#klaatu

Klaatu - We're Off You Know 1977

Klaatu was a Canadian rock group formed in 1973. They named themselves after an ambassador, Klaatu, from an extraterrestrial confederation who visits Earth with his companion robot Gort in the film The Day the Earth Stood Still. In Canada, the band is remembered for several hits, including "California Jam" (1974), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (1976) and "Knee Deep in Love" (1980). Internationally, the group's pop-influenced style of progressive rock has led to them being known as the "Canadian Beatles".

In 1977, a rumour started that Klaatu's 1976 debut studio album 3:47 EST could actually be a release by a secretly reunited Beatles recording under a pseudonym. These rumours were fueled by a number of factors, including the fact that their album was released by Capitol Records (also the Beatles' label in North America), the lack of artist and producer credits or photographs in the album packaging, Klaatu's avoidance of public performances, and the fact that the group's vocal and musical style was reminiscent of the Beatles. Capitol Records tried to make as much of the rumours as possible, by issuing ambiguously worded statements that failed to make the band's identity entirely clear.

Hope is Klaatu's second studio album and their first concept album. Released in September 1977, it won a Juno Award for Best Engineered Album and a Canadian Music Critics award for Best Album that same year. The album follows the loose concept of space travelers visiting a distant planet. An alternate version of Hope was released in 2005 as part of the group's Sun Set collection of rarities. The alternate version on Sun Set includes the complete contributions of the London Symphony Orchestra, which had largely been removed from the original version. Hope was remastered and re-issued in 2012 by the band's members, and was released on the band's independent record label Klaatunes.

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In 1953 an orginazation called The International Flying Saucer Bureau (IFSB) declared March 15th to be World Contact Day.

On World Contact Day was a day membersof the IFSB were urged that at 6:00 PM EST to lie down and telepathicly send out the following message;

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft! Calling occupants of interplanetary craft that have been observing our planet EARTH. We of IFSB wish to make contact with you. We are your friends, and would like you to make an appearance here on EARTH. Your presence before us will be welcomed with the utmost friendship. We will do all in our power to promote mutual understanding between your people and the people of EARTH. Please come in peace and help us in our EARTHLY problems. Give us some sign that you have received our message. Be responsible for creating a miracle here on our planet to wake up the ignorant ones to reality. Let us hear from you. We are your friends

Years later The Canadian Pop/Prog band Klaatu learned about the world contact day from a book called "The Flying Saucer Reader."

Being a Prog/Pop band called Klaatu in the 1970's this struck a chord and they wrote the song callied "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft."

A year later the Carpenters found the song and coveredit it on their album Passage.

Calling all occupants was released as a single in September 1977 (possibly to ride the Star Wars wave that was going on at the moment.)

This time the single added the tag line The recognized anthem of World Contact Day. (I have no idea what organziing body would recognize World Contact Day as the IFSB had disbanded but I'm sure anyone who had an interest in telepathicly contacting aliens would not complain about the publicity)

Eventually the song would be the ending number on their very Star Warsploitation TV special Space Encounters.

A brief nota about Albert Bender and the IFSB.

In 1952 Albert Bender formed the The International Flying Saucer Bureau or the IFSB for short.

In 1953 the bereau was abruptly shut down shortly after the first World Contact Day after Bender was apparantly contacted and threatened by three Men in Black.

His experiences would eventually be recorded in the book "They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers". This helped enshrine The Men in Black into UFO folklore and start a chain of events that would lead to a hit movie franchise.

But most impotantly it lead to this killer advertising copy

In 2013 World contact day was made into World Contact Week.

"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft"

character designs for klaatu's 1977 concept album, hope, based on a one pager for an animated musical adaptation that never really surfaced