3:47 EST, Hope, Endangered Species and Magentalane were painted by longtime friend of the band, graphic artist Ted Jones.
FAQ - version 1.3
Last updated March 2, 2009
Q1: Who were the members of Klaatu and where are they from?
Q2: When was Klaatu formed and when did they disband?
Q3:How many albums did Klaatu have?
Q4: I read about a box set coming out. Where can I get that?
Q5: Where did Klaatu get their name from?
Q6: Who designed their album covers?
Q8: Where can I see pictures of the band members?
Q10: Did Klaatu ever win any awards or other recognition?
Q11: Did Klaatu have any part in starting and/or spreading the Beatles rumours?
Q12: Isn't "Calling Occupants..." a Carpenters song?
Q13: There is morse-code in the song Sub Rosa Subway. Does it mean anything?
Q16: What was the last thing Klaatu ever released?
Q17: Are there any Klaatu soundfiles available online?
Q18: Where can I order Klaatu CDs/tapes from?
Q19: Are there any Klaatu videos available? How about recordings of live performances or demos?
Q20: Are the members of Klaatu still in the music business?
Q21: Are there any solo releases available by the band-members?
Q22: How can I get all the latest info on Klaatu?
Q23: I'd like to get in touch with other Klaatu fans. What should I do?
Q24: Was any Klaatu sheet music ever issued?
Q25: Are there any Klaatu midi files available?
A1: Klaatu's members were John Woloschuk, Dee Long and Terry Draper. They are all from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pictures of the band members can be found here.
The story of their identities and who they really are can be found here.
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A2: Klaatu was officially formed in 1973, and disbanded in 1982.
Click here for details.
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A3: Klaatu had five studio albums:
3:47 EST aka Klaatu (1976)
Hope (1977)
Sir Army Suit (1978)
Endangered Species (1980)
Magentalane (1981).
They also released two compilations:
Klaasic Klaatu (1982) (LP and cassette only)
Peaks (1993) (CD and cassette only)
They also have three rarities collections:
Sunset (2005) (CD only)
Raarities (2005) (LP only)
Solology (2009) (CD only - includes all the tracks from Raarities, plus additional tracks)
There is also a DVD with video of their 2005 reunion concert:
World Kontact Day (hopefully to be realeased in 2009)
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A4: The box set is called Sun Set and was released in May 2005. It contains rare released versions of songs (such as 7" single mixes), alternate unreleased mixes, and some demos and live tracks.
A full discography can be found here
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A5: Klaatu got their name from a character played by Michael Rennie in the 1951 sci-fi movie classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still".
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A6:
3:47 EST, Hope, Endangered Species and Magentalane were painted by longtime friend of the band, graphic artist Ted Jones.
Sir Army Suit was painted by Hugh Symes.
Klaasic Klaatu was painted by Dean Motter.
Peaks was painted by Terry Watkinson
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A7: As a rule, whoever wrote the song. Album track listings and lyrics can be found here
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A8: There are several picture galleries on the Klaatu website, with both promo and live shots. To see a listing of places to start looking at pictures, click here.
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A9: Yes, Klaatu toured Canada between Nov '81 and July '82.
Click here
for a review of one of their shows.
Click here
for an announcement and an itinerary from their fan club letter.
Click here
for information from their fan club letter.
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A10: Klaatu's first album, "3:47 EST" was nominated for a Juno Award in 1977 for Ted Jones' cover art.
Klaatu's second album, "Hope" won two major Canadian music awards, including a Juno which was presented to Terry Brown in March 1978.
Click here for details from their fan club letter.
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A11: No. Steve Smith, journalist, involuntarily started the rumour in an article, and Capitol Records cashed in on it. Frank Davies and the band denied the rumour several times, but weren't believed. When the truth was confirmed that they weren't connected to the Beatles in any way shape or form, the band was blamed for the rumours despite their prior denials of the rumours.
Click here for info from their fan club letter.
Click here for details of the Beatles rumour.
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A12: No. The Carpenter's version was just the first (and thus far most successful) cover of this classic Klaatu original.
Click here for more info.
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A13: The translation according to John Woloschuk can be found in the Spring 1982 issue of the band's original newsletter, the Morning Sun.
Click here to read the translation.
