Great news ! Another Beefheart album gets the Record Store Day treatment by Rhino/Warner. For release on 20 April 2024 will be The Spotlight Kid (Deluxe Edition), which means a second disc of outtakes from those sessions is included. There will be 7000 copies on 140g ‘milky clear’ vinyl. The track list of the bonus disc is as follows : C1. THE WITCH DOCTOR LIFE (instrumental ) [5:27] C2. SEMI-MULTICOLORED CAUCASIAN (instrumental)* [4:37] C3. YOUR LOVE BROUGHT ME TO LIFE (instrumental) [3:11] C4. TWO RIPS IN A HAYSTACK/KISS ME MY LOVE [2:38] C5. HARRY IRENE [3:33] C6. BEST BATCH YET (TRACK) [VERSION 1] [2:18] C7.Read More →

Tracklist Disc One Electricity Take Me To Your House / You’re Gonna Need Somebody I’m Gonna Boogalise You Baby Mirror Man Upon The My-O-My Full Moon Crazy Little Thing Improu Peaches Take Me To Your House / You’re Gonna Need Somebody This Is The Day Upon The My-O-My Disc Two Peaches Upon The My-O-My Hot Head Feel Like An Ashtray Heart Intro In French Nowadays A Woman Gotta Hit A Man Beast Batch Yet Dirty Blue Gene Safe As Milk Flavour Bud Living Bat Chain Puller Big Eyed Beans From Venus The above track list is as printed on the cover of this release, sadlyRead More →

To mark the album’s 45th anniversary Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) is being given a special release for Record Store Day 2023 on Rhino/Warner Records. Released on vinyl (just black as far as I can see) and cut from the original master tapes this will be a double album package. Disc One is the original album as released in 1978. The more interesting part of this release is Disc Two which features twelve demos, rough mixes and alternate versions recorded at the Shiny Beast sessions but have not been officially available before. The track list for Disc Two is : C1 Suction Prints (Demo) [Instrumental]Read More →

The CD version has been long out of print but Rhino have announced the re-release of I’m Going To Do What I’m Gonna Do as a two disc vinyl album for Record Store Day 2023. The first time on vinyl this will be a limited edition of 5000 to be released on 22 April 2023 with a price tag of 39.98USD. At the time of writing it is not clear whether copies will be able from non-US outlets. Originally released back in 2000 in the Rhino Handmade Series this album is of the excellent 1978 My Fathers Place, NY show which was widely bootlegged backRead More →

Tracklist Side One 1. Yellow Brick Road 2. Abba Zabba 3. Sure ‘Nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do 4. Electricity 5. Beatle Bones ‘n’ Smokin’ Stones 6. Safe As Milk 7. Kandy Korn Side Two 1. Trust Us 2. Steal Softly Thru Snow 3. Click Clack 4. Golden Birdies 5. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby Publicity Blurb Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band are showcased over 12 tracks recorded live for radio and TV. The material is sourced from two 1968 sessions for John Peel plus a 1972 appearance on Beat Club and features tracks from four different Beefheart LPs. Beat Club tracks are excellent soundRead More →

A look at the November 2022 Record Store Day release of a double vinyl set to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Clear Spot album. Tracklist Sides 1 and 2 as to be expected are the same as the original release. Side 3 Nowadays A Woman’s Gotta Hit A Man (Early Mix) Clear Spot (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Crazy Little Thing (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Dirty Blue Gene (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Big Eyed Beans From Venus (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Kiss Where I K’aint Side 4 Sun Zoom Spark (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Nowadays A Woman’s Gotta Hit A Man (Rough Mix) [Instrumental] Little Scratch Low Yo Yo StuffRead More →

To say this is long awaited would be an understatement … Magic Band and Mu alumni Jeff Cotton, aka Antennae Jimmy Semens, announces his debut solo album The Fantasy of Reality – available on CD and digital on 12 August via Madfish. Pre-order/Save: https://JeffCotton.lnk.to/FantasyOfReality Trout Mask Replica cover designer Cal Schenkel returns to contribute to the internal artwork to continue the Captain Beefheart canon into the 2020s. Now blending together musical strands such as jazz, delta blues, Hawaiian and the avant-garde to create a melting pot of ideas, Jeff Cotton will astonish fans with his comeback.  Read More →

One of the Record Store Day releases for 17th July 2021 is the Unconditionally Guaranteed album. Probably not every fan’s first choice for such a event as it was a huge disappointment at the time of its original release but the album has undergone a bit of a re-evaluation in more recent years. Some fans even consider it ‘not too bad after all’… Okay, there are some interesting songs on there but Andy Di Martino’s bland production knocked all the stuffing out of the overall sound. It could have been a much better album if Ted Templeman had produced this one as well as ClearRead More →

The remastered Trout Mask Replica is at last getting a vinyl release. It is in the capable hands of Jack White’s Third Man Records. Not only are they releasing the double vinyl album but also the mega-rare France-only single “Pachuco Cadaver / Wild Life”. Other bits and bobs are included in this package. Like all Third Man Records this will not be available in a store. You will have to sign up for a subscription on their website … and to get this Beefheart release (Vault Package #36) you’ll need to do it before 30 April 2018. The cost is $60 plus shipping. For moreRead More →

Well, here’s news that’s going to annoy a few people, especially some of those who recently bought the Sun Zoom Spark package. Rhino Records are now releasing the ‘remastered’ versions of Lick My Decals Off Baby, The Spotlight Kid, and Clear Spot as separate CD albums. No news on vinyl versions as yet. Lick My Decals Off, Baby features an 8 page book with original lyrics The Spotlight Kid features lyrics and a 4 panel poster fold book (folds into a CD size square), keeping the original LP back cover intact on the inside Clear Spot – no information about this The Sun Zoom SparkRead More →

