Soft Machine founding member Mike Ratledge dead at 81
Mike Ratledge, a founding member of the English rock band Soft Machine, has died aged 81 following a brief illness.
Along with Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen and Kevin Ayers, Ratledge founded Soft Machine in 1966. Despite their revolving door policy regarding members, Ratledge was the longest of the four original members to survive with the band before departing in 1976 to embark upon a solo career.
During his time with the band, Ratledge played on the group’s first nine albums and also supported The Jimi Hendrix Experience on two tours of North America due to their shared management. Similarly to Pink Floyd, Soft Machine cut their teeth as a resident band at London’s UFO Club, and they also served as the backing band on two songs on Syd Barrett’s first solo record, The Madcap Laughs.
After leaving Soft Machine, Ratledge continued to work in the music industry and composed music for film, television and theatre, including commercials for internationally renowned brands.
Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge, who first joined the band in 1975 and remains a member of the new look line-up today, announced Ratledge’s death in a Facebook post. “Incredibly sad news that my great friend and Soft Machine legend passed away two hours ago after a brief illness,” he shared.
Etheridge continued: “Mike was the backbone of Soft Machine in the early years and a man with an absolutely incisive mind — a marvelous composer and keyboardist. A real renaissance man — so talented, cultured, charming — and a wonderful companion. We used to meet every few weeks for over 40 years — 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.”
No further details have been revealed about Ratledge’s cause of death.
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