In thread about backwards masking, reference was made to “Klaatu”. I remember hearing about this group in the 70s…a friend’s older brother was deeply in to this group, althought I never heard any music from them. Anybody care to shed light on this group?
Phouchg
www.klaatu.org should be able to answer most of your questions.
Basically, Klaatu was rumored to be The Beatles recording under an alias. I’ve never heard their music, but I understand they were kind of Beatlesish, but not good enough that they would have made any sort of name for themselves had the rumor not happened (they evidently sold over a million copies of their debut album to people who were thinking they were getting a new Beatles album).
Some of the ‘clues’ supporting the rumor were:
Ringo’s “Goodnight Vienna” cover depicted a scene from “The Day The Earth Stood Still” (the movie in which the main character was named Klaatu).
Paul sometimes closed concerts with the phrase “Klaatu Verada Nikto” (may not be exact), a quote from “The Day The Earth Stood Still”
John claimed to have seen a UFO in 1974, which was the year Klaatu formed.
Rumor had it that someone did a voice comparison between Paul McCartney and one of Klaatu’s vocalists and found that they matched. Also, there was supposedly a backwards message on one of Klaatu’s songs were you can hear someone saying ‘It’s us’.
Basically, Klaatu was a mediocre band which profited greatly from a false rumor. Whether they started the rumor themselves or merely profited from it is unclear.
David
Klaatu: also a skiff guard in Return of the Jedi 
I guess I had been hoping that my response would be the end of the thread, but I need to respond to this one.
The full quote is: “Gort, klaatu barada nikto”. Don’t worry though, nobody ever gets it right; even Klaatu’s official website says “. . . niktu”.
The origin of the rumour has been precisely pinned down and had nothing to do with the band. The rumour was started by music reporter Steve Smith in the February 13, 1977, Providence Journal. The complete text of the article is here. The article’s conclusion reads:
He hardly says categorically that Klaatu were, without doubt, the Beatles. He does say that even if they aren’t connected at all to the Beatles, they’re ingenious and talented.
My personal take: Yes, their first two albums had some resemblance to the Beatles. Certainly this was true of a lot of '70s bands, but you certainly wouldn’t mistake one group for the other unless you were on some serious drugs, or were a Beatles nut who was really desperate, seven years after Abbey Road, to believe that the Beatles might have got back together. (I suspect this describes Steve Smith to a T.) As to the quality of their music, well, of course they weren’t the Beatles, but then, not many people were. That’s like saying of Mendelssohn, “Well, he’s no Beethoven.” Their music is far better than much of what came out of the '70s; I would put their album “Hope” up there as one of the ten best albums from that decade. Please listen to some of their music before you call them mediocre.
All right, I’ll be the lone voice in support of Klaatu.
I love their album 3:47PM EST. “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”, “Anus of Uranus”, “Little Neutrino”, love 'em all.
No you won’t. Read my second response again.
You know, that phrase “Klaatu Barada Nikto” was the phrase Bruce Campbell (as Ash) in Army of Darkness was told to say when he picked up the Necronomicon. It’s a real funny scene when he does pick it up, because of the, uh, trouble he has getting the book. And also, the words are wrong in the movie. They’re more like what KingDavid8 wrote.
-Brianjedi
Er, I think it might have been in The Day the Earth Stood Still originally.
I loved Klaatu when I was in high school! I syill love some of their songs… “Little Neutrino” rocks! (even if the physics involved is outdated…)
um… “still”…
One more comment about “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” I would invite people to read the short story “Farewell to the Master,” upon which the movie was based. Has a neato surprise ending that just would not have meshed particularly well with the Cold War/Nuclear threat message of the movie.
Klaatu was the name of the alien from The Day The Earth Stood Still (great movie).
Gort was his robot.
IIRC, if anything should happen to Klaatu, Gort would be seriously pissed. Something happened and Gort got pissed and tried to destroy the world (as he was programmed to do in such a situation). Klaatu told Damsel In Distress to go to Gort and say the phrase “Klaatu Barada Nikto”, which (from context) presumably means “Klaatu says stop.”
Since she was addressing Gort, it’s often quoted as “Gort! Klaatu Barada Nikto” but the actual magic words were just the three.
great movie . . .
Tapioca Dextrin, I know that it originally came from The Day the Earth Stood Still. My point was, it was also in Army of Darkness. I was just contributing an extra reference.
-Brianjedi