“Man Is A Soft Machine…” :: Remembering Mike Ratledge
Photo: Gie Knaeps
Photo: Keystone/Getty Image
An illustrious figure in the iconic Canterbury scene in the mid-1960s, Maidstone, Kent, England, UK-based composer, keyboardist, founder, and long-time member of the highly influential and sonically sophisticated Soft Machine, Ratledge was a guiding light in the world of sound culture and revolutionary reverberation. Exploring the infinite intelligence of the band’s cosmic core since its critical conception in 1966, Soft Machine quickly captured the intense imagination of their audience and its atmospheric attitude like nothing anyone had ever seen or heard before. Blending esoteric elements with majestic magic that revolved around the poetic progressive movement of fusion, jazz, incredible instrumentation, and eternal experimentation, Ratledge and bandmates Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Hugh Hopper, John Marshall, and several others, all of whom contributed to the harmonious history, and unparalleled universality of Soft Machine’s impeccable influence over the last half-century, conjured an endless stream of Burroughs-inspired iconography and radical vibration in the most savage way possible. The band and its masterful members tortured the alchemical airwaves with their subliminal debut while simultaneously summoning a rich catalog that continues to inspire, radicalize, and enlighten generation after generation.
Ratledge’s tonal touch on the band was paramount in that his oscillating organ solos, ritualistic rhythms, and behind-the-scenes commentary on the cosmic balance of the group ultimately balanced their trailblazing efforts into the great unknown while simultaneously orchestrating some of their greatest moments. Dedicating a decade of his life to the group’s catatonic career, Ratledge’s whispering wizardry can be found on albums 1-6, and his official departure from the band in 1976 with the Harvest debut “Bundles.” Though his melodic memory carried through the band in the later years, Ratledge furthered his sonic studies with Soft Machine bandmate Karl Jenkins, who continued with the groups till the mid-1980s, releasing an enormous body of work as Adiemus, JAR, Plaza, Rollercoaster, and Rubba, depending on your angle. Poetically prolific and gifted beyond comprehension, Ratledge influenced the world with his melodic mastery in a way that echoes into the eternal Earth like that of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Demonstrating an atmospheric ability as a leader, his mad scientist approach was unhinged in cosmic chaos, but it always worked in the end.
