The Magic Band have been added to the line-up of the All Tomorrow’s Parties ‘End Of An Era Part 2’ festival curated by ATP and Loop. The event takes place at Pontins, Camber Sands, England from the 29th November-1st December 2013. More info about the event and tickets are available at the ATP website.Read 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 →
Bill Harkleroad’s recollections of his time with the Magic Band and Mallard – Lunar Notes written with Billy James – has been out of print for a number of years and has commanded stupid prices on eBay. If you don’t have one, there’s now the opportunity to pick up a copy for only £9.99, thanks to the excellent Gonzo Multimedia who republished it on 22 July. (Note: This is a straight republish and doesn’t contain any new or additional material.) Check out the Radar Station review of the original publication Buy it from Gonzo Multimedia Listen to Gonzo’s phone interview with Billy JamesRead More →
BBC Radio 6’s Gideon Coe will be playing a Beefheart concert on his evening show Wednesday 22 May (starts 9pm BST). It’s not clear what it will be although our best guess is the 1968 Peel sessions. If you miss the show I think it should be available via the BBC 6 website – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sjs73 (Thanks to Nulsh for the heads-up)Read More →
We have mentioned the Beefheart/Zappa Commemorative box set put together around Freddy Banister’s book “There Must Be A Better Way” a few times before, and its contents have been expanded recently again. The collection now also includes a CD of Frank Zappa’s Grand Wazoo at The Oval in 1972 and a Beefheart programme from the 1972 tour, making it a total of eight Beefheart CDs, four Zappa CDs, two DVDs, one book, one programme and assorted items of memorabilia …and the price remains £49.99. For more information, please see the Rock Music Memorabilia website and/or email info@rockmusicmemorabilia.comRead More →
Zappa.com have announced their intention to release the “definitive” Trout Mask Replica in May 2013; initially on CD but with a vinyl edition “coming soon”. Available for preorder now, Zappa.com states: The Legends of Lancaster (California) converge. Two albums Produced by Frank Zappa are registered with the National Preservation Board (Library of Congress). This is one. Note: We here at UMRK determined that the TMR Master was damaged somewhere in the years of its return orbit. The Vaultmeister created almost in its entirety a new Master from our own Vault safety copies. And as if that wasn’t enough chocolate for your Sunday sundae, we hadRead More →
To celebrate the launch of the new improved Radar Station I have a couple of interviews to share with you all – one is from one of the newest Magic Band members, the other is with one of the original founder members. First up here is an interview I did with Eric Klerks at the end of 2012. Eric gives up a bit of background about himself, how he came to be in the band and what he thinks about listening to and playing Beefheart’s music. Read the interview with Eric I was particularly interested in some of Eric’s explanations of the Magic Band music in technical terms (althoughRead More →
A new exhibition of drawings by Don Van Vliet is about to open at Galerie Michael Werner in Trebbin, Germany. The exhibition runs from 21 January 2013 until 22 March 2013 at: Galerie Michael Werner Märkisch Wilmersdorf Alte Parkstraße 3c 14959 Trebbin Tel: +49 33731 32010 Fax: +49 33731 32012 Email: galeriewerner@michaelwerner.de I’ll update this post as soon as I have more information. If you attend the exhibition, please do tell us about it!Read More →
All ready for the 72nd anniversary of Don Van Vliet’s birth, I am delighted to present an all new Radar Station website. Apart from the content (much of which has been expanded, revised and brought up to date but in essence remains the same) it’s entirely new: new design, new structure, new way of doing things. I do hope you like it. It’s been the product of about 18 months of incessant clicking whenever I have been able to around work, family and general life stuff. The new site currently contains a massive 2,610 items which perhaps helps to explain just why it’s taken meRead More →
If you’re in Portland, Oregon on Thursday 17 January take a trip out to Belmont Station “Portland’s Premier Beer Store and Bier Cafe”. In one of their regular beer tasting evenings you’ll be able to sample a Captain Beefheart Beer. Here’s how they describe it: Captain Beefheart is a collaborative brew between Jason McAdam of Burnside Brewing and Alex Ganum of Upright, both of whom can be described as meat enthusiasts. In their own words: “The idea behind Captain Beefheart was to create a complex beverage with savory flavors rooted in the kitchen. We started with a malty copper colored base and added Turkish bayRead More →
