magazine, given away free at Tower Records' stores, by Peter Haines which features a cartoon telling the Beefheart story (or part of it). You can find it in the music info archive, many thanks to Peter for sending it along.

This week's Tromblown Orchestra is now available, and is back to normal after handing over to Steve Froy for a few weeks. Many thanks to Steve for his time and effort piecing together the last three shows. This edition will remain available for two weeks as I won't be here next weekend (it's time for my annual mud-wallow at the Glastonbury Festival). It contains a splendid cover of Observatory Crest, performed by Mercury Rev during their recent Peel session. Hope you enjoy it.

Nothing new up today, just a very small note to pass comment on the Buddha reissues which arrived here while I was away. I've listened to all of Safe As Milk and am currently half-way through Mirror Man, and I am really very impressed with what has been achieved here.

At some point over the next few days I'll be posting my review of the two albums, and am hoping that an exclusive interview with John Platt will be following shortly afterwards. John Platt is the superhero who produced the reissues and also wrote the excellent sleevenotes which accompany them.

Expect the first 'regular' edition of the Tromblown Orchestra for about five weeks to arrive tomorrow as well.

I'm not too sure why I'm even making this 'no news, no nothing' update, though my enthusiasm for these super-sharp CDs that I have just heard for the first time may well have something to do with it. And Grow Fins is just around the corner too....!

This week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment is now available, and is a tribute to Mikael Djurvall, a young Beefheart fan, Fire Party member and Radar Station contributor who sadly died in April of this year. The show was compiled by Steve Froy from some of the tapes that he and Mikael traded, and also some of his known favourites. Thanks to Steve for taking the time to do this.

I've had reassurances from far and wide that the recent Buddha releases (Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions) have been released in Europe, despite my not having seen a single copy of either anywhere. Thanks to everyone who wrote in with the info.

No updates until Saturday 19th June as I will be away for a few days.

New up today is a small collection of zipped up guitar tabs for you to download. I get more requests for guitar tabs than for any other item, so here are a few to start you off. If you have any more than those on offer here, please do send them along.

Also, Low Yo Yo Stuff, the reader's stories and responses section has a new poem by Nigel Sutcliffe entitled Ode To The Captain. Many thanks to Nigel and Simon for this one.

At last, the Electric Poetry tunes are now complete.

I've been busy with mainly background changes to the site today, however you can download three more tunes from the Electric Poetry show, and also the short, banned, television commercial which was made for Lick My Decals Off Baby. Find them all in the rare music and video archive.

A few people have written to me asking about the Buddha reissues of Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions. Both are now available, though my copies still haven't arrived. As soon as they come I'll be posting reviews for both. Those that have already heard them have been very enthusiastic about significant and startling improvements in sound quality and have praised Buddha for a very thorough job. I'm looking forward to wrapping my ears around them very soon. You can order them through the Radar Station's on-line store if you can't find them locally (or even if you can).

New up today are two splendid sets of photographs. The first is from Dr Stephen Jove who photographed the Captain during his Winterland 1973 performance. The second is a set of black and white photographs taken by Hans Van Hulst at the show which later became the Electric Poetry bootleg. Many thanks to both Hans and Stephen for these fantastic photographs which can be found in the music info archive.

If any visitors to the Radar Station have any photographs tucked away somewhere that they took at any Magic Band gigs, they would find a very welcome home here.

I'm still slowly incorporating Justin Sherill's Home Page Replica pages into the site. The discography has three further entries in it now, The Spotlight Kid, Clear Spot and the Blue Collar soundtrack.

Filtered Thru Dust Speakers, the rare music and video archive, is currently undergoing a major overhaul. It has recently become apparent to me that my mp3 encoder is not performing as well as it once was, for some strange reason. I've now got a new one and am once again able to produce excellent sounding mp3s. I am therefore in the process of re-doing any of the tunes in the archive which have suffered from the nasty squelchy sound that hindered some of the recently encoded mp3s.

I'm starting with the Electric Poetry bootleg, which has been entirely re-encoded, and you can now find the first eleven tunes ready and waiting. Next up for improvement is the once-lousy sounding NYC 1973 show, and finally Bat Chain Puller will once again get an overhaul, sounding much better than it currently does. This is the last time these mp3s will be re-encoded, as the finished product this time will be of virtually CD quality, depending on the original source. I will be getting a couple of tunes up every day, hopefully.

