The live chat with Rick Snyder is happening today at 8pm GMT - have a look at the handy time-zone converter to work out when you should turn up and read the information page for everything you need to know. Hope to 'see' you later!

*Later - The chat session is now underway - hotfoot it over to Yellow Yap, the Radar Station's chat room to join in.

*Later still - Many thanks indeed to Rick Snyder for all his time and effort with the chat session, providing in depth answers to all kinds of questions which I'm too tired to summarise here right now. Those of you who weren't able to make it or were unable to enter the chat room will be pleased to know that I have a transcript and will be posting it on site in the near future. Congratulations to Voot Zombo, the winner of Rick's Dust Blows Forward give-away.

Angel and Chris have very kindly sent me their photographs and story from their recent trip to Woodland Hills to find the house that the Magic Band lived and rehearsed in during their tortuous Trout Mask period. They are fascinating, many thanks indeed to you both. You can find the snaps in the visitors' stories and tributes section.

I have done a little more work on the bibliography, including information about the new 'Tin Teardrop' book from Ken Brooks with a review from both Steve Froy and myself. I've also added pages about Colin David Webb's The Man & His Music and John Muir's Lives & Times Of Captain Beefheart. Thanks to Steve Froy for his review and his scans.

Bill Haines kindly sent along a small cutting from Rolling Stone keeping its readers informed about the progress with the recording of Doc At The Radar Station which I have added to this album's discography page.

There are two more Best Batch Yet tunes available for download.

Finally, the Radar Station's weekly radio show will, from now on, become a biweekly show as I simply don't have the time any more to put this out every Saturday. I graduate in just under three months' time and currently have a tremendous pile of work to get through before being spat out into the outside world to find a job. While I can find scraps of spare time to continue working on the site and answering e-mail I don't think I can carry on with the radio show in its current form. Apologies to the regular listeners, hope you keep listening! Cheers.

The competition to win a copy of The Dust Blows Forward courtesy of Rick Snyder is now closed. Head towards the Hatsize chat information page for the answers. Rick will announce the winner on Sunday in the Radar Station chat room.

If you are intending to join us for the chat then please take the time to register at the chat room in advance, if you haven't already done so. It is a very short process, but I would advise that you do it before Sunday evening to help things run as smoothly as possible. Hope to see you on the night!

There are also two more Best Batch Yet tunes available for download in the rare music archive.

I was very pleased to find that the latest issue of Steal Softly Thru Snow had flopped through my letterbox recently and it is now widely available. This issue, number 8, is titled 'Love Over Gold' and takes a very close look at the two albums released in 1974 - Unconditionally Guaranteed and Bluejeans And Moonbeams, along with all the news and events from 'Vlietland' since the last issue. For full information about the contents and ordering, head towards the SSTS page in the bibliography. A big thumbs up to Paul for the excellent job continuing the high standards regular SSTs readers will be very used to.

I've also added some information to the bibliography about Greil Marcus' classic tome Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island which contains a lengthy piece from Langdon Winner enthusing about Trout Mask Replica.

You now have just two days left until the closing date for the Radar Station's Rick Snyder competition, not that you can actually win Rick Snyder, sadly. Instead he is very kindly giving away one copy of The Dust Blows Forward and dropping into the Radar Station chat room next Sunday evening (27th February) for a chin wag. See the Hatsize information page.

There are three more Best Batch Yet tunes to download from the rare music and video archive.

And finally, after a lengthy break, the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment is back with a new edition, hope you enjoy it.

I have started to upload mp3s of the Best Batch Yet bootleg, the first four of which are now available in the rare music archive. The remaining tunes will gradually appear over the coming days. To accompany this, I've also added details about the Best Batch Yet to the discography.

Carl Berger has recently got in touch to point out that the new Anton Corbijn book of photographs is now available. The book contains one of Corbijn's shots of Don in the desert and also an abstract portrait by Don entitled 'Anton'. It is currently available at Amazon and elsewhere.

The recent Past and Present Records reissue of Bluejeans & Moonbeams has now completely sold out with the sole exception of the following outlet which still has 100 copies left. If you want to get a copy of this limited edition audiophile release, this is now your last chance:

Vivante
Unit 4
60 High Street
Hampton Wick
Surrey
KT1 4DB

Phone: 0208 977 6600
Fax: 0208 977 4445
e-mail: sales@vivante.co.uk

Ice Cream For Crow is to follow very soon.

The Boz Boz has sent along another guitar tab, this time for China Pig. Contact him with your comments, suggestions and requests.

Werener Ahrensfeld has kindly sent along some scans of the sleeve for the vinyl release of Don's Birthday Party. If anyone else is able to send along any scans or missing information for the discography then I'd be very grateful. I still have to put up the information for the majority of boots, related releases and all ex-Magic Band members releases, but if you have anything to add to what is already up there then please do get in touch.

Finally, Detlef Juergens has reached 1982, the end of the road in his Magic Band timeline, and he's done a wonderful job of documenting Beefheart's every musical turn. Check it out at http://home.nordwest.net/DJ/index.html

I'm very pleased to put a really fantastic read up at the Radar Station today. Three Decades Inside The Mask by Byron Coley is a much longer version of the article that appeared in December 1999's Spin magazine which was titled 'The Strangest Album Ever Sold - The Making Of Trout Mask Replica'. Many thanks indeed to Byron for granting permission to feature this article in a form that has not appeared anywhere else. You can find it in the articles section of the music info archive.

Jasper Leach has kindly sent me his line-up listing for Safe As Milk, detailing exactly who did what and when. He admits that this listing contains a few inaccuracies and would be very grateful for any corrections that you can send him.

Also up is another guitar tab from The Boz Boz, Hot Head, this one unfinished. Contact him for suggestions, requests, comments about his transcriptions.

