alan jefferson: galactic nightmare

A homemade 86-minute epic space adventure, conceived, written, played, sung, and illustrated by an amateur musician in his bedroom in Hull, England, from 1979 to 1985, and reissued here for the first time. When Alan Jefferson heard The War of the Worlds, he thought he could make something similar, maybe better. This was in 1979. So, he set about it, with limited equipment -- a Moog, a reel-to-reel, a guitar, and some pedals. Six years later, in 1985, Galactic Nightmare was finished, and made available to readers of the magazines Future Music and CU Amiga. Via Jefferson's advertisement, one could buy a 90-minute chrome cassette of the album, complete with poster and storyfile for £7.99 plus £1 postage. Very few people bought it, but one of the writers for Future Music, Dave Robinson, liked the preview copy that he received. He started playing it for a few people. One of those was a guy called Dave Green, who eventually played it for Stewart Lee in the 1990s. All of them found Galactic Nightmare an addictive, unforgettable musical experience. In 2014, Stewart Lee sent a small snippet of Galactic Nightmare to Jonny Trunk, who, a few months later, wrote to the address in the 1986 advertisement. Two days later Alan Jefferson got in touch, and this double LP reissue of Galactic Nightmare is the result. Jefferson wrote the story, narrated the story, wrote and played the music, sang the songs, and made the artwork, poster, storyfile, et cetera, sometimes fighting against faulty instruments and a dodgy tape machine. Galactic Nightmare is a totally unique recording, joyous in its attempt to create something absolutely epic with very few resources and charming in its attention to detail and almost folk-like naiveté. A great example of an amateur being inspired to make something, getting on with it, sticking with it, and ultimately creating an album that few people will forget once they have heard it. Presented in gatefold matte varnished sleeve bearing the original Galactic Nightmare poster; includes original Galactic Nightmare graphics, plans, musical notation, early sketches, advertisements, et cetera inside the gatefold; notes by Alan Jefferson, Jonny Trunk, Stewart Lee, and Dave Green; and complete storyfile with original illustrations across all four sides of the printed inner sleeves.