Just how popular were the Beatles? So popular that people would
\nbelieve that they were working incognito with – or, maybe,
\nwere<\/i> – a group shrouded in mystery, perhaps?<\/p>\n
Back in 1976, a group known as Klaatu released their self-titled
\ndebut album on an unsuspecting public. But enough people heard
\nsimilarities to the music from Klaatu – who were never identified
\non the record jacket, and their label claimed they didn’t know who
\nwas actually in the band – and the
\nMagical Mystery Tour<\/i>-era work of the Fab Four that the
\nbelief was tendered that Klaatu was either being assisted by
\nmembers of the Beatles, or even was the Beatles in some shape or
\nform.<\/p>\n
The kicker to this story, as reader Eric Ness (who suggested
\nthis review) correctly reminded me of, is that Capitol Records –
\nironically, the same label of the Beatles – never denied the rumor.
\n(They never confirmed it, either.) This only served to add fuel to
\nthe fire, and helped propel into the stratosphere a group that
\notherwise we would never have heard of.<\/p>\n
In the end, of course, the truth came out that Klaatu was only a
\ngroup of studio musicians from Canada – and the backlash against
\nthem killed their future sales. They went on to record a total of
\nfive albums (including one available only in Canada), and have only
\nstayed in the limelight thanks to stories about them in rock
\nencyclopedias and soundtracks like that for
\nDue South<\/i> that used some of their music.<\/p>\n
Sure, I could go into a review about how dated portions of this
\nalbum have become over the course of 24 years, or I could rip
\ncertain aspects of it to shreds. Nah, that’s too easy. Or I could
\ngo on and on about some of the wonderful conversations I’ve had
\nregarding Klaatu and some of the people who remember them fondly.
\nInstead, let’s look at the Beatles rumor and see how
\nKlaatu<\/i> could have swung the vote either way.<\/p>\n
The strongest argument for the Beatles rumor is on the song
\n“Sub-Rosa Subway,” which not only sounds like it has a Paul
\nMcCartney bass line, but the vocal bears an uncanny similarity to
\nMcCartney. Had I been caught up in this frenzy in 1976-1977 (and
\nhad I not been six years old at the time), I would have said it was
\nquite possible that McCartney was doing an uncredited appearance.
\nAfter all, it was not unusual for McCartney to work with similar
\ngroups such as Badfinger, and it was not implausible to believe
\nthat he could have “gifted” Klaatu with an uncredited appearance.
\nThe track itself is quite good, even if you don’t buy into the
\nMcCartney theory.<\/p>\n
And I’ll admit there are some sections on
\nKlaatu<\/i> that remind me of songs like “Strawberry Fields
\nForever”; just listen to the opening keyboard work on “Calling
\nOccupants” – a track better known as “Calling Occupants From
\nInterplanetary Craft”. (Just think, all these years I’ve been
\nblaming The Carpenters for this song.) But it’s here – ironically,
\non the opening track – where the “Klaatu Is The Beatles” belief can
\neasily be broken down.<\/p>\n
For starters, if the vocal is supposed to be like John Lennon,
\nit would sure help to have a Liverpool accent – hell, it’d help to
\nhave
\nany<\/i> accent. Second, while the Fab Four did do some cosmic
\nstuff in their past, I don’t think they’d have stooped to doing
\nsongs about contact with aliens. (Then again, how else do you
\nexplain “Revolution #9”?)<\/p>\n
The Klaatu\/Beatles correlation breaks down further on the
\nridiculous songs like “Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III” (hey, anyone
\nwant to start a rumor that this one was actually assisted by Keith
\nMoon?) and “Anus Of Uranus” – what the hell was
\nthat<\/i> all about? Sure, the Beatles had a few moments of
\nlevity in their music, especially around the “White Album” period
\n(or almost any song vocalized by Ringo Starr), but they seemed to
\ntake their music more seriously than to do numbers like these.
\nWhat’s even more embarrassing is that you might find yourself
\nsinging the chorus of this one at the most inopportune time. It’s
\nstupid, but catchy – and that is the most dangerous of musical
\nweapons.<\/p>\n
What saves
\nKlaatu<\/i> from total obscurity in my mind is that there are
\nsome songs on this album that are quite good. The two that pop
\nimmediately to mind are “California Jam” and “True Life Hero,” two
\nsongs where it sounds like the band is fighting to establish their
\nown identity. And while I can appreciate the attempt to be “cutting
\nedge” on the closing track “Little Neutrino,” I thought they took
\nthe synthesized vocals a little too far, and they could have
\nchopped about a minute or so off the ending, which tends to drag a
\nbit. Otherwise… not bad.<\/p>\n
As for the secrecy the band members kept – well, you know the
\nold saying, “Any kind of publicity, even bad, is good publicity.”
\nSome bands have made a career out of keeping their true identities
\nhidden – how else would one explain the cult status of The
\nResidents? So, unlike the record-buying public who lashed out
\nagainst Klaatu once they found out the band wasn’t the Beatles, I
\ndon’t hold that against them at all.<\/p>\n
\nKlaatu<\/i> is presently out-of-print, but is kind of intriguing
\nto listen to. However, I found when I listened to it to hear where
\nthe tie with the Beatles came in, I could barely get through the
\nalbum. Once I listened to it on its own merits, I found more to
\nlike about the album – enough to make me want to check out the
\nother titles in their discography.
\nKlaatu<\/i> is by no means essential to own, but is interesting
\nfor a diversion you might not otherwise have taken musically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6224],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-36426","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-klaatu","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36426"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36426"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}