Space Pirate Radio

Hi Caliman1964!

Thanks for the effort of starting a nice looking web page and listing the artists disclosed so far. If I can assist you in this effort I will.

The "notify" setting on this forum brought me back, I've been absent for a while. I keep up with things in disparate time slices these days, but things are improving. And rumors there are of a legend once thought to be forgotten but now appearing at the fringes of attention in the new media; as if the Black Pearl drifted through a foggy interlude in a modern-day shipping lane.  It’s good to know he is alive and well and has lost none of his potency. Who knows, perhaps the archive effort may one day get a big boost if enough groundwork is prepared ahead of time. And imagine where things could go from there: weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! Music is still being made my friend, and I myself am out of the loop more than I care to be.
I agree with you about the SPR material going beyond what is generally labeled as Progressive. This music style name thing does bring people together online since we can search for the text, but I tend to forget about the labels once a connection is made. To me, that seems to be in true SPR spirit. And to Google a melody as dmastous suggested: I like the idea for different reasons, but it certainly would help if a way existed. Food for thought.

By the way, I like your avatar.

After starting this thread and seeing no reply after a month or so, I gave up on Prog Rock Archives until a few months ago.  On a lark, and another Google search on "Space Pirate Radio", I realized there was actually some serious and fantastic response in the past couple years.

Reading many of these posts gives me a sense that so much could have been, but was for only a while. Yes, the show was one of a kind, a work of "art" in and of itself. The songs are fantastic in their own right, but when added to the SPR mix they seemed to become more than the sum of their parts. My conversations with Guy always left me wish he could see the value of the internet as a medium for his show. No longer would he be gagged by profit hungry program directors and station owners. He could do what he wanted for as long as he wanted. I offered to host such a website, and he expressed interest via email, but nothing came of it. He seems to have a fear about the internet. Not of it, but of participating in it. So my SPR page has been nothing but a single page space for something to come.

I disagree with the notion that these shows should not be passed around for all to hear. I'd like to see something along the lines of the Tangerine Tree develop as a network. At the very least I would hope to see some sort of list of playlists available so I and others can make some attempt to recreate the mood and feeling of the shows.  I would dispense with the comedy bits, but that’s just my own taste. I do see strong Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan influence there. I’m sure Guy listened to a lot of the Goon shows back in the day, and it shaped his comedy tremendously. It’s a compliment that you can see the shadows of the Goons in his bits. But they are not up to Goon Show standards by a long way.

For my part, I've already said I would host a list of playlists on my SPR page. I would love to be a curator of shows, and show playlists. I have shows that I am thinking about posting in low quality MP3 to give people a taste of it. When I get the time, I intend to do just that. I believe I've communicated with Moshkito about 10 or 12 years ago, and it resulted in my getting a few shows that I still love to listen to now. They don't quite replace the ones that were swiped, but they do give me some listening pleasure now and then. I can attest to the FACT that he did not profit from the exchange. A few blank CDs for ones filled with musical heaven. I never got a chance to thank you for them, and would like to take this opportunity to do so. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

(or maybe it wasn’t Moshkito who did that favor for me…. maybe it was some anonymous Benedictine Monk ).

Part of the impetus for my putting these shows up would be to get them identified. I can find the artists and songs when there are lyrics, but I have no way to Google melodies (anybody at Google reading this?). I have no way of finding some of the ambient pieces unless I stumble on one of them, or something very similar and search that vein. As I recognize songs, or do a search on the lyrics of one, I add it to my own small attempt a creating playlist. They are along way from being complete due to the many ambient pieces as well as French, Spanish, Japanese, and other shows in languages I don’t fully recognize.

I hope one day, we can begin accomplishing some sort of catalog of SPR shows, and playlists before they are long gone, and the people who have memories of the show can no longer share them.  They would be lost forever and that would be just too bad.

Thank you for your reply, Pedro. But, I was asked by Guy himself to respond to your posts. I think the animosity comes from him. I really don't know that much about what you've done except for what I was told. I don't worship him either. but he is responsible for the majority of my exposure to this great music. I consider us still the best of friends but he chooses not to keep in touch but once every other year. I know he has been reading your posts but doesn't want to reply himself. You can reach me at [email protected] I'm gald you were able to do some work using music from Kevin Ayers and Anthony Phillips. I am big fans of them both, too. I just love talking about this stuff and I wish Guy would keep in contact. At least, Elizabeth had been more diligent. It was nice to see her again at the recent local Jon Anderson show in Santa Barbara. Drop me a line.