“Deaf Idiot Journalist Starts Beatle Rumour”: Were Klaatu really The Beatles?

Were the ostensibily Canadian prog-rock outfit Klaatu actually The Fab Four in disguise? There’s a kind of hermetic hush all of over the world tonight, as Beatles fans steel themselves for this (very) late-breaking news. (Drumroll, please….)

In a word, no.

But, there’s plenty for those fans to love (or, at least, solidly like) about Klaatu’s debut, especially those particular tracks that bear resemblance to McCartney’s influence (and nimble bass).

Really though, at their best, Klaatu were more like a pop-styled group like Badfinger with front-and-center progressive tendencies (quick tempo and phase shifts, production trickery and envelope-pushing adventurousness) and narrative-based songwriting (story-songs, fuzzy preoccupation with time- and space travel).

Have a listen for yourself; I’d love to discuss this with you, Dear Reader. Take a look at the band’s homepage and some of the conspiracy theorists out there. Oh, and there’s this: the band was named after the extraterrestrial Klaatu starring Michael Rennie in the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Klaatu Barada Nikto, lovers of TDTESS and Evil Dead!

Recommended tracks:

• Calling all Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (J. St. O: Oddly, covered by The Carpenters. Dated, but interesting. Reminds me of  Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.)
• Sub Rosa Subway*
• Doctor Marvello
• Little Neutrino (J.St.O: probably the best use of Talk Box at this point in the ’70s, predating Peter Fucking Frampton’s use in a studio setting at I’m aware of. Wanker.)