Stewart Osbourne has recently informed the Fire Party that there is an article about Captain Beefheart containing some interesting comments from Gary Lucas available on the 'San Francisco Chronicle' web-site. Cheers for pointing this out Stewart.

Finally, an appeal for funds. I'm seriously struggling to pay a massive phone bill at the moment, again, so if any regular visitors have been contemplating making a donation to help cover costs, now would be an excellent time to do so, and would be very much appreciated. If you are willing and able to help out, please drop me a line. Many thanks.

At last, my exams are over and my life is once again my own. I am well aware that the Radar Station has been neglected somewhat over the last few weeks, as I warned you that it would be, but that will all be put right as soon as possible. My 'to do' list is exceptionally long and I have a mountain of new material for you, including audio interviews, music downloads, reviews and press snippets. Not to mention the rapidly approaching release of Grow Fins which is likely to give a massive boost to interest in the Magic Band. Expect the first batch of this new material to start appearing on Monday, if not sooner.

New up today is the second part of Steve Froy's excellent Blues Roots of Captain Beefheart, broadcast by the Tromblown Orchestra. Steve has threatened to start work on further editions one day, which I am very much looking forward to.

Many thanks to everyone who has sent me messages, photographs, tapes, CDs etc over the last week or so, I'll make a start on working my way through the backlog of mail as soon as possible.

I am currently in the process of submitting my proposal for a year's independent study next year, in which I will be focusing on gender and the avant-garde, specifically considering women's lack of envolvement or interest in the predominantly male genre of experimental music. Guess who will be one of the main subjects of my study? Yup, none other than Captain Beefheart.

This will be a fairly big project which will welcome any constructive input from visitors to the Radar Station. I'm sure this study will make my three years at university entirely worthwhile and I'm very much looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into it. I hope some of you find it of interest too.

As promised, the first part of Steve Froy's 'The Blues Roots Of Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band' is now available for you to listen to as this week's edition of the Radar Station's streaming audio web-radio show. It is a great selection, with good sound quality due to some improvements I've made in the encoding process. I have also uploaded Steve's notes / commentary to accompany the show. Many thanks indeed to Steve for this excellent collection.

I've also had some news about the release party for the Grow Fins set from the company handling the promotion of this release:

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND: GROW FINS (RARITIES 1965-82) 5CD REVENANT BOX SET RELEASE PARTY

When: Saturday, June 19th, 5pm
Where: 33 Degrees Record Shop (4011 N Guadalup St.), Austin, Texas.
What to expect: Excerpts from the long-awaited box set, live entertainment from Harlem's No Neck Blues Band (who'll be making their Revenant debut later this year), and free beevos.
How much: no cover, mang.

Not really an update today, just a note to let you know that I am up to my eyeballs in exam revision for the next two weeks. It is very unlikely that I will be able to get any updates up here until after my last exam which is on 5th June (yes, that is a Saturday). Until then you can expect me to be pretty silent, with the exception of the radio shows and any earth-shattering news which I will post as usual.

The next edition of the Tromblown Orchestra radio show will arrive, as usual, this Saturday, and will be the first part of Beefheart's Blues Roots, compiled by Steve Froy. It is a cracking collection of some of the old blues tunes that either clearly inspired Don or were covered by the Magic Band. Don't miss it. Part two will follow on 5th June.

Gary Lucas' new mini-album @Paradiso fell through my letter box this morning, so I've added a page to the discography section (in the music info archive) for this album, including my review. It's a good 'un!

I've also added Justin's Lick My Decals Off Baby info to the discography, and a new page about Frank Zappa's Mystery Disc which features a couple of old and previously unreleased Beefheart collaborations.

I'm away for the weekend, so the next update won't arrive until Monday at the earliest. This means that there won't be any radio show this week - you'll just have to get even more familiar with last week's.

New up today is a review for the Grow Fins set which will be with us in a month's time. The review was written by Byron Coley and appeared in last month's edition of The Wire; many thanks to Byron for his permission to reproduce it here. Don't forget that you can place your pre-release orders for Grow Fins in the Radar Station's on-line store, along with the new re-releases for Safe As Milk and Mirror Man.

Charles Holzhauer has very kindly sent me a series of photographs and poster from a gig in 1976 in San Francisco. Find both in the music info archive.

I have uploaded the rest of Greg Gardner's excellent mp3s of a Magic Band sound-check in Vancouver 1981, find the lot in the rare music archive.

