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 6, 2025 · 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.

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.

Feb 6, 2025 · Mike Ratledge, the keyboardist and a co-founder of English rock band Soft Machine, has died, the band’s guitarist John Etheridge confirmed.He was 81 years old. “Incredibly sad news that my ...

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]

Feb 6, 2025 · 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 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 performing live in 2018. Soft Machine are an English jazz-rock band from Canterbury. Formed in mid-1966, the group originally consisted of drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt, guitarists Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin, bassist and vocalist Kevin Ayers, and keyboardist Mike Ratledge. The current lineup of the band features guitarist John Etheridge (1975–1978, …

Feb 6, 2025 · 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.

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...