Doc at the Radar Station
Doc at the Radar Station is the eleventh studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in August 1980 by Virgin Records.
Background
Although about half of the album's songs are based on old musical ideas. Captain Beefheart biographer 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". "A Carrot is as Close as a Rabbit Gets to a Diamond", "Flavor Bud Living" and "Brickbats" were originally recorded for the unreleased album Bat Chain Puller.Original Magic Band drummer John French rejoined Beefheart for this album. He played guitar on all songs, plus bass guitar, drums, and marimba. He also sings the second vocal on "Dirty Blue Gene".
The album cover was painted by Captain Beefheart. It was placed at number forty-nine on Rolling Stone
Reissues
In 2011, 4 Men with Beards released a 180-gram version of the album, distributed by City Hall Records.Personnel
- Captain Beefheart – vocals, Chinese gongs, harmonica, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet
- John French – slide guitar, guitar, bass guitar, drums, marimba, 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"
- Eric Drew Feldman – synthesizer, bass guitar, Mellotron, grand piano, electric piano, background vocals on "Run Paint Run Run"
- Robert Arthur Williams – drums, background vocals on "Run Paint Run Run"
- Gary Lucas – guitar, French horn
- Bruce Fowler – trombone