* Just past 7:00 pm, the evening of July 12th 1992 'Flight Sergeant' Aardvark is reading a passage about the biological evolution of The Orb printed in the UK's #1 neurozine. As he sits guard inside hangar 18 at Ohio's Wright-Patterson air-force base, otherwise known as "The Blue Room," he enjoys the warm afterglow from the ecstatic buzz he captured sipping novelty beverage, "Thermo-gen" tea. He begins to "synchro-energize" into a delightful dreamstate. Ten minutes later, The Orb launches their _U.F.Orb_ campaign... * After midnight July 12, 1992, Tower Records Picadilly, London. Thousands of Orb fans line up to get the new release, _U.F.Orb_. Underneath the light-beams and projections within the store, sit Alex and Thrash, novelizing every copy with their signatures. They sat until the last of the frenzied fans evaporated into Orblivion at 5:00 a.m. (FYI: The Guns N' Roses and Shabba Ranks signings created mere scuffles as compared to this event). ************************************************************ * During the winter of 1979, Dr. Alex Paterson finds his first "roadie" gig. Killing Joke goes out on tour and Alex goes with them as drum tech for the band. * At this time, Youth was playing bass for Killing Joke. Alex must have impressed the bunch, because it was Youth and the other members of Killing Joke that got Alex his real first A&R gig. * Spring of 1988, Dr. Alex Paterson began working in A&R for EG Records and Music, the musical home of the ambient king, Brian Eno, publishers for Youth and Jimi Cauty and the label which signed Killing Joke. It's no surprise that it was here that the synthesis and preliminary experimental exploration of The Orb began. * Summer of '88, an alien visitor is seen in Jimi Cauty's Transcentral studio. Alex and Jimi were laying down tracks to "Eternity", a project spawned by Youth. * The next evening Youth heads into Transcentral on a mission to cut the mix for his album, "Eternity Project One". Hours later, The Orb's first commercial recording, "Tripping on Sunshine" was spawned. An astonishing array of music leaked through the studio walls, heard by many, including the famous designer, Calvin Klein. * August 10th 1988, Calvin Klein purchases the name "Eternity" to begin his line of exotic colognes. * Whenever the moon is in the 7th house NASA conducts experiments with bass frequencies to attract alien lifeforms. On this evening of October 1988 Jupiter aligned with Mars, Alex headed back to Transcentral to record the first Orb single release, "Kiss EP" - a four track EP of mixes based around the samples from New York's KISS FM radio station circa 1981. * Released in March 1989 on WAU! Mr Modo, a joint label venture started by Alex, Youth and Mr. Modo (Alex's manager Adam Morris), the "Kiss EP" sold out of its 1,000 pressing and was then deleted. * At the same time, Alex's career as a DJ had taken off, particularly after Paul Oakenfold gave him a resident ambient room at his club, "Land of Oz". One night Alex was playing Steve Hillage's "Rainbow Dome Music," and he discovered that Hillage was in the room. The two became friends, and the maverick manic scientists magical spell lead to several psychic collaborations with both The Orb and Hillage's project System 7, (777 in the U.S.). * Spring of 1989, Alex and Jimi are taken by Minnie Ripperton's helium charged 1970's hit "Loving You" and created the only obvious take-off, "A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre of the Ultraworld." The structure of the music itself was proof enough for the fans that the neurotoxicity of the chemicals ingested at a loud level increases both spiritual and psychic awareness. Championed by DJ's as the first post-rave house track, this also became the first Orb peel session. * Supply of the record was so limited that many affected fans were reduced to sharing on copy between five or six people: each member getting the record for the evening. * During the week of April 28, 1989, an NME add reads: "SWF needs good therapy quick. In desperate need for 'A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre of the Ultraworld' for this Friday night. Please contact immediately." * Before the end of the week, she receives a phone call from a nice bloke, who was not willing to let go of his copy, but offered to bring the copy to her and they could share in the glory. * Fall 1989, The Orb are being sued by the House of Windsor under a law of 1654 stating that "no musical consort or ensemble may be named after an item of the Crown Jewels." * Winter 1989, Alex and Youth write one of the most popular singles ever, "Little Fluffy Clouds." The new release which contains a much talked about sample from Rickie Lee Jones (people are shouting out for it at her gigs!) At the same time, the demand for "A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Centre of the Ultraworld" got so large that Big Life, Youth's management company were asked to get involved. The track was reissued and has sold over 10,000 copies. * During the time, Alex was asked to do his first major remix - "Lilly Was Here" for Dave Stewart, which became a Top 20 hit. From this, The Orb became an established remix