There will be no radio show again this weekend as I'm going away for a couple of days. Sorry to any regular listeners, it will be back soon. Don't forget that you have just over a week left to get your entries for Rick Snyder's Dust Blows Forward competition in.

I have received a couple of corrections to the Grow Fins box-set from John French and Revenant which they have asked me to display on this update page and also with the information about Grow Fins. John French writes:

Apologies to Gary Lucas:

In the Grow Fins booklet, I made a small but misleading error regarding Gary Lucas, on page 42 I wrote: "Meanwhile, Gary Lucas, a young college student in Syracuse NY," which should have actually read "young high school student." Gary actually wasn’t in college for several years and actually went to Yale University. Because he was walking on a college campus during the moment to which I was referring, I somehow mistakenly twisted the words, making it appear that Gary was a few years older and also that he was going to Syracuse University.

Also: Revenant Records wishes to apologise to Gary regarding the live version of Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on my Knee." Mr. Lucas actually should be credited with Bass on that live performance and somehow it was overlooked. Thanks to Gary Lucas for all your help!

-John French and Dean Blackwood.

Also up today are some guitar tabs, very kindly sent along by The Boz Boz. You can find them on the main music info page. This is the most commonly requested item at the Radar Station, and The Boz Boz has agreed to accept requests, corrections, comments etc, as he intends to send along a few more in the near future. Drop him a line if you have anything to say.

Finally, Werner Ahrensfeld has kindly sent along a scan of the text from the back of a European vinyl pressing of the Don's Birthday Party boot which you can find on that page.

Apologies for the silence over the last week but the time that would have normally been spent working on the site has been spent preparing to relocate the Radar Station's Beefheart discussion list, The Fire Party. For just under the last two years The Fire Party has been hosted by a third party, Listbot, but the time has come to move the whole list to the beefheart.com server which will provide greater reliability, more flexibility, and an end to the adverts that Listbot insert in all the messages.

The move is not yet complete, but you will be able to find out how to subscribe to the list, and any other information you might need at the Fire Party pages once everything is in place.

I've added two more audio interviews to the miscellaneous biographical items archive, both kindly sent to me by Scott McFarland. The first is a fascinating joint interview with Frank Zappa and Don taped in London, 1969 in which they are discussing the making of Trout Mask Replica. Don only speaks briefly and his words are largely inaudible, but I am sure you will enjoy hearing Frank's perspective on Trout Mask from a time shortly after it was recorded.

The second is a radio interview with Don on his own in Philadelphia, 1972, conducted by Michael Tearson. At one point, when Don recites a portion of Electricity, Michael is somewhat overcome and exclaims "I just love listening to your voice!"

Both appear to be fragments of longer interviews, though both are very substantial morsels running at 5 minutes and 14 minutes respectively. If anyone has the complete interviews or is able to provide any more information please do get in touch. Many thanks indeed to Scott for these gems.

To listen to them, head towards the miscellaneous biographical items archive and click the links to start the streaming audio files.

I am also extremely pleased to make available another excellent 'Leach's Listing', this time for Shiny Beast. Jasper Leach has carefully detailed who does what and when for a few Beefheart albums, and I'm hoping he'll consider doing some more. Already available are Trout Mask Replica and Ice Cream For Crow. Much appreciation to Jasper for sending them along.

Bob Harkleroad (Bill's brother) has very kindly sent me a scan of the photograph of John Lennon reading the International Times in front of his two Safe As Milk bumper stickers which I have added to the Safe As Milk page in the discography. Thank you Bob, very much appreciated.

The Don Van Vliet exhibition currently showing at The Lowe Gallery looks likely to be extended until the end of February. Telephone first for details: 404-352-8114 or try e-mailing them.

The new edition of the radio show is now available.

I was very pleased to receive full permission from The Lowe Gallery to include thumbnails of the images from their catalogue of Don's latest exhibition in the Don Van Vliet Painting Index, which I have now updated accordingly. Many thanks to The Lowe Gallery for their help.

Mr Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder, otherwise known as Rick will be available for a chat in the Radar Station's chatroom on Sunday 27th February 2000 at 8pm GMT. Rick has also very kindly offered a copy of The Dust Blows Forward as a give-away to one Radar Station visitor. See the Rick Snyder chat information page for more details and an entry form.

Michael Stanowski has very kindly sent along a massive scan of the Safe As Milk bumper sticker at a good resolution for you to download and print out. See the Safe As Milk page in the discography for details.

I'm able to receive e-mail again now so if you've written to me recently give me a day or two to get back to you if I haven't already done so.

I'm still not able to receive my mail (see yesterday's update), and suspect that this will continue for quite a few days. Anything that you have sent will still find its way to me eventually, so there is no need to re-send messages. I'll just be a little slow about replying.

I've added some label scans to the singles page in the discography, many thanks indeed to Brainpang for very generously sending me the actual vinyl. I'm more than a little touched.

The new edition of the radio show is available now.

I've received an e-mail from The Lowe Gallery where Don's paintings are currently on show to announce that the exhibition catalogue is now available on-line.

I have added a couple more items to the discography, many thanks to Martin Brosch for sending along the info and scans for Working Week's release of Too Much Time as a single. Has any one heard this? Were Working Week just 80s crap or am I remembering them wrongly? Secondly there is the Grandmothers live album Who Could Imagine which features a Magic Band cover.

Also new up in the discography is the full information about the bootleg Beefheart release Don's Birthday Party.

Thanks to Hans Van Hulst who spotted a brief mention of the Radar Station in a Dutch newspaper there is a new Golden Birdie to add to the collection.

Unfortunately my ISP appears to be suffering at the moment and it hasn't been able to deliver anything since early yesterday evening. I've no idea when they'll get around to sorting the problem out, but until they do I'm completely out of communication. I can send but not receive, which is a bit like talking to someone whilst wearing headphones. I'll answer your messages as soon as I can.

