Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became one of the first British psychedelic acts, and later moved into progressive and jazz rock.

Feb 5, 2025 · Soft Machine founding member and keyboard player Mike Ratledge has died aged 81, after a short illness. The news was confirmed by his former bandmate and current Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge.

6 days ago · Soft Machine founding member and keyboard player Mike Ratledge died on Wednesday, February 5, after a brief illness, according to his former bandmate and guitarist John Etheridge.

5 days ago · Mike Ratledge, one of the founding members of Soft Machine, has died aged 81. The news of his passing was shared by bandmate John Etheridge – guitarist in the British psych-rock band – in a ...

Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966. As a central band of the Canterbury scene, the group became one of the first British psychedelic acts and later moved into progressive rock and jazz fusion. [1]

Soft Machine are an English rock and jazz band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966, named after the novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist Daevid Allen moved to Paris in 1960.

Soft Machine are an English rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry No...

6 days ago · Surrealist, satirist and beat generation figure William Burroughs has been an inspirational source of ideas for musicians over the years. But the first time his work was used as a wellspring by a band came in 1966, when his novel The Soft Machine – published five years earlier – became the name for a group of young Canterbury-based talents.

Apr 8, 2024 · Bold, vibrant, and brimming with innovation, ‘Other Doors’ reaffirms Soft Machine’s status as trailblazers of the music world, promising audiences an exhilarating musical journey unlike any other. Soft Machine | Photo by Wolfgang Gonaus “I would say Soft Machine presents itself as a rock band”

2 days ago · Mike Ratledge, who has died aged 81, was the keyboard player whose sound was at the heart of Soft Machine, the Canterbury band who rapidly moved from quasi-psychedelia to cutting-edge jazz-rock ...