There’s so many things to feel and see while you’re awake…

Don Van Vliet / Captain BeefheartCombining elements of free jazz, blues and rock, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band produced what is commonly regarded by critics and fans as one of rock’s few truly original bodies of work.

Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) retired from the music industry after 1982’s Ice Cream For Crow album to concentrate on his primary love – paint.

The Radar Station is a purely fan-run site which aims to document every twist and turn in the tale of this unique individual.

Header photograph copyright Anton Corbijn, used with kind permission.

Don Van Vliet: 1941-2010 – tributes and fond farewells

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On Friday 29th August 2025 Robyn Hitchcock performed the Safe As Milk album live at The Chapel, San Francisco. A second set Deep Cuts & Classic Tracks  included a selection of other Beefheart songs from the later albums. The musical director for the show was Allyson Baker from the San Francisco rock band Dirty Ghosts. She and her husband played a couple of Beefheart songs with Robyn Hitchcock at The Chapel in May 2025 – Electricity and Zig Zag Wanderer – and enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted to do it again. By coincidence the promoter of the show that night had anRead More →

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This is the back story behind the previously unknown song “White Powdered Wigs”, originally co-written in 1968 by Don Van Vliet and Peter Anders, who was then part of the duo Anders and Poncia. Don had mentioned back in early 1968 (Melody Maker 3 Feb 1968 – Those Beefheart Blues … by Tony Wilson) that he had written a song with Peter, saying in an interview, “I wrote a song with Pete Anders. I also wrote another one called ‘Fifth Dimensional Judy’. We physically love England” but no details or confirmation had ever emerged about the track until now. He had also mentioned in laterRead More →

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Back in 2015 Robyn Hitchcock performed the whole of the Clear Spot album live at various UK venues – read about that here. On Friday 29th August 2025 he will be performing the Safe As Milk album live at The Chapel, San Francisco. A second set will include a number of other Beefheart songs from the later albums. At the moment this appears to be the only performance before Robyn heads off to perform Dylan’s John Wesley Harding album at several US venues. Along with Robyn will be some ‘special guests’ (although others, currently unknown,  are promised): Chuck Prophet Kelley Stoltz Blag Dahlia (The Dwarves)Read More →