At long last, I've updated the message board, so anyone interested in trading with other Beefheart fans will find plenty of new possibilities listed in there now. If you fancy reading the thoughts and musings of various Radar Station visitors, the guestbook is also now up-to-date.

New up today are two items in the visitors' stories and tributes section. Firstly there is a wonderful piece from Charles Gee entitled Through The Loophole about his meeting with the Captain at 1972's Bickershaw Festival. This was originally sent to the Fire Party, the Beefheart-related discussion list. If you haven't yet read it I strongly recommend that you do so.

Secondly there is a quick snap of Albert Sica's boat, The Octafish. Anyone near the coast in South Jersey (USA) should keep an eye out for Albert, The Octafish's captain.

Finally, I've just had a message from Bob McNichol to say that he has just successfully ordered a Japanese pressing of Lick My Decals Off Baby on CD (Cat: WPCP5739) from http://www.wmimusic.com/ for $26.82 in US dollars. I'd highly recommend that any of you desperately hunting for a copy give this source a go. If you could report back to me with the outcome I'd be very grateful as I can then keep people informed. Good luck and a very big thankyou to Bob for the information!

Today is Don Van Vliet's 59th birthday and I'd like to wish him many happy returns. Unfortunately I can't, so this will have to do instead. All the best for the next year, Don.

Anyone in the Glasgow area tonight may be interested in attending what seems to have become an annual celebration of Don's birthday:

The Thirteenth Note, Clyde Street, Glasgow.( Scotland )
An evening of music to celebrate Don Van Vliet's Birthday.
Bands featured : The Primevals, Black Sun Machine and Cylinder.
Doors open 8.00 pm. Last year's event was a great success, be there early.

Get along to the Thirteenth Note if you can to show your support and enjoy yourself.

This week's radio show is now available.

I've received news that the Past & Present audiophile vinyl reissues of the Magic Band's last five albums will begin on 17th January (next week) which is a little earlier than anticipated. Copies should be available in good vinyl outlets from Monday. If you have any difficulty in getting hold of a copy you can always order through Diverse Vinyl.

I've also had an e-mail from Luca Ferrari, author of the Pearls Before Swine Ice Cream For Crows book, to tell me that you can order copies of his publication from Pick Up Records. E-mail them at pickup@pickuprecordsit for more information.

Almost everything uploaded today was very kindly sent to me by Michael H, so many thanks to him.

Firstly, there is an 'unknown painting' that was exhibited at 1998's New Work exhibition. This scan is from a photograph taken at the exhibition by Michael. It's a little blurry but still gives a very good idea of the painting.

I have also spent a little time updating the index of paintings and the exhibition list to accommodate the paintings that were shown at the New Work exhibition.

There is a new picture to be found in the music info archive, of a poster of the Captain (complete with alarming pout!) featuring one of the outtakes from the Lick My Decals Off Baby photo sessions.

Michael also sent me an article / interview entitled To Be Far Out Or Not To Beefheart Out which catches up with the Captain and Magic Band while on tour in England promoting Clear Spot. Well worth a read.

Not sent to me by Michael, but sent by Sheldon Reber is a cartoon of Don Van Vliet by Steve McGarry complete with a few items of trivia (and some general knowledge questions which somewhat strangely relate to 'captains' but have nothing whatsoever to do with the Captain). Thanks to Sheldon for this.

John French has recently been in touch with some news about the book that he is currently writing, provisionally titled Beefheart: Through The Eyes Of Magic, and he wants your help! In order to make his book as comprehensive as he wants it to be he would like Radar Station visitors and Beefheart fans to send in questions for him to try to answer in the course of writing the book.

If you have any particular area of the Magic Band's history that you are interested in and would like to see explored more deeply then this is a fantastic opportunity to get the book that you would like to read.

For more information and a form for your questions or suggestions please follow the link to the information page.

The new edition of the radio show is now available.

Just a very hurried update today to bring you the exciting news of a new art exhibition. Don Van Vliet will be exhibiting at The Lowe Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. The opening reception is Friday, January 7, 2000 (that's tomorrow!) from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., and the event is open to the public. The exhibition consists of 20 paintings and 9 works on paper. The Lowe Gallery can be found at 75 Bennett Street, Space A2 Atlanta, GA 30309.

If any of you are in the area and are able to make it to the opening reception, or the exhibition in general, please do pass on your thoughts, reviews, news etc and I will feature them at the Radar Station. As soon as I have any more information about the exhibition, I'll pass it on.

Welcome back to the Radar Station after a lengthy Christmas break, hope you all had a good holiday and that the sight of all those dead Christmas trees piling up on the pavement isn't too depressing.

Firstly some news: the book Songs In The Key Of Z by Irwin Chusid which looks at 'outsider' music and features Captain Beefheart will benefit from a companion CD release featuring tunes by the artists covered in the book, one of which will be by our man himself. As yet I'm unsure of what the Beefheart tune will be, but I will keep you posted.

Jesper Hendze's Beefheart tribute 'Don Floats On' is being broadcast on Danish Radio, Program 2 on the 19th January at 11.15 PM - after two pieces by George Crumb performed on the same night.

I've done a bit of work correcting some mistakes in the lyrics archive, many thanks to Henry Kaiser and Michael Stanowski for their help. There are also a few new pieces: the untitled poem from the sleeve of Lick My Decals Off Baby, and the lyrics to 81 Poop Hatch and Cardboard Cutout Sundown from Ice Cream For Crow.

If anyone with a lyrics sheet to Shiny Beast or Doc At The Radar Station is able to check through the words and send along any corrections I'd be very grateful.

The time has come to give The Tromblown Orchestra's Tom Waits Christmas Special another airing. This edition will remain available right through to the New Year and I hope it provides a good soundtrack while you splash the wine over the holiday.

