Doc at the Radar Station explained

Doc at the Radar Station
Type:studio
Artist:Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Cover:CaptBeefheartDocRadar250px.jpg
Released:August 1980
Recorded:June 1980
Studio:Sound Castle Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Length:38:52
Label:Virgin
Producer:Don Van Vliet
Prev Title:Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:Ice Cream for Crow
Next Year:1982

Doc at the Radar Station is the eleventh studio album by American band Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in August 1980 by Virgin Records.

Packaging

The album cover was painted by Don Van Vliet. It was placed at number forty-nine on Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Album Covers.

Background

Although about half of the album's songs are based on old musical ideas, Mike Barnes states that "most of the revamping work built on skeletal ideas and fragments ... would have mouldered away in the vaults had they not been exhumed and transformed into full-blown, totally convincing new material".[1] The tracks "A Carrot is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond", "Flavor Bud Living" and "Brickbats" were originally intended and recorded for the unreleased album Bat Chain Puller.

John French (the original drummer in the Magic Band) rejoined Beefheart for this album. He played guitar on all songs, plus bass ("Sheriff of Hong Kong"), drums ("Ashtray Heart" and "Sheriff of Hong Kong"), and marimba ("Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on My Knee"). He also sings the second vocal on "Dirty Blue Gene".

Reissues

In 2011, 4 Men with Beards released a 180-gram version of the album, distributed by City Hall Records.

Personnel

Additional personnel

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Barnes, Mike. Captain Beefheart: The Biography. London: Quartet Books, 2000.