Klaatu Forum

Klaatu

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were off you know

>>By silly boys (Sunday, 16 Feb 2003 07:04)

Klaatu were an astounding, dazzling pop-rock group made up of several Canadian session-musicians around 1973.
Bit by bit, over the following four years, they recorded an album's worth of jaw-droppingly amazing music.
When it was issued in 1976, it sounded so much like The Beatles (Klaatu managed to eerily recreate the Fabs' 1967 era sound brilliantly) that it sold in the thousands - people really believed it was The Beatles, masquerading under another name.
Once the truth got out, Klaatu had released a second album, 'Hope' (1977).
this was an altogether more prog-rock type of affair, but still contained several wonderfully melodic, Beatly songs with complex but tuneful orchestral arrangements of staggering scope and vision.
The third album was titled 'Sir Army Suit' and came out in 1978: it
returned to thier former poppy style, and has gems that are clearly influenced by Simon & Garfunkel, as well as The Beatles, Beach Boys and other fine 60's reference-points.
There were two other albums before they finally split-up in the early 1980's.
CD's of any of these albums are hard to find.
If you are at all curious after reading this and happen to spot any of the albums I've mentioned - don't hesitate! BUY IT.

>>By nurturepoo (Sunday, 23 Mar 2003 21:00)

i'm 40.5 yrs old, bought my 1st lp in 3rd grade.."Let it Be", we discovered klaatu in the summer of the 8th grade, same time we started smoking pot(actually just quit 3 weeks ago after 27ish years) and i'm a Pharm.D. (doc of pharmacy)...we loved to sit around and try to figure out if it really WAS the Beatles...my fav is Hope...esp politzania.lighthousekeeper..thanks(a led head 1st though...Jimmy Page live is the best...when he wasn't whacked out on something!!!)

>>By john slaughter(slobber) (Tuesday, 22 Apr 2003 04:39)

Hello,
If you love Klaatu (like I do) then check out www.deelong.com it is the website of one of their songwriters as well as their principal guitar player. He`s a first rate party and a real fine time. You can also contact him from there.

>>By Gort (Sunday, 27 Apr 2003 19:58)

I just discovered Klaatu a couple days ago, some one gave me a record. It was their first one, and I purchased Hope the next day. These two albums are now one of my top ten favorites along with Machiavel's "Jester", and Happy The Man's "Crafty Hands." Great stuff, how come they're so obscure? I don't think calling them Beatle clones do them justice. They did a lot of innovative and original stuff and had their own sound. Like ELO Beatlesque but not remotely like the Beatles.

>>By Matt (Monday, 12 May 2003 00:11)

greetings, heard klaatu for the 1st time in 1976 on a progam called "beaker street" on a late night AM radio station. I've been a fan ever since.

>>By whislten' britches (Sunday, 22 Jun 2003 10:32)

At the time I was a new daddy to my daughter Melissa and I was trying to be everything thast a father should be and, that included picking my daughter up at the babysitter on time every day and I wasn't taking any drugs.
I made it a habit to play calling occupants every night as I was coming home from work at my job here in Allentown, pa when one night, the road was jammed with cars. I waited for the traffic jam to unjam when I noticed unidentified flying objects 2 of them in the sky directly above me. They looked as if they were big enough to house an entire city of space aliens within their cylindrical walls. I kept looking at them when they circled back in the direction they were coming from , banked up into the clouds became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared.
I just wanted to say that the song, calling occupants, really had an impact in my life at that particular time.

>>By Lenny (Friday, 27 Jun 2003 19:06)

Nice to see so many folks have now discovered KLAATU - I've been listening to them for thirty years now, and STILL love the HOPE album........

>>By sherbourne (Saturday, 28 Jun 2003 17:26)

Hi, just thought it's about time to follow up another entry here, last year there was the release of the SUN SET recordings, really great, worthwhile for me to wait for about six weeks to get it delivered in my mailbox, I am in Holland you know and had to get it ordered by import from USA, well for me it was the first time in over 20 years to hear new Klaatu songs, I mean alternative versions, outtakes, a live recording, the complete HOPE session, and even one new song that was left over. It is like the vintage Klaatu you remember the first time you listened to their debut album. On the Klaatu website there is mentioned another Raarities album to be released as a vinyl album with other material as a follow up to the SUN SET recordings with also another new song on that one as well. There's the real Klaatu artcraft design by Ted Jones too, another fine masterpiece as SUN SET is.

>>By pavel (Monday, 30 Jan 2006 22:57)

Their original version of "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" has female lead vocals just like the far better known cover. It lasts seven & a quarter minutes though.

>>By nonyeb (Wednesday, 25 Feb 2009 08:31)

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