The World of Captain Beefheart is a special concert featuring Gary Lucas with the 60 piece Metropole Orchestra performing symphonic Beefheart. Date: Sunday 17th February 2013 Venue: the main hall of Amsterdam’s Paradiso Special guest vocalist for the night is legendary Nona Hendryx (pictured below with Gary), who is also a big Beefheart fan. This event has been put together by Co de Kloet (the Dutch radio presenter who did the last lengthy interview with Don on the phone in the early 90’s). It will be broadcast live on Co’s radio show on national Dutch radio, NTR. It is also being filmed for possible broadcast. ViewRead More →
Updated: 26 Jan 2013 Woo hoo! Yes, prepare to be booglarized again … the guys are back in the UK for another tour. So far the following dates have been set up: March 2013 1 – Concorde 2, Brighton 2 – Arts Centre, Colchester 4 – The Fleece, Bristol 5 – Robin 2, Bilston, Wolverhampton 6 – The Continental, Preston 7 – Band On The Wall, Manchester 9 – Arches, Glasgow 10 – HMV Picture House, Edinburgh 11 – The Cluny, Newcastle upon Tyne 13 – Erics, Liverpool 14 – The Duchess, York 15 – Sub89, Reading 16 – Under The Bridge, Fulham, London ForRead More →
If you haven’t got a copy of the Beefheart/Zappa Commemorative box set put together around Freddy Banister’s book “There Must Be A Better Way” then there are perhaps further reasons to get a copy. Two more stealth recordings of Frank Zappa concerts have now been added to the set: 1970 Frank Zappa at the Bath Festival and 1978 Frank Zappa at the Knebworth Festival. This makes it a total of 10 CDs (7 Captain Beefheart and 3 Frank Zappa), plus the T shirt and poster which are still included … and the price remains £49.99.Read More →
The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn hosts a Beefheart night on Monday 29 October. Featuring Gary Lucas and Philip Johnson’s Fast N Bulbous and also Beefheart tribute act Doctor Dark. Tickets are $20, available no the door or from the Knitting Factory website.Read More →
The Pittsburgh City Paper blog has a lovely item about some unusually literate graffiti: On a Liberty Avenue pole, near the Bloomfield Bridge, somebody has carefully pencilled the lyrics to Captain Beefheart’s “Orange Claw Hammer.” A tribute to the late musician? Or just bored waiting for the bus? Is it still there? If you’re in the vicinity please send us a snap. View Bloomfield Bridge in a larger mapRead More →
An interview with John French has just turned up on the LA Beat website. It seems to have been done earlier on this year but it’s still worth checking out.Read More →
There’s a new book available which has compiled over 40 written pieces about, and interviews with Don. It’s called ‘A carrot is as close as a rabbit gets to a diamond’. In this online world it’s a refreshing retro artefact. Read my short reviewRead More →
I’ve had some enquiries about whether there’s a vinyl version of the recently remastered Bat Chain Puller. As far as I can make out the Zappa Family Trust will not be releasing one … many Zappa fans have already been upset by the absence of vinyl versions of Mothers and Frank titles so it’s nothing personal towards us Beefheart followers. Inevitably though, bootleggers have stepped in to fill the gap. So, there is now a (white) vinyl version of Bat Chain Puller available. It’s dubbed from the remastered CD and sporting artwork based on it too. It’s even claiming to be a zappa.com Vaulternative release …Read More →
We’ve had an email from Magic Band guitarist Eric Klerks with details about up-coming live dates, mostly Europe but also one at ATP New York. September: 23- ATP Festival ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’, Pier 36, NYC 28- Button Factory, Dublin, Ireland 29- Club Zanzibar, Liverpool, UK 30- Picturedrome, Holmfirth, UK October: 3- Kesselhaus, Berlin, Germany 4- Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark 6- Parkteatret, Oslo, Norway 7- Blues Garage, Hannover, Germany 10- Theaterhaus, Stuttgart, Germany 11- Exil, Zurich, Switzerland 13- 4AD, Diksmuide, Belgium If you attend, please send us your reports, photos, videos and anecdotes.Read More →
The September issues of two UK music mags will be of interest to Beefheart fans: MOJO #226 features Mark Boston (Rockette Morton) in the ‘Hello Goodbye’ section where he tells Mike Barnes about joining the Magic Band in 1968 and quitting in 1974. UNCUT #184 has a six page feature called Dropouts Boogie. John Robinson has spoken to 14 former Magic Band members to form the basis of this piece … from founding member Jerry Handley, through the Tragic Band to Cliff Martinez from the final incarnation.Read More →