Orbital Decay consists of electric guitarist Scott Watkins Tim Richardson and synthesist
Terry Furber of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, located north of Philadelphia and south of Allentown/Bethlehem.
Originally founded in 1979, the year when Skylab's orbit decayed and returning it to Earth in
a firey display,
Terry and Scott formed a band influenced by the likes of
Tangerine Dream, Klaus Shulze, and Pink Floyd.
Today, Terry and Scott make improvisational electronic space music with the
energy of fusion styles from the 1970s.
This means that Orbital Decay charts unexplored territory of sound and mood.
For a short time, Tim Richardson replaced Scott, including the performance at WDIY.
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Orbital Decay on the
08.19.01
broadcast of Star's End
Photo by Chuck van Zyl
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Terry Furber at home in the studio
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Terry Furber has the keyboard chops of a progressive rock keyboardist, enabling him to play soaring
synth solos over a classic Berlin School sequence.
Yet he can display the restraint required for a deep space excursion in the darker, more introspective
moments of his music.
In addition to being a player, Terry also builds and programs his own synthesizers and computers,
sometimes using older technology obtained at bargain basement prices.
He then proceeds to squeeze every ounce of music possible from his concoctions.
An example of his ability in this area is
his minimoog/MOTM
synth which was Keyboard of the Month in Keyboard magazine.
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Scott Watkins (pictured above on Star's End) was another founding member of Orbital Decay.
Due to other life commitments, Scott temporarily left the band, making way for the return of Tim Richardson.
The picture at the right is of Tim at Orbital Decay's studio in Quakertown.
Back in the '70s, Tim played with the original members of Orbital Decay when the musical direction
was a space/fusion format.
After 20 years, Tim received a call from Terry after Scott left the band.
Tim's guitar influences include John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Robert
Fripp, Al DiMieola and John Scofield.
His musical interests are quite varied and include jazz, fusion, progressive rock, and electronic music.
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Tim Richardson
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Orbital
Decay
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Re-Entry
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Drastic
Park
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Orbital Decay has three self-released CDR albums featuring their prolific studio jam sessions. These
CDRs were featured on the show in December, 2001,
as part of the Special
Focus on Orbital Decay.
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