team, whose current list of credits include Erasure, Depeche Mode, BAD II, Lisa Stansfield, and Primal Scream. * It was during July 1990, that the overall illusion of "Little Fluffy Clouds" needed some remixing, so Alex and Youth went into the studio. There they had an encounter with Thrash, an old acquaintance from WAU! Mr Modo. The rigorous work of this 18 year old mix engineer helped the net effect of "Little Fluffy Clouds," which was one of charm... Each and every bit of "Little Fluffy Clouds" was hewn of pure ecstacy. * Late summer of 1990, Jimi Cauty decided to leave The Orb to concentrate on KLF. Alex experienced a psychic odyssey that turned into the creation of The Orb's first full length album, "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld". Thrash enters Orbland permanently and replaces Jimi Cauty. * That following autumn "Little Fluffy Clouds" was released to great critical acclaim. An Orb fan had an out of body experience while in the bathtub. She saw "Little Fluffy Clouds" in the murky water and floated above them. She felt the alien entrancing bass lines and was drawn to them. - ha, ha, he, he. * April 30th 1991, the first Orb live experience occurred at The Town & Country, which included Alex on turntables, Thrash on a trip, Steve Hillage on guitar, and their friend Ross who supplied the hypno-tech projections. At the same time, "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" was released and achieved a national Top 30 chart position. * That dawn, not a "Perpetual Dawn," the first Orb groupie ever to be seen fell into a helpless deep state of adrenaline cultural trance. Gaunt, pale in complexion, this scraggly looking creature was spotted lying down near the stage smothered in VapoRub holding a flask of brandy and a container of chocolate milk at its side. Some spectators insist that it was Thrash. * 6:00 pm/May 4, 1992, The Orb receives a phone call from the American Lung Association during it's "Blue Sky" campaign for Clean Air Week where they're honored for their video, "Little Fluffy Clouds." Other artists recognized were Julian Lennon, Alabama, The Grateful Dead, The B-52's, Midnight Oil, The Talking Heads and Santana. These awards were given to artists who used video as a medium to bring attention to the problem of air pollution. * 6:15 pm/May 4, 1992, upon hearing the joyous news, Alex and Thrash kicked back and lit a spliff. * After rigorous touring across the UK, Europe and USA, Alex and Thrash take a two month break in India. One day they took a trek to Gaya Park, Nepal. While following an elephant to the lavatory, Alex realized that the sound of their bodily functions were interesting enough to be sampled and does so. The "passing wind" sounds appear on the "U.F.Orb" album. * July 6 1992, The Orb releases "The Blue Room" the longest single ever created, just 2 seconds shy of 40 minutes. The LP debuts at #1 on the U.K. charts and The Orb appear on Top of the Pops sitting on a stage flooded in laser lights playing chess. * The Orb fax The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, site of the infamous Hangar 18, and demand more information on the extraterrestrials under experiment there. * Next day they receive a fax back "What are you talking about?" * Alex desperately checks his family tree to find any possible relation to the Patterson's after which the Air Force base is named. Hoping to have an "in" and to obtain access to "The Blue Room", he finds that the family tree was given polluted water and has withered. * Shortly after their "Top of the Pops" appearance, The Orb emerge as a four piece punk band and record a cover of The Stooges "No Fun" for their third Peel session, which has led to the #1 most requested on the Peel's show this year! * July 27, 1992, U.K. prisons enlist The Orb's music to aid in therapy for prisoners. * July 28, 1992, a few inmates on the brink of escaping, hear _U.F.Orb_ for the first time. Jah Wobble's bass lines on the track "The Blue Room" echo through out the tunnel, one of the inmates begins to have an out of body experience and blocks the center of the tunnel: Mission unaccomplished. * July 29, 1992, The Orb receive a fax from Uranus saying "Turn down the volume... We're sleeping"... * September 10, 1992, The Orb receive a tear sheet from the Pluto based publication, "The Martian Chronicle," with a review of the album _U.F.Orb_. The writer asks about setting up an in person interview, but wasn't going to be in town until April of 2058. BOth Alex and Thrash agreed that they weren't going to be around at that point. * September 28, 1992, two British writers from NME are looking for those notorious audio sculptors. They appear at the home of Alex and Thrash. The door swings open, they discover a large, thick, gurgling mass on the floor. After poking around, they can't find any from of life in the flat...they've been missing since. ************************************************************ When 'Flight Sergeant' Aardvark awakens from his nap, a sense of warmth takes over his soul, and he realizes that all the negatives in the world will be cleverly negated, as he is left with an overwhelming desire to go back to Orbland.