Terry Draper, one of the three founding members of Klaatu, has died at the age of 73.
Klaatu formed in Canada in 1973 naming themselves after the character Klaatu from the 1951 sci-fi movie ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’, starring Michael Rennie.
Klaatu’s 1976 debut album titled ‘3:47EST’ in Canada (and self-titled for the rest of the world) had rumours swirling that they were The Beatles reformed and recording under a secret name. Of course, that was total rubbish. You only have to listen to the record to hear its not The Beatles but their label Capitol Records (also The Beatles label in America) went along with the conspiracy because it was good for sales.
Draper was a co-writer of Klaatu’s biggest hit ‘Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Earth’. The Carpenters had a much bigger global hit with it a year later.
Klaatu disbanded in August 1982 after five albums. They briefly reunited in 1988 and recorded one more single ‘Woman’.
Draper had more than 20 solo albums. His most recent ‘Infinity’ was released in January, 2025.
Terry Draper passed away on 15 May, 2025.
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