This will probably be my last update of the year, unless any startling news arrives that I feel I should pass on immediately. May I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and assistance over the last year and to wish you as painless a Christmas as possible. It's been a pleasure, cheers.

Richard Hibbert has very kindly transcribed the lyrics for the Shiny Beast songs that were missing from the poetry and lyrics archive. Many thanks to Richard for sending along the words to Love Lies, Tropical Hot Dog Night, Candle Mambo, Bat Chain Puller, Owed T'Alex, You Know You're A Man and The Floppy Boot Stomp.

Eagle-eyed Peter Haines sent along the URL for an article that appeared in Sunday's Washington Post entitled O Captain! Beefheart's Enduring Offbeat Legacy. This takes a look at the Beefheart releases of the year and gives a general overview of his whole career.

Martin Brosch has sent me a pile of information about Zappa / Beefheart bootlegs and also Beefheart tributes and covers. I've included the listings in the discography, but am yet to include the majority of the track listings, sleeve scans and other information that he sent to me. Up so far is the info about two tributes, one from Dawaine Bailey and the other The Meridian Arts Ensemble. Many thanks to Martin for his efforts.

If anyone else has any corrections or additions to make to the discography please get in touch.

Thanks to Tim Lucas I have been able to track down the author and origins of the Big Eyed Beans From Venus spoof film-poster. A smidgen more info is now included. Many thanks to Steve Bissette for granting his permission to feature it, and to Tim for putting us in touch.

Bill in New Orleans has contacted me to ask if the screensavers should work on a Mac. I don't know the answer to this as I don't have access to a Mac and know nothing about them (sorry). Can anyone help out? Drop me a line.

This Saturday's radio show will be a repeat of last year's Tom Waits Christmas special which a few of you have requested to hear again. This will remain on line through to the New Year, providing the soundtrack to all your festive activities. Hope you enjoy it.

Justin Sherrill has kindly sent me word of Moris Tepper's new album called Moth to Mouth which will be released at some point in the next month. You will soon be able to read about it at Moris' site.

The new edition of the radio show is now available.

You can now listen to a 24 minute interview with Don from 1978 conducted by Dr Demento. Don is talking about his then-new album, Shiny Beast, vegetarianism, punk rock, blues etc etc. It's a cracker (though I find the host manages to induce a vague sense of nausea). Many thanks to James Woods for making this available and to O'Neil for putting me in touch with James. If anyone knows the date and station of this broadcast, please let me know. Find the link to it with the other audio interviews in the miscellaneous biographical items section.

I've added some more pages to the discography to contain information about Zappa's albums One Size Fits All and Zoot Allures (both featuring Beefheart). Many thanks to Jan Bonsel for providing the sleeve scans for these two. I've also added some information from Justin Sherill about the unreleased album The Original Bat Chain Puller, and added information and scans of the 1990 West German release of Mirror Man with bonus tunes.

If anyone notices any mistakes or errors in the discography, or is able to provide scans of unusual labels, CDs, sleeves, etc. then please let me know as I'd be very grateful. The majority of the information about bootlegs is still on its way. Have a dig through your collection and see what you have got that is missing from the site!

Amazon are now selling WC Bamberger's book Riding Some Kind Of Unusual Skull Sleigh which you can order through the Radar Station's on-line store.

I've received news about further delays with the five vinyl reissues. Instead of being released all in one go, one will be released every month starting in January 2000. I'm sure most of you will be pleased to hear this as it makes buying the whole set a lot more affordable than if they had been released all in one go. See the information page for full details.

I've done a fair bit of work tidying up and improving the discography (though little that you are likely to notice) and I've also added information about the Beefheart compilation Electricity and the Rare Beefheart Vintage Zappa collection. If anyone can provide a top quality scan of the sleeve of the Beefheart Zappa album I'd be very grateful (sorry to ask this again, but the scan that I was offered last time never materialised).

I've included some photographs and a concert review that used to be up at Justin Sherill's Home Page Replica by Raymond Ricker. The article, Stanhope 1981, can be found in the music pictures index in the music info archive.

Also passed on to me by Justin is a cartoon of a spoof film poster inspired by the song Big Eyed Beans From Venus. If anyone knows about the origin of this could you please let me know? Cheers.

I've been sent a message from Past and Present records who are reissuing the Magic Band's last five albums on audiophile vinyl to let me know that the release date has been put back a couple of months to 31st January 2000, so we'll still have something to look forward to once the festivities are over. See the information page for further details.

Jesper Hendze has sent me a few extracts from reviews about his Don Van Vliet tribute, Don Floats On. Many thanks to Jesper for the info.

This week's radio show is now available.

This week's Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment is another vaguely themed edition - an 'Easy Autumn Easing Into Winter' special. As I was compiling it, the cold and rain were outside, the log-fire was crackling inside and I ended up picking out some of my favourite tunes that sum up this time of year.

I realise that for some listeners it's probably a steaming summer's day which will probably take the edge off it slightly, but I hope they enjoy it too.

Sorry it's been so quiet around here for the last ten days, but I've been having an enforced break from the Radar Station because I've had a large amount of reading to do and a stinking cold to do battle with.

Consequently I haven't been able to set up the Rick Snyder competition in time for the closing date, so the competition and chat will be postponed for a week or two. I'll make a final announcement as soon as I sort out a new date with Rick. Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment.

The music info archive has been reorganised, hopefully making it much easier to find what you are looking for without having to wade through all kinds of other stuff as well. Hope you like it.

I've received a report from the composer Jesper Hendze about his Don Floats On Van Vliet tribute that recently occurred in Denmark, parts of which I have added to the information page. Hopefully I'll get some translated press reviews about this event very soon. Many thanks Jesper.

