Radio Scotland 1994 7" EP (vinyl)

Man… or Astro-Man? • Radio Scotland 1994 7" EP (vinyl)

Surf guitar from outer space meets Scottish radio history on Man… or Astro-Man?’s Radio Scotland 1994, a four-track 7-inch capturing the Alabama instrumental surf-rock outfit in session for BBC Radio Scotland’s Beat Patrol programme. Recorded in 1994 and first broadcast on 27 November that year, this release brings a long-overlooked radio session back into orbit, full of sharp guitar lines, retro-futurist energy and the band's trademark B-movie sensibility.

The session features “Transmissions From Venus”, “Mouthful Of Exhaust”, “Sadie Hawkins Atom Bomb” and “Theme To Munsters”. There’s a small archival wrinkle: the first track is listed as “Shockwave” on the sleeve and conventional track listings, but the released audio is actually “Transmissions From Venus”. The session was rediscovered with help from Radio Scotland’s Paul Carlin, rescuing a little piece of the band’s UK broadcasting history from the archives.

Pressed on black vinyl and playing at 33⅓ RPM, this four-track single is a neat collectible for fans of instrumental surf, garage rock and alternative sounds, as well as anyone interested in the BBC sessions that helped bring underground American bands to British listeners. A compact transmission from 1994, with all the twang, weirdness and vintage sci-fi spirit that make Man… or Astro-Man? such a distinctive proposition.