Klaatu
Encyclopedia
Klaatu was a Canadian
progressive rock
group formed in 1973 by the duo of John Woloschuk and Dee Long. They named themselves after the extraterrestrial Klaatu
portrayed by Michael Rennie
in the film The Day the Earth Stood Still. After recording two non-charting singles, drummer Terry Draper
was added to the line-up; this trio would comprise Klaatu throughout the rest of the band's recording career.
In Canada, the band is remembered for several hits, including "California Jam" (1974), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
" (1977) and "Knee Deep In Love" (1980). In the U.S. "Calling Occupants" b/w "Sub-Rosa Subway
" was a minor double-sided hit and their only chart entry, peaking at #62 in 1977.
The band is also remembered internationally for rumours that they were actually The Beatles
recording under a pseudonym. Klaatu themselves did not start these rumours and always flatly denied them, and indeed no Beatle was ever involved in the writing, recording or production of any Klaatu material.
and its president Frank Davies. Adding Terry Draper to the line-up, the singles "California Jam" and "True Life Hero" followed. These early singles credited Dee Long as a writer of several tunes; the others (including "Sub-Rosa Subway", "Dr.Marvello" and the hit single "California Jam") were credited to "Chip Dale", a collective pseudonym for Woloschuk and frequent co-writer Dino Tome. "California Jam" hit the Canadian Top 40, peaking at #36, and Klaatu, though they played no live dates, promoted their music by making a television appearance in Canada on the Keith Hampshire
-hosted show Music Machine. By 1975 Davies, along with producer Terry Brown
, managed to land the band a deal with Capitol Records
in the United States.
(named Klaatu in the US as Capitol Records' execs felt the original title was too obscure) was released in September 1976 in North America. The band elected to include no photos, no individual musician credits, and no biographical information in the album package; all songs were simply listed as being written and published by "Klaatu". (Note that this collective writing credit covered songs earlier credited solely to Long, or to the team of Woloschuk and Tome—even though Tome wasn't actually a member of Klaatu.) The album was met with moderately positive reviews, but found itself stalled, sales-wise, by Christmas of that year.
However, the album had a Beatlesque sound, particularly in the song "Sub-Rosa Subway
". This, coupled with the lack of biographical details offered up by Klaatu, helped inspire a rumour concocted by Providence Journal reviewer Steve Smith in February 1977 that the album might be an anonymous project by The Beatles
themselves. The rumour turned into a global phenomenon with Beatle fans being fed "clues" by radio stations and print media alike.
Subsequent to the Beatles rumours, the song "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (the Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)
" became a minor hit for Klaatu in 1977. The track was covered by The Carpenters
that same year, becoming a top 40 hit world wide.
While all this was happening, Klaatu was in England, recording their second album. They were somewhat aware of the situation with regards to the rumours, but didn't take them entirely seriously—possibly because the UK's New Musical Express famously published an article on the Beatles-as-Klaatu theory under the title "Deaf Idiot Journalist Starts Beatle Rumour". Capitol Records, meanwhile, tried to make as much capital out of the rumours as possible, by issuing ambiguously worded statements that failed to make the band's identity entirely clear.
The rumour was soon disproved when Dwight Douglas, program director at WWDC
in Washington, D.C., checked the records at the U.S. Copyright Office and uncovered the band members' real names.
The band's second album Hope, released in 1977, included orchestral contributions by the London Symphony Orchestra
, and is considered by most fans to be equal, if not superior, to the first album. Sir Army Suit
, their third album, is notable for the track "Silly Boys
," which contains the entire lyrical portion of "Anus of Uranus" – a song from their first album – backwards-masked
interspersed between the "Silly Boys" lyrics. For both these releases, the band continued their policy of not including any individual names of band members in the credits, nor did they play any live shows or make any public appearances to promote these albums.
and subsequently played as a short in Los Angeles on the same bill as Animal House.
Following that, Guest and Mathieson got permission from Capitol Records to create a vehicle for Klaatu's songs. They wrote and directed a half-hour television special they titled Happy Hew Year Planet Earth, hoping that it would get yearly broadcasts as an alternative to Christmas specials. New Year's Eve was Mathieson's birthday. Again the group Klaatu was photographed and rotoscoped, with an astronaut wraparound created to connect the six Klaatu songs. Although the project was completed, Guest and Mathieson were burned by their Canadian film investment group and wound up financing it themselves. They never released it.