I have also received a message from Stephen Ronan which was intended for the message board but I thought I'd draw attention to it here:

Dig you must some artefacts derived from a three-hour radio program on Don Van Vliet & Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. Written, produced, and performed by Don Joyce mixmaster of Negativland, myself wigged wordslinger Stephen Ronan, and Joey Know as Dr. Dark. "Heaven's Black Top Hat, A Metabiography of Don Van Vliet" is the title of both a book and a two 90 min cassette package They are available separately for $15.00 each + $3.00 ship or $30 for both postpaid. The program aired live on Over the Edge KPFA Berkeley (the longest running art radio in the world since 1981). It consists of live mixing of mountains of Beefheart recordings musical and otherwise including commercials, interviews, & other pronunciamentoes; original metabiographical texts and metafictional monologues spoken aloud; and a lively discussion of his painting by three art certifiable pundits. Phonecalls from listeners and uncountable audio enigmas add to the audio brew.

If you are interested in getting hold of a copy of the tapes, the book or both, then contact Stephen.

I've just received my copies of the three Simply Vinyl releases of Safe As Milk, The Mirror Man Sessions and Strictly Personal, all of which sound very nice indeed. Safe As Milk has been out for a couple of weeks, The Mirror Man Sessions is out now, released this week, and Strictly Personal will be out at the end of this month. If you are after vinyl editions of any of these albums I recommend that you act now before they sell out. See the Beefheart news page for links and ordering info.

The vinyl Grow Fins Volume II appears to have sorted out its distribution problems - I've seen copies in Brighton so hopefully there should be some near you as well. I have updated the information page to contain more info about volumes I and II, including cover scans, a poster scan and a libretto scan.

Steve Froy has sent along some information about some titles to add to the bibliography, many thanks Steve.

I've had some very exciting news about my Gender / Avant-garde / Beefheart project - Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth have agreed to an exclusive interview as they are both very interested in the subject. If you are a woman and are interested in Beefheart or experimental music, please drop me a line.

I've done a little work on the Bibliography (found in the miscellaneous biographical items section) and included information about three more of the books listed: Skeleton Breath Scorpion Blush, Lunar Notes and Fast And Bulbous: The Captain Beefheart Story.

If anyone knows of any other books which feature more than a passing reference to the Captain that I should include, then please let me know.

The guestbook and message board have also been updated. Those wanting to trade Beefheart live tapes, or looking for a particular hard-to-find item should dip into the message board as there are a number of people listed who are willing and able to trade with you.

My project is well underway at the moment and I'm looking for female Beefheart fans to interview. If you can help out, drop me a line. If you would like more information, please read my project proposal.

This week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra radio show is a special edition featuring an hour of weird beats and electronica. Your comments, as ever, are very welcome. Hope you enjoy it.

I'm very pleased to announce that on Sunday 28th November 1999 at 8pm GMT, Mr Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder will be appearing in the Radar Station chat room for a chin-wag with us all. He has also very kindly offered a copy of The Dust Blows Forward from his record store to give away in a tie-in competition. Full details about the competition and chat session will be posted here very soon.

Danish composer Jesper Hendze is presenting a musical tribute to Don Van Vliet on 13th November 1999, to be followed by a radio broadcast in Denmark and a CD release. See the information page for full details.

There is an article about the good Captain in this month's Spin magazine by the excellent writer Byron Coley, so pick it up if you see it.

The first Tromblown Orchestra Special Edition for some months will be available for one week as from tomorrow, it's a weird beat electronica frenzy featuring artists such as Mouse On Mars, Autechre, Aphex Twin, 4 Hero, Sukia, Boymerang, Plaid and many more. Don't miss it.

I have received full information from Simply Vinyl about their impending reissues of the first three Captain Beefheart albums on audiophile vinyl. Especially exciting about this news is that Safe As Milk and The Mirror Man Sessions feature Buddha's glorious recent remastering and also the bonus tracks that made up their recent reissues. See the news page or discography for full details and links.

Those of you that haven't yet read enough reviews for Grow Fins and The Dust Blows Forward to know that they are indispensable should get hold of a copy of this month's Record Collector magazine which features another thumbs up for both these releases.

Peter Warner aka Brainpang has kindly sent me his review for two recent Don Van Vliet exhibitions from 1998 and 1999. Clearly approaching the art world with a healthy dose of cynicism and scepticism Peter is won over by the art but uncomfortable with the surroundings. The review is called How Much??!! and can be found in the art info archive. Many thanks to Peter for this interesting read.

This month's edition of The Wire features a review for the new WC Bamberger book written by Ben Watson and is now available at the Radar Station to read. Find a link to it on the Skull Sleigh information page.

Incidentally, this month's Wire is probably one of the most interesting editions of the magazine I've seen yet - Iggy pop on the cover, major Lee Scratch Perry article and a 'free' cover CD which is the best thing given away on any magazine since Spike comic had a free catapult on their cover when I was about 8 years old.

Buy it if you see it.

I've just received a message from Simon at Past and Present who are releasing the last five Beefheart albums on audiophile vinyl, letting me know that the release date has been put back to the end of November due to delays with the pressing. If you want to know more about these reissues, see the Radar Station's information page.

The competition to win a copy of the Bamberger book has now closed, and the winner is.... to be announced tomorrow. Many thanks to all those of you who sent me your deranged and / or insightful results. I'll post a few of my favourite answers up here along with the winner tomorrow.

This week's edition of the radio show is now available.

Many people have written to ask if the second vinyl volume of Grow Fins is out yet. John at Revenant informs me that they are available in certain stores, however there has been a problem with the shipments so neither Revenant nor Table Of The Elements have received theirs yet. You can place an advance order at Diverse Vinyl to make certain that you get your copy, similarly with the impending vinyl reissues from Past and Present of the last five Magic Band albums.