I am also in the process of uploading bigger and better quality mp3s of the Electric Poetry bootleg - the first few are up now, the rest will gradually appear over the next week or two. I hope you enjoy the clearer sound.

Again, the main update is a new edition of the Radar Station's streaming audio web-radio show. There will not be an edition next week as I will be away for the weekend, the next new show will appear in two week's time (29th May 1999) and will be part one of a "Beefheart's Blues Roots" special. Painstakingly compiled by Steve Froy, this show will feature the best of the old, original blues tunes which clearly had a big influence on young Don Vliet. Featuring the originals of tunes covered by Beefheart and a selection of tunes with melodies or lyrics later borrowed by the Captain, it is a real treat to hear. Many thanks to Steve Froy for his time and effort in getting this together. Part two will be available the following week (5th June 1999).

This month's Mojo magazine has a five page Beefheart feature in it, and indeed on it, as the man himself is bursting out of the cover. It features a look at the new Grow Fins set (which gets a big thumbs up from Jon Savage), two pages of exerpts from Mike Barnes interviews with various Magic Band members, and numerous photographs - one of which I have never seen before. Get hold of a copy if you can, it is out now.

I'm very pleased to be able to remove the mp3s for Captain Beefheart's classic album Lick My Decals Off Baby, as serious plans are at last afoot for a special re-release. As soon as I am able to bring you more information, I shall.

Carlton B. Morgan is attempting to investigate and record the extent of the Captain's influence on contemporary music, literature, comedy and culture in general. He is doing this by piecing together a catalogue of interview fragments in which well-known individuals pay homage to Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. The end result will either find a home here at the Radar Station or on his own web-site. If you have or find any obscure references to the Captain, you might want to let him know. See his web-site for contact details, etc.

The Radar Station appears to be booming, as you can see from a recent log-analysis report that I have had done. The site is averaging an astonishing 1,700 seperate visitors every day! This is an increase of 1,100 since the last time I used a proper log-file analyser. Phew!

My university work is gradually progressing very well, but will be taking up the majority of my time until the 5th June when I have my last exam of the year. Until then, updates will be sparser than usual, and I may be a little slow in answering your mail. I will, however, be able to upload a few new items on Wednesday (19th), so pop back then for more.

There is a new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment now available, and a small press cutting about Slam Bukra's Beefheart tribute night which you will find in the music info archive.

I've also done a little more work on integrating Justin's discography into the Radar Station (I know I said I wouldn't be able to just yet, but what the hell)- a few more albums are now available up to and including Trout Mask Replica. Please note that these pages need to be re-worded and jiggled to fit into their new format, and information needs to be updated. What you see now is not the finished result!

The next update will come whenever it can (see below). Cheers.

Scott Hand has kindly sent me his story about his parent's reaction to the Magic Band's appearance on Saturday Night Live which you can find in the visitor's stories section.

Updates will be a lot less regular than they have been for the next month as I have a mountain of essay work and exam revision to do. I finish on the 5th June, so things should get back to normal here after then. All news items that I receive will be posted on site immediately, however other items, such as the incorporation of HPR into the Radar Station, will have to wait for a short while until after 5th June. The radio show will appear as normal every weekend. Dont worry, the Radar Station isn't going away!

I'm very pleased to be able to present you with a series of Morton Death cartoons, all featuring the good Captain. Many thanks to Colin Morton for sending these along and giving his permission to feature them here. If you fancy a funny, irreverent, and downright silly look at the life of Captain Beefheart then these are highly recommended. You can find them in the biographical items section. Hope you enjoy them.

There is a new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra, the Radar Station's streaming audio web-radio show for you to listen to.

I have found an outlet from which you can order pre-release copies of the first volume of the vinyl edition of Grow Fins. Diverse Music have been highly recommended to me by a trusted regular visitor to the Radar Station. They are a UK-based company who will ship anywhere in the world for very reasonable prices. There will only be 3,000 copies of the vinyl set pressed up worldwide, so be sure to get your order in. Just click on the link above and then head to 'vinyl news' to find their listing for Grow Fins.

For information about the vinyl or CD sets, head to the Radar Station's Grow Fins Special.

Just a small update today with some expanded Grow Fins info concerning the new release date, the vinyl edition (complete with vinyl track listing), the set sleeve and a couple of pictures from the book.