The only example of the project that has ever seen the light of day is the video for "A Routine Day", which was the original broadcast rock video. However, in 2005 the group permitted the film to be screened in its uncompleted state at the KlaatuKon convention in Toronto.
in 1980, the band for the first time included their individual names in the album package, making it clear that there was no musical connection to any former Beatle. As well, songs were now credited to their individual writers, rather than the "All songs written by Klaatu" credit of old. (Subsequent re-issues of earlier Klaatu material, as well as newly published Klaatu sheet music, also gave credit to the actual songwriters of each track, rather than a collective credit.)
Although forced by Capitol to record Endangered Species in Los Angeles using established studio musicians to shore up the group's commercial chances, the album was a critical and commercial flop. The album's poor showing resulted in Capitol Records dropping the group.
Now lacking a record label, Long and Draper temporarily formed a top 40 cover band, called FUNN, as a way to make ends meet. Eventually signed by Capitol's Canadian division, Klaatu released their final album, Magentalane
, in Canada in 1981. This album saw the group returning to their brand of Beatles-influenced pop/rock.
As a contractual obligation to Capitol-EMI in Canada, the band were forced to play their first ever live dates and tour most of Canada to promote the Magentalane album. From November 1981, the group expanded to a sextet, using members of Max Webster
and Nightwind for live performances. However, in April 1982 Dee Long – never all that fond of performing live in the first place by most accounts – quit the group. Although Woloschuk and Draper carried on performing for a few more months, Klaatu officially disbanded in August of the same year.
's Air Studios in London to record a single, "Woman," though no one was particularly happy with the results since the song was written by someone outside of the band (Paul Vincent Gunia) for the German TV series Tatort
. The single was only released in West Germany
, and did not chart, making it an extremely rare item in the Klaatu catalogue, particularly since it was not included on the two later rarities collections.
The three former members of Klaatu reunited on May 7, 2005 for a brief – and mostly acoustic – performance at Toronto's KlaatuKon. The set list consisted of "At the End of the Rainbow," "I Don't Wanna Go Home," "Cherie," "Magentalane," "Little Neutrino," and "All Good Things."
A full-blown Klaatu reunion – apart from occasional fan club performances such as those in 2005 – is extremely unlikely at this point due to Woloschuk's work commitments. However, Woloschuk has also been quoted as regarding the idea of a Klaatu reunion with orchestral backing as "tantalizing."
released the albums, in some cases with incorrect track orders. Finally, Bullseye Records, with the help of the band itself, released the albums in their original track listings. Bullseye also released a tribute album to Klaatu, Around the Universe In Eighty Minutes.
In 2005 Bullseye Records released a 2-CD collection entitled Sun Set
, which compiled a number of rarities, demos, rare early singles, and other odds and ends recorded during the group's career. Perhaps most interesting was the original version of Hope which had been delivered to Capitol Records, including the complete contributions made by the London Symphony Orchestra
, which had largely been removed from the version which was eventually released. The set also included a 40-page booklet including interviews with all of the former members of the band.
2005 also saw Raarities, also from Bullseye Records Of Canada. Oddly enough, this collection was originally only released in a vinyl LP format. A CD version titled Solology including the Raarities LP as well as concert recordings was released in March, 2009. Raarities probably appeals more to the group's hardcore fans since most of the material on the record consists of alternate mixes and single versions, as opposed to Sun Set, which focused on unreleased material and the alternate version of Hope.
Today Dee Long is a producer who has also written a drum loop program called the DeeSampler. He has released several solo albums and has recently begun performing live again. Terry Draper
worked in Toronto as a roofer for a number of years following Klaatu's breakup, and now manages a bar in Woodbridge, Ontario. He has also worked as a producer (often with Dee Long), and has also released two solo albums both featuring the ex-members of Klaatu, as well as a live album with a short-lived band called The Twilight Zone. Following Klaatu's breakup John Woloschuk recorded a now-rare children's album called Robotman, but soon afterwards retired from music altogether and is today a music industry accountant in Toronto. Though Woloschuk was the group's primary songwriter, he has sometimes been regarded by fans as something of an enigma and a recluse. However, interviews with Woloschuk have shown him to be quite affable and perfectly willing to discuss Klaatu, stating that the only reason he retired from music was because he felt he could be a good musician, or a good accountant, but not both at the same time. Woloschuk has said he gets together with friends occasionally to play for the fun of it, but that's the extent of his interest in playing music at this point.