Catching up on three remastered CDs and a couple of vinyl boots. The Japanese seem to follow their own odd agenda of releasing Beefheart albums. However, when they do it’s usually worth checking out, especially when they remaster anything. And that’s what we have here. Lick My Decals Off, Baby At the back of 2014 (yes, I know, but I’ve only just got hold of a copy) they released a remastered version of ‘Lick My Decals Off, Baby‘. It’s packaged in a jewel case with booklet containing lyrics in English and Japanese. It has been remastered by Ryuichi Tanaka (Mixer’s Lab) at Warner Music Mastering. This isRead More →

The third in the series of live shows released by Gonzo Multimedia. Song List 1. Suction Prints 2. Low Yo Yo Stuff 3. Nowadays and 4. Woman’s Gotta Hit a Man 5. Abba Zabba 6. Band Intro 7. Sugar ‘n’ Spikes 8. Peon 9. I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby 10. Old Black Snake 11. Alice in Blunderland 12. I’m a King/Sugar Mama 13. Mirror Man 14. Big Eyed Beans from Venus 15. Golden Birdies The Radar Station Overview This is the third in Gonzo’s releases in their series “Somewhere Over…” or “Live From…”series . They can’t seem to make their mind up which one to go with so have used both – one onRead More →

Sun Zoom Spark has been one of the most anticipated Beefheart releases for a long time. Subsequently it which has a lot of expectations to live up to. It has certainly created some controversy amongst fans which has rebounded unfavourably on Rhino. Here’s what we think of it at the Radar Station: Read the Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 reviewRead More →

A 2 CD set of the excellent show at the Le Nouvel Hippodrome, Paris in 1977. Song List Disk 1 1 Hair Pie: Bake III 2 Suction Prints 3 Low Yo Yo Stuff 4 Bat Chain Puller 5 I Wanna Fina A Woman That ‘ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go 6 Abba Zaba 7 Dali’s Car 8 One Nest Rolls After Another 9 The Dust Blows Forward and the Dust Blows Back 10 Nowadays a Woman’s Got To Hit A Man 11 Click Clack 12 Grow Fins 13 Golden Birdies Disk 2 1 Electricity 2 A Carrot Is As Close AsRead More →

Warners have been digging in their archives and are about to release a FOUR disc collection on the Rhino label – ‘Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972‘. Due for release on 11 November 2014 this set will include remastered versions of ‘Lick My Decals Off, Baby‘, ‘The Spotlight Kid‘ and ‘Clear Spot‘ (but with no bonus tracks). The fourth disc is a collection of fourteen outtakes which have not been previously released legitimately. These are the outtakes: 01 Alice in Blunderland (Alternate Version) 02 Harry Irene 03 I Can’t Do This Unless I Can Do This/Seam Crooked Sam 04 Pompadour Swamp/Suction Prints 05 The Witch Doctor LifeRead More →

Four new tracks released online. It’s been a while since Bill Harkleroad released any new music. Not since 2001, in fact, when We Saw A Bozo Under The Sea was issued. He has just resurfaced, along with a revamp of his website, with four new instrumental tracks each one based on a mask sculpture by Roger Evers. An interesting concept! – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – The Radar Station asked Bill a few questions about this new music: Can you tell us some more about the masks and the artist who created them?Read More →

The full Avalon 1966 concert available for the first time. Song List The Avalon Ballroom, 1966 1. Down In The Bottom 2. Don’t Start Me To Talkin’ 3. The Sun Is Shining 4. Tupelo 5. Somebody In My Home 6. Old Folks’ Boogie 7. St. James Infirmary 8. Evil (Is Going On) 9. Harp Instrumental Radio Station, 1967 10. Somebody In My Home 11. Sure ‘Nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do 12. Call On Me 13. Yellow Brick Road 14. Plastic Factory 15. Sure ‘Nuff ‘n’ Yes I Do 16. Yellow Brick Road 17. Abba Zaba 18. Kandy Korn Notes Publicity blurb: Captain Beefheart & HisRead More →

Thanks to Groucho Kangaroo we are able to post this warning to all Beefheart fans about this latest vinyl atrocity. Captain Beefheart: “The Rarest Previously Unreleased 1970s Live And Studio Tracks” Ozit-Morpheus / Dandelion Records, LP, 2013 Side 1: 1. Steal Softly Through Snow – obviously not the Magic Band, newly recorded? 2. I Wanna Find A Woman… – Pepperland Ballroom, San Rafael, Sept. 18th 1970 3. Hair Pie Bake – Pepperland Ballroom, San Rafael, Sept. 18th 1970 4. Golden Birdies – BEAT CLUB session for Radio Bremen, Bremen, April 12th 1972 5. Space Age Couple – Pepperland Ballroom, San Rafael, Sept. 18th 1970 6.Read More →

This DVD was announced earlier this year and touted as a “documentary,” but even at the announcement stage there was little cause for optimism. Let’s start with the fact that the person pictured on the cover of the package is not even Don Van Vliet, but rather some anonymous mustachioed fellow captured in mid-yowl (Arthur Brown or Nick Mason??) – clearly an indication of the level of care and attention likely to be put into the package. Given how many plainly sub-standard CDs and LPs have been issued by the likes of the execrable Ozit records, there was little hope that this would be anythingRead More →

The Sundazed label is continuing its run of quality Beefheart with the release of a ‘definitive’ MONO version of “Safe As Milk”.  Many fans prefer the original mix of the band’s first album and this looks like THE one to pick up if you can’t afford one of the 1967 copies. The album is going to be released on 180 gram vinyl and on CD. The vinyl will have all the artwork, including the bumper sticker, that graced the original Buddah disc. There will be liner notes by David Fricke. It’s already being listed by some online sellers for pre-order although the official release dateRead More →