Benjamin Horrendous, a Fire Party veteran and contributor to the Radar Station, has uploaded some rare Beefheart mp3s to his home page. I haven't had a chance to check them out but they look very promising.

I have just had some very fresh news about the Grow Fins box set from Revenant. The release date has been put back to 22nd June for North America, though hopefully Europe will see it released sooner than that. As soon as I am able to pass on confirmation for the release dates in differerent areas, I'll let you know.

According to John at Revenant the manufactureres have been delayed, making the 18th May date very unlikely. This is nothing serious, it just means that those of us gasping to get our hands on the set will have to be a little more patient. The day is coming...

I've finally managed to locate the small bug which has jumbled the links at the top of most pages for Netscape users, and am gradually going through the pages making repairs. Many thanks to those of you that pointed this out to me. I hope to get the remaining pages repaired over the next few days.

New up today are a few articles from Home Page Replica, handed over to me by Justin Sherill. You can now find the full text of Captain Beefheart's Refusal of Leave To Land document in the biographical items section. If you haven't read this yet, do so as it is pretty funny. Also the classic Langdon Winner article I'm Not Even Here - The Odyssey of Captain Beefheart from Rolling Stone in 1970 is now available at the Radar Station in the music info archive.

I've started to work my way through some of Justin's discography as well and a couple of albums are now up, also in the music info archive. I'll be slowly working my way through integrating Justin's material into the Radar Station format, and once that is done, I'll make a start on updating the information where needed. This will take a while as I have exams looming, a birthday looming and the sun is shining.

Kevin Delanay recently e-mailed me to let me know that there is now an official Victor Hayden web-site (the Mascara Snake). You'll find a gallery of his art, an interview and other information. Welcome to the web, Victor!

Cheers for all the messages from people who have enjoyed listening to the promo broadcast. It seems there is a lot of excitement out there for this release! You can still hear it for a few more days (until Saturday 1st May).

The complete broadcast of the Grow fins promo is now available for you to hear, head towards the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment page to get an earful. This will be available for one week, until mid-afternoon (GMT) on Saturday 1st May. If the streams are busy when you tune in, just come back a little later.

You are now able to place your pre-release orders for the Grow Fins set at Amazon. If you are intending to buy on-line, then please do so through the Amazon links at this site - every order helps to fund the Radar Station.

I have received a lot of questions about the vinyl set and its availability and as yet I don't have the answers. I hope to bring you some better news about this very soon. Enjoy the promo - it's a cracker.

Exciting news!

I am thrilled to announce that next week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment will be a complete, uninterrupted broadcast of all 72 minutes of the Grow Fins promo.

This will be a very special edition of the show, arranged in collaboration with Revenant with their full approval. It will be available as from 12 noon GMT this Saturday (24th April) and will remain on-line until the same time the following Saturday. Many thanks to Dean and John at Revenant for making this possible.

If you are new to the show and have never listened to it before, test it out now to check that you are able to receive it. If not, hot-foot it over to http://www.real.com to download their free RealPlayer G2 now.

I have been bombarded with queries over the last day or so about the Grow Fins promo CD, ad so have added a small piece to the Frequently Asked Questions about this. Sadly Revenant have no more left and have no plans to press up any more. Hopefully next week's broadcast will go some way to make up for this.

New up today is a review of Lick My Decals Off Baby written by Lester Bangs. Find it in the album reviews section of the music info archive.

Greg Gardner has sent me some mp3s that he has made from a tape that he recorded after witnessing a Magic Band rehearsal in 1981. The first two tunes are available now, the rest will follow over the coming days. You'll find it in the rare music archive. I have removed a few mp3 tunes from the Another Chapter bootleg as they will very soon be available on the Revenant set. Buy that instead.

I'm also very pleased to be able to include a 14 minute radio interview with Don conducted in 1973 by John Peel and broadcast on 24th April 1973. This gem was sent to me by Peter Cooney to whom I am very grateful as it is one of my favourite items at the Radar Station. Find it in ZigZag Wanderer.

OK, time to ease myself back into the saddle.

New up today is an information page about the new Beefheart compilation, The Dust Blows Forward, to be released by Rhino Records in August. Here you will find the official press release, the full track-listing, and any other blurb as it becomes available.

More tomorrow.

Hello all, my two week break from working on the Radar Station is only briefly interrupted to bring you this week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra.