On March 15 2011, Klaatu announced the creation of their new record label, Klaatunes Records. The band also created an official website to go along with the new label. The label's premier was a re-release of 2009's Solology. The band has so far remastered 3:47 EST
, and plans to remaster the rest of the band's catalogue over time.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group formed in 1973 by the duo of John Woloschuk and Dee Long. They named themselves after the extraterrestrial Klaatu
Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well...
portrayed by Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie
Michael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
in the film The Day the Earth Stood Still. After recording two non-charting singles, drummer Terry Draper
Terry Draper
Terry Draper is a Canadian musician who was the drummer and one of three songwriters for the 1970s rock band Klaatu.- Career :Before becoming a successful musician, Draper had a construction business with a speciality in roofing....
was added to the line-up; this trio would comprise Klaatu throughout the rest of the band's recording career.
In Canada, the band is remembered for several hits, including "California Jam" (1974), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft " is a song by Klaatu, originally released in 1976 on their first album 3:47 EST. The following year, The Carpenters covered the song, using a crew of 160 musicians...
" (1977) and "Knee Deep In Love" (1980). In the U.S. "Calling Occupants" b/w "Sub-Rosa Subway
Sub-Rosa Subway
Sub-Rosa Subway is a song written by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, from their album 3:47 EST, describing the efforts of Alfred Ely Beach to create the original New York Subway. His work is described as secretive...
" was a minor double-sided hit and their only chart entry, peaking at #62 in 1977.
The band is also remembered internationally for rumours that they were actually The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
recording under a pseudonym. Klaatu themselves did not start these rumours and always flatly denied them, and indeed no Beatle was ever involved in the writing, recording or production of any Klaatu material.
Early releases
The band, initially a studio-only duo of Woloschuk and Long, released the singles "Hanus Of Uranus/Sub-Rosa Subway" and "Dr. Marvello/For You Girl" on GRT Records in 1973, before being taken under the wing of Daffodil RecordsDaffodil Records
Daffodil Records is a record label started in the early 1970s by jazz musician Blossom Dearie after her disappointment in the lack of interest shown by existing labels in her particular style of jazz music....
and its president Frank Davies. Adding Terry Draper to the line-up, the singles "California Jam" and "True Life Hero" followed. These early singles credited Dee Long as a writer of several tunes; the others (including "Sub-Rosa Subway", "Dr.Marvello" and the hit single "California Jam") were credited to "Chip Dale", a collective pseudonym for Woloschuk and frequent co-writer Dino Tome. "California Jam" hit the Canadian Top 40, peaking at #36, and Klaatu, though they played no live dates, promoted their music by making a television appearance in Canada on the Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire is an English-born Canadian popular singer of the 1970s, famous in Canada for three top ten hits , and the successful television show Music Machine...
-hosted show Music Machine. By 1975 Davies, along with producer Terry Brown
Terry Brown (record producer)
Terry Brown is a record producer involved in a variety of work, but most noted for his involvement with the Canadian rock band Rush and the British/Canadian band Cutting Crew. Brown is currently working with emerging Ottawa roots-rockers Ken Workman & The Union. He is referred to fondly by the band...
, managed to land the band a deal with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in the United States.
The first three LPs
Their first album, 3:47 EST3:47 EST
The album ends with a mouse squeak.-Origin of the title:In the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien emissary Klaatu arrives in Washington, D.C. at 3:47 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time...
(named Klaatu in the US as Capitol Records' execs felt the original title was too obscure) was released in September 1976 in North America. The band elected to include no photos, no individual musician credits, and no biographical information in the album package; all songs were simply listed as being written and published by "Klaatu". (Note that this collective writing credit covered songs earlier credited solely to Long, or to the team of Woloschuk and Tome—even though Tome wasn't actually a member of Klaatu.) The album was met with moderately positive reviews, but found itself stalled, sales-wise, by Christmas of that year.
However, the album had a Beatlesque sound, particularly in the song "Sub-Rosa Subway
Sub-Rosa Subway
Sub-Rosa Subway is a song written by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, from their album 3:47 EST, describing the efforts of Alfred Ely Beach to create the original New York Subway. His work is described as secretive...
". This, coupled with the lack of biographical details offered up by Klaatu, helped inspire a rumour concocted by Providence Journal reviewer Steve Smith in February 1977 that the album might be an anonymous project by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
themselves. The rumour turned into a global phenomenon with Beatle fans being fed "clues" by radio stations and print media alike.
Subsequent to the Beatles rumours, the song "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (the Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft " is a song by Klaatu, originally released in 1976 on their first album 3:47 EST. The following year, The Carpenters covered the song, using a crew of 160 musicians...
