Wyatt, Robert

Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981

Label: RAI Trade Country: Italy

"Previously unreleased material made by Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) in studio for an Italian radio programme in 1981. Why did this demi-god of rock's underground to travel all the way to Rome with his wife, Alfreda Benge, to spend a week recording for an obscure (even to Italians) radio programme? Because he believed in what these Roman radio guys were doing! Wyatt himself described the experience as 'a chance to expand ideas to bring to life outside the music business, which is just one big fashion industry...normally you have to obtain money for studio time and aim at a particular recording for a particular product. Here they wanted to see a musician's work in progress so it wasn't necessary to have a finished product...it's a fantastic chance to work more freely.' So after three days of testing, the eight-track started officially rolling -- piano, vocals, hi-hat, a jaw harp -- laying down track after track, until the Roman radio guys ended up with 45 min of music, including pieces like 'Born Again Cretin,' a song about Nelson Mandela, the 'Opium War,' with garbled 'radio-like' vocals, and 'Heathens have no Souls,' featuring a jaw harp. This is a rare opportunity to see what the great Robert Wyatt is capable of when left to work freely, outside the pressures of the star system and the 'moneygoround.'"