hypersongs

Klaatu

A Toronto trio of John Woloschuk, Dee Long and Terry Draper, named for the alien in The Day the Earth Stood Still, whose anonymous 1976 debut 3:47 EST set off a rumor that it was the Beatles in secret.

Toronto and Daffodil

Klaatu formed in Toronto in 1973 around John Woloschuk and Dee Long, who took the name from the alien ambassador in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. The drummer Terry Draper joined soon after, and the three were the line-up for the whole recording career. Dino Tome co-wrote early songs under the pseudonym Chip Dale and was not a member. In 1973 the studio-only duo released two singles on GRT, "Anus of Uranus" / "Sub-Rosa Subway" and "Dr. Marvello" / "For You Girl", before signing to Daffodil Records under its president Frank Davies. "California Jam" reached number 36 on the Canadian chart in 1974, and in 1975 Davies and the producer Terry Brown arranged a United States deal with Capitol.

The debut, 3:47 EST, came out on August 11, 1976 (Wikipedia's band article says September for North America) and was retitled Klaatu in the US. Hope followed in 1977 with the London Symphony Orchestra, then Sir Army Suit (1978), Endangered Species (1980), made in Los Angeles with session players at Capitol's insistence after which Capitol dropped them, and Magentalane (1981, EMI Canada).

The Beatles rumor and after

The sleeve of the debut gave no photographs, musician credits or biographies. In 1977 Steve Smith of the Providence Journal floated the idea that it was a secret Beatles reunion; the evidence cited was the Capitol release, the missing credits and the absence of live shows. Dwight Douglas of WWDC in Washington found the real names in US Copyright Office records, and NME ran a headline about a deaf idiot journalist starting the rumor. Woloschuk told the Globe and Mail in 2005 that the anonymity backfired and that the band was the Ford Pinto of the music business. The Carpenters covered "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" on Passage, released as a single on September 20, 1977, reaching number 32 in the US and number 9 in the UK.

They did not play live until 1981, when a contract for Magentalane demanded touring, with Gary McCracken, Mike Gingrich and Gerald O'Brien as a touring sextet. Dee Long quit in April 1982, and the band ended later that year. In 1988 the trio with John Jones recorded the single "Woman" at George Martin's AIR Studios, released only in West Germany, and on May 7, 2005 they played KlaatuKon in Toronto. The 2005 Sun Set set of rarities included the original Hope mix with the full London Symphony Orchestra parts, and in 2011 they launched their own label, Klaatunes, for remasters. Terry Draper died on May 15, 2025, aged 73. Setlist.fm lists 25 setlists and 134 performances; "Calling Occupants" and "Juicy Luicy" were played 12 times each.

Albums

  • 3:47 EST 1976 · Daffodil

    Their anonymous debut, named after the time the alien arrives in the film, with eight tracks and no credits on the sleeve.

Songs

  • Sub-Rosa Subway 3:47 EST · 1976

    Track four of 3:47 EST, a song about Alfred Ely Beach's secret pneumatic subway under Broadway.

Sources

  1. Klaatu (band), Wikipedia
  2. 3:47 EST, Wikipedia
  3. Still waiting for aliens to call, The Globe and Mail (2005)
  4. Carpenters meet prog, uDiscover Music