Doc at the Radar Station
Doc at the Radar Station | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 1980 | |||
Recorded | June 1980 | |||
Studio | Sound Castle Recording Studios, Los Angeles | |||
Length | 38:52 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | Don Van Vliet | |||
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[8] |
Doc at the Radar Station is the eleventh
Packaging
The album cover was painted by Don Van Vliet. It was placed at number forty-nine on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Album Covers.[citation needed]
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".[10] 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.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Don Van Vliet
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Hot Head" | 3:23 |
2. | "Ashtray Heart" | 3:25 |
3. | "A Carrot Is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond" | 1:38 |
4. | "Run Paint Run Run" | 3:40 |
5. | "Sue Egypt" | 2:57 |
6. | "Brickbats" | 2:40 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Dirty Blue Gene" | 3:51 |
2. | "Best Batch Yet" | 5:02 |
3. | "Telephone" | 1:31 |
4. | "Flavor Bud Living" | 1:00 |
5. | "Sheriff of Hong Kong" | 6:34 |
6. | "Making Love to a Vampire with a Monkey on My Knee" | 3:11 |
Personnel
- Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – vocals, Chinese gongs, harmonica, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
- drums (on "Ashtray Heart" and "Sheriff of Hong Kong"), marimba(on "Making Love To A Vampire With A Monkey On My Knee"), vocals on "Dirty Blue Gene" and "Run Paint Run Run"
- Jeff Moris Tepper– slide guitar, guitar, nerve guitar, background vocals on "Run Paint Run Run"
- grand piano, electric piano, background vocals on "Run Paint Run Run"
- Robert Arthur Williams – drums, background vocals on "Run Paint Run Run"
- Additional personnel
- Gary Lucas – guitar (on "Flavor Bud Living"), French horn (on "Best Batch Yet")
- Bruce Lambourne Fowler – trombone (on "Run Paint Run Run")
Notes
- ^ Huey, S. "Doc at the Radar Station - Captain Beefheart | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
- ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ISBN 978-0857125958.
- ^ Carman. "The Captain Beefheart Radar Station - Doc At The Radar Station". beefheart.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-86241-827-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
- ISBN 0-679-73729-4
- ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ Tom Hull. "Grade List: captain beefheart". Tom Hull - on the web. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ Barnes, Mike. Captain Beefheart: The Biography. London: Quartet Books, 2000.