The Spotlight Kid is the sixth album by Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) and the Magic Band, originally released in 1972. It is the only album credited solely to Captain Beefheart. Often cited as one of the most accessible of Beefheart's albums, it is solidly founded in the blues but also introduces instruments as marimba and jingle bells not typical of that genre.
Mirror Man is the fifth studio album by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. It contains material which was recorded in 1967 for Buddah Records, and which was originally intended for release as part of an abandoned project entitled It Comes to You in a Plain Brown Wrapper. Much of the material from this project was subsequently re-recorded and released through a different label as Strictly Personal (1968). The tapes from the original sessions, however, remained under the care of Buddah, who took four of the unissued tunes and released them as Mirror Man in 1971.
Coming off of the liberating heels of 1970's "Trout Mask Replica", Don Van Vliet first changed the name of his band from "His Magic Band" to "The Magic Band" and proceeded to record another tight, vigorous, arrhythmic sonic landscape. Though this album doesn't have quite the free form feeling of its precedessor (which included tape recorder chants, false starts, off microphone chatter, and lots of interesting other random tidbits), it stretches the boundaries of rock music in much the same manner. "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" includes 15 autonomous and amazingly crafted songs. Almost as if someone took the "Trout Mask" sessions, applied a razor to the inbetweens and said "THERE! Those are the songs! Now stop it with all that other nonsense!" In this way "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" sounds like an "organized" and only slightly less spontaneous "Trout Mask". This more structured arrangement may have emerged from Van Vliet's alleged desire to actually start making money from The Magic Band. Apparently the previous drummer left after "Trout Mask" and was lured back by a promise of potential cash. In some ways Van Vliet succeeded. The album climbed to number 20 on the UK charts.
Appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 - the music is merely dubbed over the top of an impressive live sequence featuring a cloaked Beefheart stalking the stage at The Rainbow. Sound and picture quality are good, though it is a shame that the original audio from the performance hasn't survived. Download in real media format.
