Unsung is a feature in which I take a look at a pop culture phenomenon (be it music, TV, literary, whatever) that has been forgotten or underappreciated. In this installment, I look at the brief career of Klaatu, a mysterious Canadian prog-rock act that for a brief while had people thinking they were the reunited Beatles.
When the Beatles broke up in 1970, all four members immediately began releasing solo albums, but there was still a void left behind by the group's absence. Fans and promoters hoped in vain for a Beatles reunion, but it never happened; a promoter even offered the group $50 million to reunite for one show in 1974.
Even as music fans in the '70s moved on to other artists like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Who, you could still hear the Beatles' influence in bands like ELO and Badfinger (and obviously in the solo work of the Beatles themselves). Despite all that, when a Beatles-esque band called Klaatu emerged with their debut album in 1976, there were more than a few people willing to believe the record was actually the work of the reunited Beatles.
Of course, it wasn't. Klaatu was formed in Toronto in 1973 as a studio-only duo by John Woloschuk (vocals, bass, keyboards) and Dee Long (vocals, guitars, keyboards). They were later joined by drummer Terry Draper. The name was inspired by an alien in the sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. They released the singles "Anus of Uranus/Sub Rosa Speedway" and "Dr. Marvello/For You Girl" before being signed to Daffodil Records. They had a hit in Canada in 1974 with "California Jam," which hit #36 on the Canadian singles chart. The band didn't tour, but they did appear on a Canadian TV show called Music Machine to play "California Jam."
In 1975, Klaatu signed a deal with Capitol Records in the U.S. and began working on their debut album with producer Terry Brown, who was known for his work with Rush. The album was released in September 1976, called 3:47 EST in Canada and simply Klaatu in the U.S. The band opted to include no credits or identifying information on the band members in the liner notes, which created a mystique around them.
Musically, there was definitely a heavy late-era Beatles sound going on, but other influences include prog rock, hard rock and '70s AM pop. Woloschuk sang with an English accent and definitely sounded like McCartney on some songs. But there was also really out-there prog stuff, including the use of vocoders and echoes of bands like King Crimson and Pink Floyd.
The trippy single "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" tapped into the '70s obsession with UFOs and caught some minor buzz, hitting #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 (the album version was over 7 minutes long while the single was about half that). A year later, the Carpenters covered the song and had a top 40 hit with it (#32) in the U.S.; the song led to a TV special called The Carpenters...Space Encounters.
But sales for Klaatu's album had fizzled when in 1977, a writer named Steve Smith published a column in the Providence Journal wondering if 3:47 EST was actually the work of the Beatles. He pointed to the fact that the album was released on the Beatles' label, Capitol, and that the band kept its members' identities secret and didn't tour, and that, well, they sure sounded like the Beatles.
This led to some minor buzz, most of which the band missed because they were in the U.K. working on their next album. Although they did see this excellent headline in the New Musical Express: "Deaf Idiot Journalist Starts Beatles Rumor." Klaatu and Capitol did nothing to discourage the rumors because, well, any publicity is good publicity. The rumors died down after a radio station program director in Washington, DC, went to the U.S. Copyright Office and found the band members' real names.
The second Klaatu album was 1977's Hope, a sci-fi prog opera about visiting a distant planet. It featured contributions from the London Symphony Orchestra. It didn't fare as well as its predecessor, only reaching #83 on the Billboard 200 album chart. There was no mention of the band members listed on the album and no tour followed its release.
For the band's third album, 1978's Sir Army Suit, Capitol and the band (who included their names in the credits) did a lot of promotion, but it didn't pay off. After the Beatles rumor was dispelled, fans lost interest in Klaatu. The album was a lot poppier than the two previous records, with some hints of disco and metal included. It didn't chart. The fourth album, Endangered Species, came out in 1980 and charted in Canada (#55), but Capitol in the U.S. dropped the band after it failed to do anything Stateside.
Klaatu released one more album, 1981's Magentalane, which only came out in Canada and Mexico. It was a return to the band's more psychedelic sound. The band was contractually obligated to do a Canadian tour in November and added Gary McCracken of Max Webster on drums, Mike Gingrich on bass and Gerald O'Brien on keyboards. Long, who was not a fan of touring, quit the band in April 1982. O'Brien left and was replaced by Terry Watkinson (also formerly of Max Webster) and Marty Morin replaced McCracken for the rest of the tour. The band split up in August 1982.
The original members of Klaatu reunited in 1988 at George Martin's AIR Studios in London to record a single, which was released in West Germany and did not chart; the band didn't like the finished product. A second reunion took place in 2005 when the band played a short, mostly acoustic set at the KlaatuKon fan convention in Toronto.
Although they haven't played live since, the three band members have worked together on remastered album releases and rarities collections.
Growing up in Toronto in the '70s, I had heard of Klaatu and probably heard a few songs on the radio, but nothing really stuck with me. But I visited my daughter there this week and having stumbled up on something about the band while reading an article online, I picked up a used vinyl copy of Hope and started listening to 3:45 EST on YouTube. Really enjoyable stuff. You can tell they're big Beatles fans, but there's a lot of other stuff going on, too. Worth checking out if you like slightly proggy pop-rock.
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