I have recently been given my father's old Akai reel-to-reel tape recorder which is a beautiful machine. Some months ago I received a message from someone saying they had an old interview with Don on a reel, but had no way of listening to it. If you are interested in passing this on to me to make available on site, I'd be thrilled to oblige (unfortunately I can't find the person's name or e-mail address any more).

If anyone else has any unwanted reels or accessories that they don't know what to do with then I will happily consider a trade. Drop me a line if you're interested.

New up today is the first review I've seen for Zappa's Lost Episodes album of previously unreleased tunes, several of which feature the talents of a young Don Vliet. There is also a new article up in the art info archive entitled Ravaged Blues On Canvas which took a look at the then-impending art exhibition in Brighton from 1994.

I should remind you that the competition to win a copy of W Bamberger's new book about the art and music of Don Van Vliet entitled Riding Some Kind Of Unusual Skull Sleigh closes on Saturday - that's three days' time folks so get your entries in as soon as possible.

I've also updated the information page about the tribute CD project that is being planned on the Fire Piano discussion list. You can now read a summary of progress, and can listen to a RealAudio version of Henry Kaiser's contribution.

As people's tunes arrive I will be converting them to Real Audio and putting them up at the Fire Piano section of the Radar Station (there's a link on the main 'discussion list' page if you want to find it in future). When everything has been submitted, we can then all easily cast our votes for the tunes that will eventually be released on the album.

If you would like more information about this project, would like to contribute a tune, or can help out in any other way then please see the information page for details, and join the list if you haven't already done so.

To get a broad idea of the other material that may be included you can still listen to the hour of music from members of the on-line Beefheart community entitled Music From The Other Side Of The Fence.

Fire Party member Brainpang is hosting a Zappa and Beefheart video evening tonight and has asked me to pass the following information along just in case anyone in the area fancied an eyeful:

Zappa / Beefheart Video Evening at:

Beautiful Music
300 Karangahape Road
Auckland, NZ

Friday 15th 8.pm (tonight)
(Open to anyone who'll pay $5.00!)

Have fun!

Also, I'm going away for the weekend in a few hours' time and so there won't be a new edition of the radio show tomorrow, sorry. I will still, as ever, be contactable by e-mail so feel free to drop me a line.

At long last I have finished off my review for the Dust Blows Forward collection which you can now read.

I've also started work on a bibliography of books by, about, or referring to Captain Beefheart. If you know of anything that I've missed out from the list, please let me know. Full information about each title is on its way. You can find the bibliography in the miscellaneous biographical items section.

I was very pleased to receive my copy of W C Bamberger's new book about the art and vision of Don Van Vliet this morning, entitled Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh. I've updated the information page with more ordering info, a scan of the cover, and part of the blurb from the back of the book. As soon as I finish reading the book I'll put my review up here. So far I've only read the first 30 pages, but I can say already that it is a very interesting read and I'd recommend that you get hold of a copy.

One Radar Station visitor can get the book for free as the author has very kindly provided a copy for a competition. For full details about the book and the competition, head towards the information page.

If anyone sees any reviews for this book in the mainstream press (or even the underground press) please let me know as I'd like to feature them here.

I've slightly rearranged the main index page, hopefully making it easier for people to find their way around the Radar Station. If you have any problems with the site or suggestions for improvements, please let me know. I occasionally get apologetic messages from people pointing out spelling mistakes. There is no need to apologise - if you spot anything wrong I'd be very grateful if you told me.

Some of you may be interested to know that the greatest and funniest tale of rock 'n' roll psychedelic excess ever - Julian Cope's autobiography Head On - will be reprinted on Monday, combined with the all-new second volume of his life story called Repossessed. If you haven't yet read the book you really should do so. I have never read anything like it in all my life before or since. See Copey's home page, Head Heritage for more info (though you can't order it through there just yet).

Peter 'Brainpang' Warner has very kindly provided me with by far the strangest addition to the Radar Station yet. It is a newspaper cutting announcing the engagement of Joan Lobell to Capt. Don Van Vliet Beefheart, USAF from 1973. This prank was instigated by a Beefheart fan, Joan Lobell, who managed to meet Don five years later and got him to sign the cutting. According to Peter there's "no word on what the Captain said, he probably just laughed." A big thankyou to Peter for sending this along - find it in the miscellaneous items archive.

There is a new musical tribute to the Captain and his Magic Band in the visitors' stories and tributes section. Reggae Death Squad™ present a superb tune pieced together from various samples of Magic Band recordings, Don Van Vliet interviews and the Decals TV ad entitled Fishmouth Replica. Great stuff.

Finally, as ever, there is a new edition of the weekly radio show available for your ears.

Scott Watkins has very kindly sent me a transcript of the recent radio broadcast of NPR's small Beefheart special, including interviews with Bill Harkleroad and Gary Lucas. Many thanks to Scott for this.

Bill Bamberger, one-time member of the Fire Party has recently published a book entitled Riding Some Kind of Unusual Skull Sleigh which critically evaluates the poems, songs and paintings of Don Van Vliet and considers the central themes in his life's work. I have put up a small news page about the book with ordering information, and will post further information and my review as soon as I get my hands on a copy.

I'm back to university now and have made a start on my final year independent study project investigating the relationship between gender and the avant-garde, specifically considering why so few women are either interested or involved in experimental music. My case study will, naturally, be Captain Beefheart who specifically tried to attract women to his audience but almost entirely failed.

If anyone has any thoughts or is able to suggest any helpful books that I should look at, please feel free to drop me a line. If my tutor approves, I hope to put the whole project on line at the Radar Station as it develops. Incidentally, my tutor (Andy Medhurst) is a big Beefheart fan and also happens to write for The Wire, so I'm extremely lucky in that respect.

