Cinematic. From his first words he sets it out, frame by frame. The situation whereby us folk gather in a circle stunned by the alien assault and preparing for the next wave of human annihilation. Possibly the circle of “earth people” is world leaders in a United Nations type emergency meeting, but it doesn’t really matter. The greatest existential challenge portrayed in fascinating drama- all in just a few words. Lyrically perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Over the years as I struggled to decipher the lyrics to some of his songs and grasp their meaning, I would have many moments of enlightenment and laugh aloud-did he identifyRead 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 →

In June 2020, to keep himself amused during the pandemic lockdown, Gary wrote about his five favourite Beefheart albums. We’re pleased to present them here on the Radar Station —————————————————- CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: I’LL GIVE YOU A BUNCH OF FIVES 5-count them-5 seminal albums by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND THE MAGIC BAND As a follow-up to my 3 Part Tribute to the one and only DON VAN VLIET a/k/a CAPTAIN BEEFHEART just completed on Facebook, as promised here are my 5 recommended favorites of the 11 studio albums Don released with his truly MAGIC BAND. I’m gonna dole them out as the week progresses, okay? And hereRead More →

[Chorus:] I got too much time, too much time I got too much time to be without love In my life I’ve got a deep devotion Wide as the sky and deep as the ocean Every war that’s waged makes me cry Every bird that goes by gets me high [Spoken: Sometimes when it’s late and I’m a little hungry I heat up some old stale beans, open up a can of sardines, eat crackers and dream of somebody to cook for me.] [Repeat chorus, verse and chorus] (1972) Originally made available at Justin Sherill’s Home Page Replica.Read More →

Nothing makes it move From the bottom to the top Does it start at the bottom? Or does it start at the top Magnet draw day from dark Sun zoom spark Sun zoom spark Now which hand’s got it? Bottom, or the top? Neither hand’s got it It’s just got it Hope it don’t stop Magnet draw day from dark Sun zoom spark Sun zoom spark Think you can uh hold it Once it start I don’t care who ya are or what size ya are I’m gonna magnetize ya Magnet draw day from dark Sun zoom spark Sun zoom spark Ohh, don’t let itRead More →

Men you been lookin’ all around for the women But they always been right there Nowadays a woman has to haul off and hit a man T’ make him know she’s there Other night a woman came up ‘n hit me Like I wasn’t even there Yeah, mmm dawned on me, man That a man been doin’ a woman unfair Y’ gotta wait for your woman Let her know you’re there I knew I had to go out ‘n tell all of the women That I knew they were there Now ev’rywhere I go the women all know that I know Mmm, there ain’t noRead More →

Fast goes fast Slow goes slow Alright now, do the Low Yo Yo Yo Yo Now do the Low Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Like that girl standing on the corner Trying to get a ride to the other side When way down underneath All she had to do was move her pretty feet And do the Low Yo Yo Yo Yo Alright baby, do your Low Yo Yo with all your stuff Now, baby, do your Low Yo Yo Stuff Now, baby, it’s in your being Whether you’re long, tall, short or skinny Sometimes it’s rough You mean to tell me it’s thatRead More →

Woman like long neck bottles And a big head on her beer I don’t like to talk about my women But I hold that woman dear Well, one night she go to drinking Got out and shot up the town I’ll be damned if she didn’t Bring an airplane down I don’t like to talk about my woman But this one sure could chug ’em down I don’t like to talk about my woman But this one sure could chug ’em down One night she started drinking Down by the river She dried up the river And backed the ocean down I don’t like toRead More →

Now Little Scratch was a cat that never made the mat But he sure had a real good time All the chicks on the block used to watch his pockets flop But they never heard the ring of a coin Well he was tattered and thin But all of the men Were jealous of his natural charm You could always see him on the street With a beautiful dish on each arm Jealous of his natural charm Well he never had a dime But he sure made time He had a beautiful dish on each arm Well he was tattered and thin But all ofRead More →

I look at her and she looks at me In her eyes I see the sea I can’t see what she sees in a man like me She says she loves me Her eyes Her eyes Her eyes are a blue million miles Far as I can see She loves me Her eyes Her eyes Her eyes are a blue million miles Far as I can see She loves me I look at her and she looks at me In her eyes I see the sea I can’t see what she sees in a man like me She says she loves me Her eyes HerRead More →

