Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre. Soft Machine (billed as The Soft Machine up to 1969) were formed in mid-1966 by Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals), Daevid Allen (guitar) and Mike Ratledge (organ) plus, for the first few gigs only, American guitarist Larry Nowlin. Allen, Wyatt and future bassist Hugh Hopper had first played together in the Daevid Allen Trio in 1963, occasionally accompanied by Ratledge. Wyatt, Ayers and Hopper had been founding members of the Wilde Flowers, later incarnations of which would include future members of another Canterbury band, Caravan. This BBC Radio first volume contains all the sessions recorded for John Peel's 'Top Gear' programme. This features several previously unreleased recordings, including the 1967 session with Kevin Ayers on bass, guitar and vocals. The running order is mostly chronological, but has been tinkered with by Robert Wyatt, "for reasons of aural satisfaction".
Disc 1
01 - Clarence In Wonderland 02 - We Know What You Mean 03 - Certain Kind 04 - Hope For Happiness 05 - Strangest Scene (AKA Lullaby Letter) 06 - Facelift , Mousetrap , Noisette , Backwards , Mousetrap Reprise 07 - The Moon In June 08 - Instant Pussy 09 - Slightly All The Time , Out Bloody Rageous , Eamonn Andrews
Disc 2
01 - Virtually 02 - Fletcher's Blemish 03 - Neo-Caliban Grides 04 - Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening 05 - Eamonn Andrews,All White 06 - Mousetrap-Noisette-Backwards-Mousetrap Reprise-Esther's Nose Job