I'm currently reading 'The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'N' Roll' by Simon Reynolds and Joy Press which is a brilliant and inspired look at representations of women in contemporary music, covering artists such as The Stooges, Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Hole, Can, Nick Cave, Patti Smith etc etc. Anyone interested in the subject would find this book absolutely fascinating (though Beefheart is conspicuously absent!).

I've received news of a new book due for publication in May of next year by Irwin Chusid entitled Songs In The Key Of Z - The Curious Universe of Outsider Music. This book takes a good look at the world of Captain Beefheart, among others - "The first book ever about a mutant strain of twisted pop that's so wrong, it's right". Find the press release in the news section.

I've done a small amount of work to the links page, updating links, commentaries etc and included new links to Rick Snyder's record store and Stravinsky and Sun Ra websites. Given a little bit extra time I hope to have a much larger selection of links to non-Beefheart music websites one day. If you have any good suggestions, send along your favourite links.

As promised yesterday, the sceensaver featuring over 30 of Don's paintings, Dreams Coloured With Daytime, is now available (2,826K). You can now choose between this and the Too Much For My Monitor screensaver, uploaded yesterday, which features sights and sounds of the Captain in action.

I should have mentioned yesterday that the music related screensaver can distort some of the pictures if your settings are set to 'resize image to fit screen', making bits of it look a little ugly. Make sure you have this option unchecked. The art screensaver looks best with this option on.

I've finally got around to updating the guestbook and message board, apologies for the delay. I really want to sort out the automation of this process but just haven't had time recently. I have spread the guestbook over three pages now, as it is getting pretty big. If you want to have a rummage through all the messages, don't forget the older pages. Find links on the main guestbook page.

I received word last night about the Artist Direct Online Music awards, and the Radar Station, although a proud nominee, isn't the winner, so sadly I won't be getting flown to LA next week. Many thanks to everyone who voted and sent along their good wishes, it is much appreciated. Maybe next year I'll do a site for Boyzone instead.

One of the items I get asked for the most is a Beefheart screensaver. At long last I've got around to piecing one together and you can now download "Too Much For My Monitor" from the miscellaneous items section. It's a whopping great 5,116K file, but features over 30 pictures and 14 sounds so is well worth the download.

I'm making a screensaver featuring my favourite Don Van Vliet paintings as well, hopefully available tomorrow, so you will soon be spoiled for choice.

This week's radio show is now available, and I'm afraid that is your lot for this week. I haven't been able to make any updates to the Radar Station as I'm still redecorating part of my flat and am desperate to get it done. Hopefully normal service will be resumed during the coming week. Enjoy the radio show.

British visitors may be interested to know that at 11.45pm tomorrow night (26th) on BBC2 the film Blue Collar will be shown, featuring Don's vocal for Hard Workin' Man in the soundtrack. According to the write up by the BBC, the film is a:

compelling drama about the grim and dispiriting lives of a group of urban auto factory workers. The characters feel themselves trapped in jobs they cannot stand and daily routines they dream of leaving behind. But when they try to take steps to change their situation, they find themselves out of their depth.

Sounds promising. I've never seen this film before so I'll certainly be setting my video.

I've fixed the problem with this week's radio show and it now sounds as good as ever.

Last week's edition of the radio show, entitled Music from The Other Side Of The Fence, featured the recordings of members of the on-line Beefheart community and is now permanently available for you to listen to in the Discussion List section of the site. If you would like to include a link from your homepage to this show, the URL is http://www.beefheart.com/fireparty/membersmusic.htm

I've made some minor changes to the Fire Piano page. The Fire Piano is a small discussion list for musician Beefheart fans who would like to record with other Beefheart fans. At the moment a very promising project is getting underway to release a CD of Beefheart covers. This project is currently in its early days and your input would be very welcome.

Anyone wising to engage in a more general discussion about Captain Beefheart and any related topics should join the lively Fire Party list.

Surprisingly, there is a new edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment available for you to listen to. I say surprisingly as I'm currently enveloped in the fog of the world's worst hangover. Even getting the computer switched on has been a major achievement today.

Unfortunately patches of the show have ended up sounding as fuzzy as my head feels because I failed to remember to set the encoding options correctly. I will reencode and upload the show again tomorrow, but without the boob.

Last week's special edition featuring music made by members of the on-line Beefheart community will be made permanently available as from tomorrow.

Roger at Key Mail Order has just e-mailed me to say that Safe As Milk will be reissued on 180 gm audiophile vinyl on 4th October (not 3rd September as their website says). You can order the album from them at the link above. If anyone has any more information about this specific release I'd be very grateful to receive it as I don't know exactly who is behind it at the moment.

Don't forget that volume two of the Grow Fins vinyl edition will be released on Tuesday, limited to 3,000 copies, and that the last five Beefheart albums will be released on 180gm audiophile vinyl mid October, strictly limited to 1,000 each. Place your orders at Diverse Vinyl.

Now it's time to crawl back to bed - waking up today was a terrible mistake. Enjoy the radio show.

Apologies for the recent silence. I've been redecorating a small part of my flat which seems to have taken up all my time and still isn't done. I hate painting almost as much as I hate sanding.

I was very pleased to hear from Steve Froy that this month's Mojo contains a small mention of this site which I have included on a new page of press reviews / mentions of the Radar Station. If you see any more anywhere please let me know.

Steven Ceiro has kindly sent a scan of a hand-written poem which appeared on the lyric sheet of the original issue of Trout Mask Replica, called Manta Ray. Find it in the poetry / lyrics archive.

Raymond Orkwris has kindly sent me a link to a review of The Dust Blows Forward at salon.com. I'm not sure I would agree with the writer's assertions that Orange Claw Hammer is 'deranged' or that the words of Making Love To A Vampire are 'nonsense', but it's still worth a read.

James Silberbauer has sent along two final samples from Pachuco Cadaver, the excellent Beefheart tribute album from Eugene Chadbourne and Jimmy Carl Black, and a review by Ben Watson from The Wire. Many thanks to James for all his help providing information about this album.

