After Damo Suzuki left Can, there were a number of other vocalists who rehearsed and played live with them in 1975/6 before they added Rosko Gee and Reebop to the core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Michael Karoli, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit. These included Thaiaga Raj Raja Ratnam from Malaysia (or Indonesia) Michael Cousins AKA Magic Michael, the Japanese vocalist Phew and Tim Hardin.
A number of recordings survive from these try outs.
A number of recordings survive from these try outs.
There is a rehearsal from an unknown date and a live improvised track from a gig at the Hatfield Polytechnic on the 21st of November 1975 featuring Tim Hardin.
It may seem a strange combination but it sort of works...though I cannot imagine Can playing 'If I Were A Carpenter' as an encore. Though they did play a thirteen minute version of 'The Lady Came From Baltimore' together at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London two days after. Needless to say if anyone has a recording of that I would love to hear it.
Phew (Hiromi Moritani) as well as recording her first solo album with Holger & Jaki in 1981 (produced by Conny Plank) also in 1975 improvised over a recording of Damo Suzuki's last gig with Can at the Edinburgh Empire on the 28th August 1973. This concert had actually been recorded by United Artists as a possible live album.
Michael Cousins, who according to Discogs was once described by Nick Kent as Ladbroke Grove's answer to Wild Man Fisher, was perhaps the most conventional rock vocalist to try out for the gig and apparently from reports at the time it did not sit well with the band's audience. Included here is a gig from Hannover in 1976. As Magic Michael he appeared on the Greasy Truckers Party album as well as the A Bunch of Stiff Records compilation. He can be seen in this video from 1973 for about 20 seconds.
Lastly to Thaiaga Raj Raja Ratnam of which there is very little info out there (apart from this solitary video uploaded by someone of the same name.) I've included a full gig from Poitiers in France from March 1976 and a couple of (inferior quality) tracks of unknown origin. The second half of disc 2 here has a gig from Brussels that I'd never heard until I googled for info just then
You can get them all
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