Also I have some news about further impending Beefheart releases. Hot foot it along to Rhino Records home page for more information about their new compilation 'The Dust Blows Forward'. This sounds like it may well be a definitive Beefheart compilation, putting an end to the numerous shoddy releases we have seen up until now.

Many thanks to those of you who have been in contact during the last week to offer support concerning the matter mentioned below. It is very much appreciated.

The Radar Station is going to take a break for a couple of weeks as I need some time away from my computer. I don't want to get involved in certain petty sniping and insult flinging which is going on at the moment - I think it would be better for me to take a step back and cool off about this for a short while. Working on this site is meant to be a bit of fun, not an ego-trip and it saddens me that some people do not see it that way.

I will still slowly work my way through the HPR conversion, will still be contactable by e-mail, and will still get a new edition of the radio show out this weekend. I'm just going to be keeping my head down for a short while.

New up is a piece written by visitor Bob Brown entitled Run Away - Paint! Run Run! (the title's my own, hope you don't mind it Bob!) which you can find in the visitor's stories section. It's a good read so don't miss it.

There is a new video to download - not music this time but a short documentary and interview. Eye Witness was recorded in 1980 and is 7,549K in size to download.

I'll probably work my way through adapting all of Justin's album info before any of it appears here, and put the whole lot up in one go. I've made a good start but it will probably be a while before it is finished. In the meantime, you can still access all of Home Page Replica at its usual URL. Justin has stressed that it won't be disappearing, merely changing direction. If you don't know what I am talking about, please see below. Feel free to get in touch if you have any queries about this matter.

As many of you may already know, Justin Sherill at Home Page Replica is sadly no longer able to update his site in the way he has done inthe past due to numerous other commitments, but has offered to hand the whole lot over to The Radar Station for safe-keeping. Not only will this ensure that all his work and information remains available, but I will also be able to update it as and when needed as well.

On behalf of all Beefheart fans who have been connected to the Internet at some point over the last 5 years since Justin set up Home Page Replica, I would like to extend a very big thankyou for all his efforts and generosity. It is a great pleasure to be able to make sure that all his work remains available. This is not to say that HPR will be disappearing however - Justin says:

I do plan to make more stuff come up in the future, but it will be one-shot things, or odd material (like my thesis)- not the day-to-day stuff or research that I've been so lax on, and that you cover so well.

The incorporation of HPR into The Radar Station is well underway. You can already find Justin's lyrics archive in the poetry section. If you spot any mistakes which have occurred in the transition, please let me know. The Magic Band releases section from HPR which contained detailed info on all the official releases and many of the bootlegs will start to appear in the music info section as from tomorrow. All the other bits and bobs will be popping up over the next week or so.

I hope you like the way Justin's information will be displayed here. At present the main priority is to get it out - I will be working through it more thoroughly over the coming months. If anything isn't quite right, please let me know. Thankyou.

The new Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment is now available. I've been sent a mountain of great stuff over the last week while I've been away which will also be gradually appearing over the coming weeks. Unfortunately the Beefheart timeline project has temporarily been put on hold, but if you do have any useful information it will still be gratefully received. Many thanks for all the offers of help so far.

Carl Berger informs me that the exhibition currently on at the Galerie Michael Werner (Koln) will run until the 7th April and features two untiled Don Van Vliet paintings from 1994. If you can get along to it, hurry, you haven't got much time to do it.

Techie note: it has been pointed out to me that the menu at the top and bottom of every page does not direct some Netscape users to the pages that it should. I was unaware that Netscape dealt with image maps differently from any other browser. If you can advise me on how to correct this, please do.

I've updated the Beefheart Box-Set News page with a few extra items of info, and with a copy of the colour advertisment for the set which looks marvellous.

Next update when I get back from Swanage, so expect something by the weekend. In the meantime, feel free to drop me a line as I can still send and receive e-mails while I'm away.

There is a new video for you to download in the rare music and video archive, this time the Magic Band's stunning, abrasive performance on Saturday Night Live. Like one of the David Letterman interviews, the second half of the video suffers slightly from some 'visual stutters', but it is still well worth the download.

The Beefheart books section of the Radar Station's on-line store is gradually expanding to include books not solely about Beefheart, but which also make interesting referances to him. Included today is Ben Watson's excellent Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play which I am reading at the moment. Also included is a new book from the cartoonists that brought you the Beefheart cartoon that you can find here. This book 'Great Pop Things' takes a humorous look at pop music's history, and features Morton & Death's take on Oliver Stone's take on the Capatain Beefheart story. Beefheart also makes several guest appearances throughout the book. I have a copy on it's way at the moment - as soon as I receive it I'll post some kind of review.