Paul Nuttal recently wrote to point out that you can hear all of the Pachuco Cadaver album as a streaming audio broadcast at broadcast.com, many thanks to Paul for the tip off.

I've reorganised the Up Sifter archive page, dividing it into three six-month sections which should make a browse through the archive a bit more manageable, if you are that way inclined. See the bottom of this page for the links. I've also redesigned the Radar Station's rather ugly old banner, making it fit in with the general appearance of the site. If you have a website, feel free to feature the banner, pointing to http://www.beefheart.com

Many thanks to everyone who answered my request for the Zappa album sleeve scans, much appreciated.

Regarding the broadcast of music made by members of the on-line Beefheart community, some of you have had problems finding the file of the show rather than the file which enables streaming. The URL is http://www.beefheart.com/fireparty/membersmusic.rm

We are approaching the last few days of voting for the Artist Direct Online Music Awards, so if you haven't yet cast your vote for the Radar Station now would be a good time. Cheers.

I'm very pleased to present Music From The Other Side Of The Fence - one hour of tunes recorded by members of the on-line Beefheart community brought to you as this week's edition of the Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment.

Don't miss this excellent show as it contains some really splendid work including some spot-on Beefheart covers and tributes, and much original material.

Many thanks to everyone who submitted their tunes, it's been a pleasure. Hope you enjoy it.

If you feel inspired by any of this music and would like to try to collaborate with members of the on-line Beefheart community to record together, you may want to join the Fire Party's brand new spin-off discussion list - 'Light The Fire Piano' - which was specially created for those wanting to discuss such matters.

At the moment there is the spark of an idea that the release of a CD compilation of members' Beefheart tributes may be possible. Head towards http://firepiano.listbot.com to view the message archive and to subscribe. Your contribution would be very welcome.

New up elsewhere - Benjamin Horrendous has posted a new interview that he recently conducted with Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder on his website, along with Justin Sherill's older interview that used to reside at Home Page Replica.

The discography has a few new pages up today. The section on officially released Magic Band albums is now complete. If anyone can correct, improve or add to any of the information in this section I'd love to hear from you.

Similarly the 'Zappa with Beefheart' section is complete as far as my knowledge and resources go. I don't have any information about Zoot Allures, One Size Fits All or Rare Beefheart Vintage Zappa. If anyone can provide me with sleeve scans, track lists, accurate release information etc about any of these albums, please drop me a line (do check with me before actually sending anything). Many thanks.

I've begun work in earnest on the Beefheart Bootlegs section. So far I've covered six boots - if anyone can provide additional information for these six (sleeve scans, etc) please let me know. I hope to steadily work my way through the remainder over the next week or so.

James Silberbauer has sent me a couple more 30 second clips from the Pachuco Cadaver Beefheart tribute album by Eugene Chadbourne and Jimmy Carl Black. I now really want to get this album! Many thanks to James.

I've added two more pages to the discography - Ice Cream For Crow and The A&M Sessions. Slowly but surely I'm getting through it.

James Silberbauer has very kindly made two 30 second mp3 samples of a couple of tunes from Pachuco Cadaver, Eugene Chadbourne and Jimmy Carl Black's Beefheart tribute album. As yet I haven't got this album, but these samples are certainly very tantalising - find them in the discography. Many thanks to James for passing these along.

A bright new and shiny Tromblown Orchestra Radio Experiment awaits your ears.

I have had some more news about the Past And Present vinyl reissues of Beefheart's last five albums. Diverse Vinyl will be stocking all five from mid-October and will soon be accepting pre-release orders (I'll keep you posted about this). Each LP is likely to cost around 23 pounds sterling and will be strictly limited to 1,000 copies. Keep your eye on the Radar Station's Past And Present Update Page for any news as I get it.

There is now a news page containing information about Mike Barnes' Beefheart biography, which at the moment only contains the info listed below. As soon as I get any more details, I'll post them here.

New up today is a page of shots of the Magic Band's legendary Woodland Hills House where Trout Mask Replica was endlessly rehearsed. These are all stills taken from last week's broadcast of the BBC's documentary The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart. You can find the photos in the miscellaneous biographical items section.

I have had some news from Mike Barnes about the impending publication of his Beefheart biography which he would like me to pass on to you:

"The book is currently being edited by Richard Cook. He's a writer whose work I've always respected, so I'm very pleased about that. Publication has been deferred to early next year as it would be too much of a white knuckle ride to get it done by November, the intended publication date.

"The book will include previously unseen photos by a very well known photographer - no, not THAT one - and a foreword by John Peel. There may well be a special event in the offing to coincide with publication, but I can't give any more details as it is only about 50/50 at the moment. If it comes off I will be keen to share the information, if not, I will explain why it didn't happen. Is that cryptic enough? I think so."

As soon as I get any more info I will pass it along - please don't write to me to ask about this, just check the Radar Station. I'm extremely excited about Mike's highly promising book which has been very thoroughly researched - it should be a killer.

Last Sunday I went to Hellingly to see Fire Party members Benjamin Horrendous and Dennis Martian's band (The Fourfathers) and was shocked by what I heard. We were treated to a couple of hours' worth of astonishing Decals / Crow sounding versions of some of my favourite Magic Band tunes, interspersed with the Fourfathers' own material which certainly held its own in this setting. The original songs could easily have passed for some long lost outtakes from Ice Cream For Crow. Very impressive stuff indeed.

They don't play very often, but be sure to try to see them next time if you are at all able as it is well worth it. Ben has some mp3s of his music available to download from his homepage which you may want to check out. I also had the pleasure of meeting Stewart Osbourne from the Fire Party which made the trip even more worthwhile. A grand time was had by all, many thanks to those involved.