Soft Machine



Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre. Though they achieved little commercial success, they are considered by Allmusic to be "one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground ones" ... (read more at Wikipedia)

Links To Peel
in the mid-1980s, Peel discussed Soft Machine with producer John Walters in the third programme of the Peeling Back The Years series:

"'They were one of the earlier bands to record for the programme, and in those days they were more of a pop band, and they had Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt alternating on vocals. And they were seen at the time as sort of kindred spirits with the Pink Floyd rather … And then they rather sort of vaguely disappeared and came back reorganized in a much more jazzy form. And I used to find, again to be perfectly frank with you, I used to find a lot of their stuff just went on too long, you know. But I always very much liked Robert Wyatt’s sort of free form vocals. There was one excellent track … Moon in June, in which he describes how pleasant it is to be recording yet another Top Gear session and saying how excellent the BBC canteen is. … As I say, the Soft Machine ... their longer jazzier things I found by and large intolerable, I must say.'"

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions
Nine sessions. After earlier partial releases, available material was compiled and released by Hux on two double CD sets. Sessions #1-6 are available on BBC Radio 1967-1971. Sessions #7-9 (plus Radio 3 ‘Jazz In Britain’ session) available on BBC Radio 1971-1974.

1. Recorded: 1967-12-05. First broadcast: 17 December 1967.
 * Clarence In Wonderland / We Know What You Mean / A Certain Kind / Hope For Happiness (Strangest Scene Recorded – not broadcast)

2. Recorded: 1969-06-10. First broadcast: 15 June 1969. Repeated 27 December 1969 (‘Moon In June’ only).
 * Face Lift/Mousetrap/Backwards/Mousetrap Reprise / Moon In June

3. Recorded: 1969-11-10. First broadcast: 29 November 1969. Repeated: 07 February 1970.
 * Instant Pussy / Mousetrap/Noisette/Backwards Ballad/Mousetrap Reprise/Pig/Orange Skin Food/A Door Opens And Closes/10:30 Returns To The Bedroom

4. Recorded: 1970-05-04. First broadcast: 16 May 1970. Repeated: 18 July 1970
 * Slightly All The Time/Out Bloody Rageous/Eamonn Andrews

5. Recorded: 1970-12-15. First broadcast: 02 January 1971
 * Virtually / Fletcher's Blemish

6. Recorded: 1971-06-01. First broadcast: 26 June 1971
 * Neo-Caliban Grides / Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening / Eamonn Andrews/All White

7. Recorded: 1971-11-15. First broadcast: 24 November 1971. Repeated: 25 January 1972.
 * As If / Drop / Welcome To Frillsville

8. Recorded: 1972-07-11. First broadcast: 18 July 1972. Repeated: 12 September 1972.
 * Stumble/Lbo/As If / Fanfare/All White/MC/Drop

9. Recorded: 1973-10-30. First broadcast: 1973-11-20
 * Stanley Stamp's Gibbon Album / Hazard Profile / Down The Road

Live

 * 31 May 1970: recorded 1970-05-21
 * 1) Facelift-Esther's Nose Job
 * 21 March 1971: Soft Machine (and "Heavy Friends") live set, recorded 1971-03-11, Paris Theatre, London
 * 1) Blind Badger
 * 2) Neo Caliban Grides
 * 3) Out Bloody Rageous
 * 4) Eamon Andrews
 * 5) Pigling Bland
 * 6) Kings And Queens
 * 7) Teeth
 * 8) All White

Other Shows Played

 * 1969
 * 18 October 1969: Pataphysical Introduction Pt. I / A Concise British Alphabet Pt. I (LP - Volume II) Probe


 * 1970
 * 31 January 1970: Pig (LP - Volume Two) Probe
 * 20 June 1970: Moon In June (2xLP - Third) CBS
 * 04 July 1970: We Did It Again ("Disinterred 33 1/3,") (LP: The Soft Machine Volume Two) Probe


 * 1972
 * 25 April 1972: Pigling Bland (LP – Fifth) CBS (also play for Matching Mole)
 * 22 August 1972: Love Makes Sweet Music (single) Polydor
 * Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 5: Hope For Happiness (LP - Soft Machine Probe


 * 1973
 * 13 March 1973: 1983 (LP – Six) CBS


 * 1976
 * 17 August 1976: Love Makes Sweet Music (single) Polydor (Soft Machine retrospective show)
 * 17 August 1976: Pig (LP – Volume Two) ABC (retrospective show)
 * 17 August 1976: Joy Of A Toy (LP – The Soft Machine) ABC ( retrospective show)
 * 17 August 1976: Stanley Stamp's Gibbon Album (for B.O.) (LP – Six) Columbia (retrospective show)
 * 17 August 1976: The Man Who Waved At Trains (LP – Bundles) Harvest (retrospective show)


 * 1987
 * 03 June 1987: Pig


 * 1998
 * 03 March 1998: Save Yourself/Priscilla (LP: The Soft Machine Vol 1) Probe


 * 2000s
 * 18 November 2003: Moon in June (LP - The Peel Sessions) Strange Fruit
 * 15 July 2004: Love Makes Sweet Music (7") Polydor


 * Other
 * Peeling Back The Years: Moon In June (session)