You can also check out an excellent examination of the morse code by clicking here.
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A14: Alfred Ely Beach was a 19th century visionary, whose work as the inventor and engineer of the world's first underground system has captured the attention of Klaatu. Alfred's great grandson was a well loved member of the Klaatu Mailing List, until his tragic death in the summer of 1997.
Read all about his subway on the Klaatu web page by clicking here
Here is probably the most authoritative look at Alfred Beach's subway, which disputes some of the long held beliefs about it.
Here are some other links for info on Alfred Beach:
http://www.nycsubway.org/early/beach.html
http://www.fdelaitre.com/Beach.htm
http://www.kingtisdell.org/beach.htm This site is about an institute named after Alfred Beach.
And check out the site for the Magazine founded by Alfred Beach which
is still in publication today, Scientific American.
http://www.sciam.com/
And here's their first issue.
http://www.history.rochester.edu/Scientific_American/vol1/vol1n001/n1.htm
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A15: Klaatu had virtually no artistic control over this album. It was more a project of Capitol Records. An outside producer was brought in, most of the instruments were played by Los Angeles based session musicians, and the band members were asked to add their voices and (usually) one lead instrument per song. The band was sent home before the album was even mixed.
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A16: Klaatu was asked to record a song, "Woman", for the German TV series "Tatort" in 1988.
Get the full story here.
A17: Yes. Sound clips from all 5 albums, plus solo material, are available by clicking here,
and clips of the extremely rare "Woman" and "For You Girl" singles.
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A18: You can buy the band's albums directly from the band at their website http://www.klaatutheband.com/cdstore/cdstore.php
Information on searching for Klaatu related items on the web can be found here.
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A19: Yes. There are live recordings on the Sunset boxed set released in 2005 along with live performances from 2005 on the 2009 CD Solology. A couple of videos can be found on the band's own website at http://www.klaatutheband.com/
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A20: John has worked as an entertainment accountant for a number of years.
Terry ran a roofing business for a while before working as a producer for other bands. He is now a solo recording artist for the Bullseye Records label.
Dee has worked as a computer programmer, an engineer, a producer as well as a guest musician on a number of recordings over the years. He says there's probably hundreds, maybe even thousands. Obviously with that many the details have gotten foggy over the years as to which ones exactly. He is now a solo recording artist for the Bullseye Records label, and has also recently joined the Blue Moon Group Music Advisory Board.
You can check out his home page at http://www.deelong.com
You can read about his forays into the world of the Blue Moon Group Music Advisory Board by clicking here.
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A21: Yes.
Terry has released a solo CD, Light Years Later, (with a promo EP as well), a children's cassette, and a fan club only live limited edition live CD with enhanced CD-ROM track, and an expanded version of the children's cassette on CD. He has also released some music originally recorded to accompany a toy product called The Furzall, as well as some tracks on the Bullseye Records 2000 Christmas Disc. His second solo album, Civil War, as well as another EP and a greatest highlights CD called Aria 52 are also now available..
Dee Long has released his first EP, Digital, as well a 2CD set called Been Here Before which consists of archival material not previously released from the 80s and 90s. He has also released a CD of all new recordings called Outside Of Time And Space and a DVD of beautifully animated videos for songs on that CD (animation entirely done by himself). He's also released another CD of solo material called Welcome To The Future.
You can check out their record label's site for more information. Bullseye Records can be reached here.
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A22: You can subscribe to the Klaatu News, an e-mail announcements list. This will have the latest on developments from Bullseye Records, updates on the Klaatu web page, announcements of upcoming interviews by Mark Hershberger, and news about fan club tribute releases and ongoing activities.
To subscribe, go to the klaatu.org web page and click on the link at the top of the page that says "mailing list" and follow the directions.
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A23: You can sign up to the Klaatu mailing list / dicussion forum for fans here .
This list sometimes generates around 30 -50 messages per day on average. Other times you may see the list stay quiet for weeks at a time. There are over 150 fans worldwide on this list at this time.
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A24: Yes. There was a book of sheet music for the entire first album. This book can be viewed here. Click on the song title for any song to see the actual sheet music for that song.
You can also find some superb charts and tab here: http://sites.google.com/site/waynusofuranus/chartsklaatu
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A25: Yes. There are a few. Click here to list the available files.
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