Space Pirate Radio was definitely the place to hear long and unusual sounds. Full sides of Tangerine Dream's
Atem or Klaus Schulze's
Body Love or
Moondawn were regularly heard in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning. But when I wasn't playing Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul 1 & 2, Can or Brainticket, I was airing a mix of pretty outstanding rock tunes, ballads and ditties through the show.
Now what this leads to, is the fact that some really excellent music, first heard on SPACE PIRATE RADIO, would wind up on my non freeform, other nightly KTYD shows. For a long time, I did two regular Midnight to 6 A.M. shows Friday and Saturday nights, before Sunday's SPACE PIRATE RADIO ritual. Something eccentric but accessible would premiere on Sunday, then wind up in the regular mix the following weekend. This could include Kevin Ayers, Kate Bush, Robert Wyatt, Esperanto, Alquin, Golden Earring, Focus, Solution, Tasavallan Presidentti, Roxy Music, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanara, Gong, National Health, Hatfield and the North, Terje Rypdal, Passport, Jan Akkerman, Grimms, Bonzo Dog Band, Gruppo Sportivo, Man, Deke Leonard, Help Yourself, early Scorpions, Embryo, Vangelis, Aphrodite's Child, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White, Rick Wakeman, Jean Yves Labat, Patrick Moraz, Bill Bruford, Pierre Moerlen, Sadistic Mika Band, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yukihiro Takahashi, Kazuhiko Kato(h), Carmen, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Steve Hillage........even Amon Duul 2 and Kraftwerk.
In later years, one would add The Police, Ultravox, Klaus Nomi, Human League, Re-Flex, Blancmange, Telex, Siouxsie and the Banshees, XTC, Toyah, Nash the Slash, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, Monsoon, Sheila Chandra, Thompson Twins, Babble and The Art of Noise. Often, who produced or played on a new album meant give this a listen. I wouldn't have discovered The Police if they hadn't worked with German avant garde artist Eberhard Schoener. Or Siouxsie and the Banshees if they hadn't been produced by Steve Lilywhite. I told the Score Brothers in A Flock of Seagulls that I picked up their first work simply because Bill Nelson had been involved.
I still giggle when it is pointed out that the Average White Band were first played on SPACE PIRATE RADIO because they were Scottish (it was an import show). Of course, they might be followed by Flying Lizards or White Noise. :)
One area of music that got a lot of attention from myself was British folk rock. A large part of the non-SPACE PIRATE RADIO weekend and weekday shows included artists like Jethro Tull, Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Gryphon, The Bothy Band, Planxty, The Incredible String Band, Pentangle, Third Ear Band, Strawbs, Gay and Terry Woods, Maddy Prior, Fotheringay, John Renbourn, Renaissance. And Gentle Giant. There was a lot of crossover here. Mix and Match. The Art of the Segue.
For a time, on the Saturday night/Sunday morning shows, when the sun was coming up and the dawning reality was making itself apparent on my Nocturnal Transmissions, I would chill out the final 5 A.M. to 6 A.M. hour with a Really Oldies selection of the above mentioned Brit Folk Rock artists. I called the hour HERMITS & VIRGINS and somewhere next to Robin Williamson would be Cat Stevens or Ian Anderson.
Troubs adored, indeed. Time of the Season, luvvies! I have Sun in Virgo. And maybe a Daughter in Dublin.