" became a minor hit for Klaatu in 1977. The track was covered by The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
that same year, becoming a top 40 hit world wide.
While all this was happening, Klaatu was in England, recording their second album. They were somewhat aware of the situation with regards to the rumours, but didn't take them entirely seriously—possibly because the UK's New Musical Express famously published an article on the Beatles-as-Klaatu theory under the title "Deaf Idiot Journalist Starts Beatle Rumour". Capitol Records, meanwhile, tried to make as much capital out of the rumours as possible, by issuing ambiguously worded statements that failed to make the band's identity entirely clear.
The rumour was soon disproved when Dwight Douglas, program director at WWDC
WWDC (FM)
WWDC is a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C., broadcasting to the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Maryland area. WWDC airs an alternative rock format on 101.1 FM branded as DC101.-History:WWDC-FM signed on in 1947 as a beautiful music station...
in Washington, D.C., checked the records at the U.S. Copyright Office and uncovered the band members' real names.
The band's second album Hope, released in 1977, included orchestral contributions by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, and is considered by most fans to be equal, if not superior, to the first album. Sir Army Suit
Sir Army Suit
Sir Army Suit is the third and antepenultimate album recorded by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu. It was different from their two previous albums, 3:47 EST and Hope, adopting more of a pop feel...
, their third album, is notable for the track "Silly Boys
Silly Boys
"Silly Boys" is a song by the Canadian band Klaatu, which appeared on their third album, Sir Army Suit. "Silly Boys" was composed primarily of a backmasked version of Klaatu's early song, "Anus Of Uranus", as well as a brief backmasked fragment of the instrumental ending of "Little Neutrino".-The...
," which contains the entire lyrical portion of "Anus of Uranus" – a song from their first album – backwards-masked
Backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
interspersed between the "Silly Boys" lyrics. For both these releases, the band continued their policy of not including any individual names of band members in the credits, nor did they play any live shows or make any public appearances to promote these albums.
Animated film project
In 1977 Al Guest and Jean Mathieson of Rainbow Animation were commissioned by Capitol Records to create the first animated rock video of the Klaatu song "A Routine Day". They shot the band members but obscured their identities by rotoscoping them and turning them into drawings. This video ran on Don Kirshner's Rock ConcertDon Kirshner's Rock Concert
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert is a television music variety show that ran during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Don Kirshner and syndicated to television stations...
and subsequently played as a short in Los Angeles on the same bill as Animal House.
Following that, Guest and Mathieson got permission from Capitol Records to create a vehicle for Klaatu's songs. They wrote and directed a half-hour television special they titled Happy Hew Year Planet Earth, hoping that it would get yearly broadcasts as an alternative to Christmas specials. New Year's Eve was Mathieson's birthday. Again the group Klaatu was photographed and rotoscoped, with an astronaut wraparound created to connect the six Klaatu songs. Although the project was completed, Guest and Mathieson were burned by their Canadian film investment group and wound up financing it themselves. They never released it.
The only example of the project that has ever seen the light of day is the video for "A Routine Day", which was the original broadcast rock video. However, in 2005 the group permitted the film to be screened in its uncompleted state at the KlaatuKon convention in Toronto.
Later years
Upon the release of their fourth studio album Endangered SpeciesEndangered Species (Klaatu album)
Endangered Species is the fourth and penultimate album by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, released in mid-1980. At this time, the band had virtually no artistic control over the music; the album was a project of Capitol Records...
in 1980, the band for the first time included their individual names in the album package, making it clear that there was no musical connection to any former Beatle. As well, songs were now credited to their individual writers, rather than the "All songs written by Klaatu" credit of old. (Subsequent re-issues of earlier Klaatu material, as well as newly published Klaatu sheet music, also gave credit to the actual songwriters of each track, rather than a collective credit.)
Although forced by Capitol to record Endangered Species in Los Angeles using established studio musicians to shore up the group's commercial chances, the album was a critical and commercial flop. The album's poor showing resulted in Capitol Records dropping the group.
Now lacking a record label, Long and Draper temporarily formed a top 40 cover band, called FUNN, as a way to make ends meet. Eventually signed by Capitol's Canadian division, Klaatu released their final album, Magentalane
Magentalane
Magentalane was the fifth and final album of new material by the Canadian progressive rock group Klaatu.The album was not released in the United States, since Capitol Records had terminated Klaatu, following the commercial failure of Klaatu's previous album, Endangered Species...