Those little golden birdies look at them And the mystic Egypt tossle dangling down Old sleeper-man shish, don’t wake him Up one hand broom star was an obi-man revered throughout the bone-knob land His magic black purse slit creeped open, Let go flocks of them Shish sookie singabus Snored like a red merry-go-round horse And an acid gold bar swirled up and down, Up and down, in back of the singabus And the panataloon duck white goose neck quacked webcor, webcor (1972) Originally made available at Justin Sherill’s Home Page Replica.Read More →

Crazy Little Thing has just gone crazy Girl, how’d ya get a name like Crazy Little Thing Probably the name that drove you crazy all along How’d ya get a walk How’d ya get it all to move so smooth and lazy How’d ya learn to talk real low like that To where it makes all the men go crazy Every little thing, every little thing has just gone crazy The way she move, there ain’t no maybe Talkin’ way low like that To where all the men go crazy She brings things down lower than they should be She brings things up higher thanRead More →

I have to run so far to find a clear spot Sun’s all hottin’ and a rottin’ hot Swamp’s all rotten ‘n stinkin’ uhh Vegetation’s hot Sleepin’ in a bayou on a old rotten cot Can’t find my kind of folks havin’ fun I have to run run run run Run to find a clear spot Can’t shadow down, the sun big brown Mosquitos ‘n moccasins steppin’ all around ‘fraid I’m gonna get hit Sun’s all hottin’ and a rottin’ hot Vegetation’s hot Sleepin’ in a bayou on a old rotten cot Can’t find my kind of folks havin’ fun Got to run run runRead More →

Once you find out the circumstances Then you can uh go out, whoa yeah Once you find out the circumstances Then you can uh go out, whoa yeah Little girl don’t you know that the stars up above are runnin’ on love Little girl don’t you know that they’re blinkin’ at you Now the sun can sun burn you but Not as bad as those old people do, yeah Ah once you find out the circumstances Then you can uh go out, whoa yeah Little girl don’t you know that the stars up above are runnin’ on love Little girl don’t you know that uhRead More →

Distant cousins, there’s a limited supply. And we’re down to the dozens, and this is why: Big Eyed Beans from Venus! Oh my, oh my. Boys and girls, Earth people around the circle, Mixtures of man alive. Big eyed beans from Venus, Don’t let anything get in between us. Beam in on me baby, and we’ll beam together I know we always been together, but there’s more. Mister Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note, and let it float. Men let your wallets flop out, and women open your purses, Cause a man or a woman without a big eyed bean from Venus IsRead More →

A 50s B-movie horror called Big Eyed Beans From Venus? Could it be true? Well, no actually. Many thanks to Steve Bisette who conceived the cartoon for granting permission to feature it here. Steve writes: ‘That’s from a story I drew back in 1977 for Larry Shell’s underground comic 50’s FUNNIES; the art for the poster itself was by Joe Ragusa, a fellow cartooning school student, who collaborated with me on an overview of fake monster movies entitled “Forgotten Fears of the Fifties!”.’ Excerpted with the permission of SpiderBaby Grafix, from the comic book story “Forgotten Fears of the Fifties!” copyright 1978, 1999 Stephen R.Read More →

1972 UK Original on Reprise K54007 Clear plastic sleeve with black on white printed insert. 19?? UK Re-package on Reprise K54007 Normal printed sleeve 1972 German Original on Reprise REP54007 White Label Trade Sample with “Unverkäufl” (not for sale) “Warenprobe ohne Wert” (sample without value) “Echantillon gratuit” (free sample in French) on centre label – in clear plastic sleeve with Clear Spot – w/insert sheet printed in England standard issue – clear plastic sleeve 1972 US Original on Reprise MS-2115 White Label Promo with PROMOTION NOT FOR SALE printed on centre label and over stamped -> N.T.I. standard issue – clear plastic sleeve 1972 USRead More →

WHILE nobody questions his status as one of rock’s great originals, Captain Beefheart’s madcap variations on the blues are an acquired taste. Armed with a voice like Howlin ‘ Wolf, a band he claimed to have taught himself and an imagination that just went thataway, Beefheart did not set out to be easy listening. The unhinged adventurousness of his 1969 masterwork, Trout Mask Replica, appeals mainly to critics and students of musical weirdness. More approachable and ultimately more satisfying is the album he recorded three years later with a new producer. Ted Templeman, whose clients included Van Morrison and the Doobie Brothers, was drafted inRead More →