R.I.P. Soft Machine keyboardist Mike Ratledge, 1943-2025

Sadly, Soft Machine's founding keyboardist/composer Mike Ratledge has passed away at 81. He'll be greatly missed. 

That time Soft Machine performed live on French TV in 1967

Since it's Robert Wyatt's birthday today, here's some Softs footage with Kevin Ayers & Mike Ratledge from October 8, 1967.

Watch Soft Machine live in Belgium, 1971

Celebrating Mike Ratledge's 80th birthday with a Soft Machine 1971 show in Belgium following a vintage interview with Mike.

Before They Were Famous: Soft Machine

Here's some rare colour footage of Kevin Ayers jamming with Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge in 1967.  

Soft Machine captured live in France & Holland 1970 with Facelift package

Cuneiform's Facelift 2CD + DVD package reveals the quintet version of Soft Machine at their early peak. Check the trailer. 

Here's the scoop...

From their beginnings as a psychedelic rock band in 1966, sharing stages with Pink Floyd and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, to being one of the originators of electric jazz/rock by early 1969, Britain’s Soft Machine were restlessly creative. Facelift France and Holland captures them at a pivotal moment in the first quarter of 1970 as a short-lived quintet, just before they recorded and released their breakthrough album Third. 

As broadcast on the French TV programme Pop 2, the film of Soft Machine’s concert at Paris’ Théâtre de la Musique, which constitutes the main course of the present release, stands as an exceptional document of the band at, arguably, its artistic peak. 

It is the earliest footage of the band to be commercially released and also the only video footage known to exist of the quintet line-up that was active from January to March 1970. The broadcast contains the only professionally-recorded performance of “Out-Bloody- Rageous” with Lyn Dobson on second sax and it also is the only professionally-recorded alternative performance by the quintet of “Facelift” (the original appearing as the opening track on Third). 

Facelift France and Holland marks the first official release of the entire show in both audio and video format. Footage of the concert was previously released in 2008 on DVD, but we have gone through the original footage once again to improve video quality as well as remove or lessen soundtrack issues including fake applause and hard edits. 

In addition to the March, 1970 material presented here on CD and DVD in splendid stereo sound and looking better than it ever has before, Disc 3 presents a previously unreleased soundboard performance at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw from January 17, 1970. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

Soft Machine:

Elton Dean – Alto sax, saxello 

Lyn Dobson – Soprano and tenor sax, flute, harmonica, vocals 

Hugh Hopper – Bass 

Mike Ratledge – Hohner Pianet, Lowrey Holiday Deluxe organ 

Robert Wyatt – Drums, vocals 

CD One: Recorded at Théâtre de la Musique, Paris, France, March 2, 1970. Licensed from I.N.A. 

CD Two Recorded at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, January 17, 1970.

Check out the trailer and an audio clip of "Out-Bloody-Rageous" below. Get Soft Machine's Facelift: France & Holland via Bandcamp right here. 

 

Happy Birthday Roy Babbington!

Celebrating the birthday of bass boss Roy Babbington with a few performances with Soft Machine and one with Mike Cooper.   

Soft Machine on French TV in 1968