, in Canada in 1981. This album saw the group returning to their brand of Beatles-influenced pop/rock.
As a contractual obligation to Capitol-EMI in Canada, the band were forced to play their first ever live dates and tour most of Canada to promote the Magentalane album. From November 1981, the group expanded to a sextet, using members of Max Webster
Max Webster
Max Webster was a Canadian rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s.-Career:The band was formed in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario and originally consisted of guitarist and vocalist Kim Mitchell, keyboardist Terry Watkinson, bassist Mike Tilka and drummer Paul Kersey. Mitchell and Pye Dubois would write the...
and Nightwind for live performances. However, in April 1982 Dee Long – never all that fond of performing live in the first place by most accounts – quit the group. Although Woloschuk and Draper carried on performing for a few more months, Klaatu officially disbanded in August of the same year.
Reunions
The trio very briefly reunited in 1988 at George MartinGeorge Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
's Air Studios in London to record a single, "Woman," though no one was particularly happy with the results since the song was written by someone outside of the band (Paul Vincent Gunia) for the German TV series Tatort
Tatort
Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss , crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF 2 in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland...
. The single was only released in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, and did not chart, making it an extremely rare item in the Klaatu catalogue, particularly since it was not included on the two later rarities collections.
The three former members of Klaatu reunited on May 7, 2005 for a brief – and mostly acoustic – performance at Toronto's KlaatuKon. The set list consisted of "At the End of the Rainbow," "I Don't Wanna Go Home," "Cherie," "Magentalane," "Little Neutrino," and "All Good Things."
A full-blown Klaatu reunion – apart from occasional fan club performances such as those in 2005 – is extremely unlikely at this point due to Woloschuk's work commitments. However, Woloschuk has also been quoted as regarding the idea of a Klaatu reunion with orchestral backing as "tantalizing."
Post-Klaatu
Klaatu's albums were released on CD format rather late, and up until the 2000s several companies including Capitol RecordsCapitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
released the albums, in some cases with incorrect track orders. Finally, Bullseye Records, with the help of the band itself, released the albums in their original track listings. Bullseye also released a tribute album to Klaatu, Around the Universe In Eighty Minutes.
In 2005 Bullseye Records released a 2-CD collection entitled Sun Set
Sun Set
Sun Set is a box set of various Klaatu rarities, outtakes, demos, live tracks and other recordings from 1973 to 1981. It was launched at the "KlaatuKon" 2005 convention in Toronto, Canada, receiving high praise from Klaatu fans around the world....
, which compiled a number of rarities, demos, rare early singles, and other odds and ends recorded during the group's career. Perhaps most interesting was the original version of Hope which had been delivered to Capitol Records, including the complete contributions made by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, which had largely been removed from the version which was eventually released. The set also included a 40-page booklet including interviews with all of the former members of the band.
2005 also saw Raarities, also from Bullseye Records Of Canada. Oddly enough, this collection was originally only released in a vinyl LP format. A CD version titled Solology including the Raarities LP as well as concert recordings was released in March, 2009. Raarities probably appeals more to the group's hardcore fans since most of the material on the record consists of alternate mixes and single versions, as opposed to Sun Set, which focused on unreleased material and the alternate version of Hope.
Today Dee Long is a producer who has also written a drum loop program called the DeeSampler. He has released several solo albums and has recently begun performing live again. Terry Draper
Terry Draper
Terry Draper is a Canadian musician who was the drummer and one of three songwriters for the 1970s rock band Klaatu.- Career :Before becoming a successful musician, Draper had a construction business with a speciality in roofing....
worked in Toronto as a roofer for a number of years following Klaatu's breakup, and now manages a bar in Woodbridge, Ontario. He has also worked as a producer (often with Dee Long), and has also released two solo albums both featuring the ex-members of Klaatu, as well as a live album with a short-lived band called The Twilight Zone. Following Klaatu's breakup John Woloschuk recorded a now-rare children's album called Robotman, but soon afterwards retired from music altogether and is today a music industry accountant in Toronto. Though Woloschuk was the group's primary songwriter, he has sometimes been regarded by fans as something of an enigma and a recluse. However, interviews with Woloschuk have shown him to be quite affable and perfectly willing to discuss Klaatu, stating that the only reason he retired from music was because he felt he could be a good musician, or a good accountant, but not both at the same time. Woloschuk has said he gets together with friends occasionally to play for the fun of it, but that's the extent of his interest in playing music at this point.
