Mike Ratledge — co-founding keyboardist for the influential, proggy psych-rock band from Canterbury, Soft Machine — has died. He was 81.
As Louder reports, the news was confirmed by former bandmate John Etheridge on Facebook earlier today. "Incredibly sad news that my great friend and Soft Machine legend passed away two hours ago after a brief illness," the guitarist wrote in a post that has since been deleted or made private. "Mike was the backbone of Soft Machine in the early years and a man with an absolutely incisive mind — a marvellous composer and keyboardist. A real renaissance man — so talented, cultured, charming — and a wonderful companion."
Etheridge added, "We used to meet every few weeks for over 40 yrs — a treat for me. What a loss to all of us and his sisters and wonderful girlfriend Elena, who were with him at the end."
Born in Maidstone, Kent, Ratledge was educated in classical music as a child, learning piano and clarinet. His interest in jazz was first piqued by fellow Soft Machine co-founder Daevid Allen, and Ratledge played in Allen's trio while studying philosophy and psychology at University College, Oxford — where he also became interested in avant-garde music — on scholarship.
Ratledge and Allen formed Soft Machine alongside Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Larry Nowlin in 1966, naming the group after the 1961 William S. Burroughs novel. The band underwent many lineup changes over the years, and by 1971, Ratledge was the only founding member remaining. As the Soft Machine member with the longest tenure (he eventually left in 1976, leaving the outfit under the leadership of Karl Jenkins), the keyboardist was instrumental in their evolution from psychedelia to jazz-rock.
After leaving the band, Ratledge built himself a studio — and a solo career. He composed the score for the 1977 film Riddles of the Sphinx, and went on to compose and produce for commercials and the theatre in the '80s. He likewise co-produced Jenkins's series of new age music albums Adiemus, for which he also programmed electronic percussion.