There is a new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment, available now to keep you entertained. A regular listener, Sam Treger, has suggested that the playlist should contain links to order the corresponding albums from Amazon. So for the first time, if you like what you hear you can buy it instantly and in doing so you'll be contributing to the funding of this site.

This month's The Wire magazine has a feature on the impending Revenant box-set, including a full-page advertisment. Yes folks, it is real.

Incidentally, last night's Orbital gig was exceptionally good, as was Allan's vodka.

I've finished the picture gallery, so the overhaul is now largely complete, apart from a few minor changes behind the scenes. As I said before, please let me know if you noticed even the smallest mistake or wonky layout, after all this work I want it to look right.

New up today are Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing, kindly sent to me by Sikora1, which you can find in the music info archive.

Also a snippet of news: a few Don Van Vliet paintings are currently being exhibited at The Michael Werner Gallery, Koln, so any German visitors should hot-foot it along there for a visual treat. I don't have any more information about it as yet, but if you know anything please pass it along.

I had hoped to get something else up here today, but a friend is on his way round as I type with a bottle of vodka in preparation for tonight's Obital gig which most of us here in Brighton are going to, so that's your lot for today.

New up today are the videos of Don's two David Letterman appearances, from 1982 and 1983. You can find them in both the video archive and the biographical items section. I've managed to sort out the problems that I've been having with synchronising sound and video on certain clips, however that problem has been replaced by another. Instead of the video running ahead of the sound it now produces the occasional glitch or stutter in the video. I have no idea why this is happening - the original tape is fine, many of the videos I have made are fine, it only happens with certain clips. This is much less annoying, however, than out-of-synch sound, so don't be put off as they are very entertaining, and only the 1982 clip suffers.

Also up is an artice from this month's Cover magazine called Static Struggle and Transcendence which you can find in the art info section. Many thanks to Brian Smith for sending along a copy of this magazine which I wouldn't have been able to get hold of otherwise.

If you have contacted me over the last few days and haven't heard back, or have posted something to me and wondered why I haven't acknowledged receipt, the chances are that I have lost your message / e-mail address. My computer crashed drastically on Tuesday morning and I have had to re-install Windows, all my drivers, software etc etc. The only real loss was a mailbox full of e-mails from the last few weeks which consequently I haven't been able to reply to.

So thankyou to Brian for the magazine, Robert for the wicked CD, Matt for the very enjoyable tapes, Don for the articles and doodle (no, not that Don), Paul for the story and scans, and Steve for the article. Thanks also to everyone else that has got in contact over the last few days - sorry I can't reply personally as I usually do.

More tomorrow.

It's easier to tell you what isn't new than what is - I still have to re-do the Paintings Gallery, so that will be looking a little strange for a day or so. Other than that every page should now be showing off the Radar Station's brand new look. I hope you like it, this will probably be the very last time that the entire site gets such a drastic makeover, so settle in and get comfy because it is here to stay.

The changes will make it very easy for me to make sweeping improvements to a series of pages, instead of having to painstakingly update the site page by page which can take a very long time, so if something isn't as good as it can be, don't be scared to let me know.

If you notice any bugs at all, please do get in touch. It is likely that the odd link has gone astray without me noticing, though I have extensively checked everything. A few details still need some attention, such as a general tightening up of the code, and I'll gradually work through that over the coming few weeks.

I've finally updated the 40th Birthday Tour Photographs in the music info archive, all sent to me by Greg Gardener. All the pictures of Don have been improved and look much sharper than before, and there are also a few new additions in there as well. I haven't managed to do the Magic Band section of this series just yet, but it shouldn't be long. Many thanks to Greg for this splendid series of snaps.

There is a new video up to download, this time we have the Tragic Band performing Mirror Man on their tour of 1974. The band may well be pretty lame, but the Captain looks and sounds great so don't be put off. I'm not sure about that drummer though.... Find it in the video section of the rare music archive.

The poetry readings have all had a make-over too. You can now hear Don's 1993 recordings as top quality mp3s instead of the grotty wavs that used to be up here. These were kindly encoded and sent to me by Uwe Kreuger so thanks to him. There is a link to the files from both the poetry section and the rare music archive to make them easier to find.