On March 15 2011, Klaatu announced the creation of their new record label, Klaatunes Records. The band also created an official website to go along with the new label. The label's premier was a re-release of 2009's Solology. The band has so far remastered 3:47 EST
3:47 EST
The album ends with a mouse squeak.-Origin of the title:In the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien emissary Klaatu arrives in Washington, D.C. at 3:47 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time...
, and plans to remaster the rest of the band's catalogue over time.
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... RPM TOP 100 |
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... RPM A/C CHARTS |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |
Album | ||
| 1973 | "Hanus Of Uranus" | Non album singles, later re-recorded for 3:47 EST |
|||
| 1973 | "Doctor Marvello" | ||||
| 1974 | "California Jam" | 36 | |||
| 1975 | "True Life Hero" | ||||
| 1976 | "Calling Occupants" | 45 | 62 | 3:47 EST 3:47 EST The album ends with a mouse squeak.-Origin of the title:In the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien emissary Klaatu arrives in Washington, D.C. at 3:47 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time... |
|
| 1976 | "Sub-Rosa Subway Sub-Rosa Subway Sub-Rosa Subway is a song written by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, from their album 3:47 EST, describing the efforts of Alfred Ely Beach to create the original New York Subway. His work is described as secretive... " |
62 | |||
| 1977 | "We're Off You Know" | Hope | |||
| 1978 | "Dear Christine" | 68 | Sir Army Suit Sir Army Suit Sir Army Suit is the third and antepenultimate album recorded by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu. It was different from their two previous albums, 3:47 EST and Hope, adopting more of a pop feel... |
||
| 1979 | "Juicy Lucy" | ||||
| 1979 | "A Routine Day" | 84 | |||
| 1980 | "Knee Deep In Love" | 52 | Endangered Species Endangered Species (Klaatu album) Endangered Species is the fourth and penultimate album by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, released in mid-1980. At this time, the band had virtually no artistic control over the music; the album was a project of Capitol Records... |
||
| 1980 | "I Can't Help It" | ||||
| 1981 | "The Love Of A Woman" | 45 | 27 | Magentalane Magentalane Magentalane was the fifth and final album of new material by the Canadian progressive rock group Klaatu.The album was not released in the United States, since Capitol Records had terminated Klaatu, following the commercial failure of Klaatu's previous album, Endangered Species... |
|
| 1981 | "December Dream" | ||||
| 1981 | "A Million Miles Away" | ||||
| 1988 | "Woman" | Non-album single | |||
Original studio albums
- 3:47 EST3:47 ESTThe album ends with a mouse squeak.-Origin of the title:In the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien emissary Klaatu arrives in Washington, D.C. at 3:47 in the afternoon Eastern Standard Time...
(1976) - Hope (1977)
- Sir Army SuitSir Army SuitSir Army Suit is the third and antepenultimate album recorded by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu. It was different from their two previous albums, 3:47 EST and Hope, adopting more of a pop feel...
(1978) - Endangered SpeciesEndangered Species (Klaatu album)Endangered Species is the fourth and penultimate album by the Canadian progressive rock band Klaatu, released in mid-1980. At this time, the band had virtually no artistic control over the music; the album was a project of Capitol Records...
(1980) - MagentalaneMagentalaneMagentalane was the fifth and final album of new material by the Canadian progressive rock group Klaatu.The album was not released in the United States, since Capitol Records had terminated Klaatu, following the commercial failure of Klaatu's previous album, Endangered Species...
(1981)
Compilations
- Klaatu SamplerKlaatu SamplerThis 12" white label promo record is an obscure "Greatest Hits" collection used to showcase Klaatu's "Softer" and "Harder" songs in advance of their one and only tour starting in November 1981.-Track listing:'...
(1981) - Klaasic KlaatuKlaasic KlaatuThis is the first of the three "Greatest Hits" Klaatu collection, coming out a year after their final studio album, Magentalane. It never came out on CD.The cover was designed by Dean Motter.-Track listing:...
(1982) - Peaks (1993)
- Sun SetSun SetSun Set is a box set of various Klaatu rarities, outtakes, demos, live tracks and other recordings from 1973 to 1981. It was launched at the "KlaatuKon" 2005 convention in Toronto, Canada, receiving high praise from Klaatu fans around the world....
(2005) - Raarities (2005)
- Solology (2009)
External links
- Official Klaatu Band Site
- Klaatu.com
- Official Klaatu Information Portal
- More information on the Beatles rumors
- Canoe/Jam!: Klaatu profile Report on Klaatu Kon: World Contact Day 2005.