Soft Heap was a Canterbury scene supergroup founded in January 1978. The name references Soft Machine while "Heap" comes from the first letters of the band's founders: Hugh Hopper (bass), Elton Dean (saxophone), Alan Gowen (keyboards) and Pip Pyle (drums). Hopper and Dean had worked together in Soft Machine, while Gowen and Pyle had worked together in National Health. The band went on tour in 1978, but with Pyle busy with National Health, Dave Sheen replaced him and the name was changed to Soft Head. The Canterbury Scene (or Canterbury Sound) is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock musicians that were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... SuperGroup is a reality show on the channel VH1. ... For the book by William S. Burroughs, see The Soft Machine. ... Hugh Hopper (born 1945, Canterbury, England) is a bass guitarist and composer. ... Elton Dean (born October 28, 1945, Nottingham, England; died February 7, 2006) was a jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally piano. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pip Pyle is a British-born drummer now residing in France. ... National Health was a progressive rock band associated with the Canterbury Scene. ...

Rogue Element, a live album from the Soft Head tour, was released in 1978, but the original Soft Heap line-up reconvened in October 1978 to record Soft Heap (released 1979). John Greaves (also from National Health) replaced Hopper in 1979-80, while 1981 saw a new line-up of Dean, Pyle, Greaves and Mark Hewins on guitar following Gowen's death that year. John Greaves (born 23 February 1950) is a British bass guitarist and music composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow (1969-1976) and his collaborative albums (1977) and Smell of a Friend (as The Lodge) with Peter Blegvad. ... Mark Hewins (born 24 March 1955) is a UK jazz guitarist known particularly for his connections to the Canterbury scene. ...

The new line-up toured intermittently through the 1980s, sometimes with guests. A Veritable Centaur (released 1996) is a live album largely taken from a 1982 French show, with one track from a 1983 BBC Radio 3 performance. BBC Radio 3 is a domestic UK BBC radio station, which devotes most of its schedule to classical music. ...

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