I have a growing backlog of articles and items to get up here, so expect another update very soon. I would welcome your comments on the new look, so feel free to drop me a line. Hope you like it.

I've been steadily working my way through completing the site's new look, and hopefully will have it finished and all uploaded by tomorrow evening, so prepare to bid farewell to the tired and dusty Radar Station that you see before you.

As I have been so busy with that, the only update that I'm able to offer you today is the latest edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment, I hope you enjoy it. If you regularly listen to The Tromblown Orchestra and haven't yet got in touch, feel free to do so as I love to read your responses to the show.

I'd better get my head down and get on with this overhaul....

Many thanks to everyone that responded to my queries about a new look Radar Station, it has been very helpful in coming to the decision that the change has to be made. So many of you have expressed an intense dislike of frames that they will be done away with here as soon as possible. I've spent most of today working on the new layout and I'm about half way through. As soon as I get back from my week in Swanage I'll get it finished off and get the whole lot on-line. Until then, you can still browse the old site as usual.

It really looks so much better - I'm sure that those of you who told me that they were fond of the old layout won't have any regrets at all.

So - I'm away for a week, expext the brighter, sharper and snappier Radar Station to arrive sometime next weekend, along with a new edition of the radio show. I will still be contactable by e-mail, so feel free to drop me a line and pass on any news, etc.

No new update today, I'm afraid, just a bit of market research. I'm about to start on a major site overhaul which will make these pages more accessible to more people.

The frameset will be done away with as many systems are unable to handle frames. A few visitors have voiced dislike of frames in general, and their comments have prompted me to do something about it. The layout of each page will also appear the same for all visitors, despite differences in resolution, which will make life easier for me and the site prettier for you.

The changes will make it possible for me to make minor (or drastic) alterations to the whole of the site without having to painstakingly modify each page. Unfortunately, to set this up, I will have to alter every individual page, so it will probably take some time until the changes are complete. I'm sure it will be worthwhile.

To give you a taster of what you can expect, click here to see the new-look version of the main index page. You will have to use the back button on your browser to return to this page, otherwise you won't be able to navigate the site properly.

Please do let me know what you think. If you hate it, tell me. If you love it, tell me as well otherwise I'll think everyone hates it ;-)

This week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment is now up, and it's a beauty (do I say that every week?). It will stay up for a fortnight as, yet again, we'll be heading back to my mother's next weekend for a while (probably a whole week).

I'm hoping to get a whole crock of material up here before next weekend to tide you over while I'm away. I'll still be able to send & receive e-mails so don't be put off getting in contact.

You have probably noticed that I've modified the buttonbar to the left, taking out all the buttons and copious code that went with them which will hopefully make the whole frame much quicker to load. The new text links also take up much less room down the page, so those of you with lower resolution screens are a little less likely to have to scroll the frame down to get what you want.

I hope these small changes are useful - please do let me know what you think.

One essay down, one to go. I've finally updated Cage Reservoir, the Beefheart trading post / message board with a few more propositions for you to mull over.

Also up at the Beef News page is a new item about the impending re-release of Safe As Milk and Mirror Man, complete with bonus tracks culled from the Strictly Personal sessions. Strangely this includes Korn Ring Finger which is due to appear on the Revenant box set just before this date, though hopefully Buddha's new interest in Beefheart won't cause the set to be delayed - you'll get more info as soon as I do. Many thanks to Brian and Uwe for passing on the good news.

Back to Brighton after a weekend in Dorset, and there is a mountain of University work waiting for me to get through - two assessed essays to be in by next Wednesday, so probably not too much time to work on the site, though who knows what'll happen.

There is a new article up in the Visitor's Stories section (Low Yo Yo Stuff) to tide you over nicely until I'm able to put some more hours in. Many thanks to Eric for sending in The Power Of Big Eyed Beans, his tale of meeting the Captain and being given a Don Van Vliet sketch.

Also up in the video section of the rare music archive is a surreal snippet of a video, recorded (it seems) at the same time as the storming 1971 US TV appearance which you will soon be able to watch on the Revenant set. This oddity appears to have been left out from their release, and features a seated Magic Band displaying their bare naked feet in all kinds of poses for your edification. The original sequence was silent, however I have dubbed Hair Pie over the top as a fitting accompaniment. Just don't ask me what the hell is going on.