Editing Soft Machine (section)

====Soft Heap / Soft Head (1978–88)====
[[Soft Heap (band)|Soft Heap]] was formed in January 1978 by [[Hugh Hopper]] and [[Elton Dean]] from Soft Machine, and [[Alan Gowen]] and [[Pip Pyle]] from [[National Health]]. {{em|Heap}} is an acronym that is composed of the initials of the members' first names. The band toured in the early-to-mid 1978 as [[Soft Heap (band)|Soft Head]] because Dave Sheen replaced Pip Pyle due to Pyle's commitments to National Health.<ref name="calyx-canterbury.fr Elton Dean chronology"/> The live album ''Rogue Element'' was recorded on that tour and was released in 1978.

The original Soft Heap line-up reformed in October 1978 to record their eponymous studio album, which was released in 1979.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

After two line-up changes from 1979 to 1981, the new line-up intermittently toured throughout the 1980s; they performed four tours during the decade in 25 European concerts, culminating on 11 May 1988 at the festival "Jazz sous les pommiers" in [[Coutances]], France.<ref name="calyx-canterbury.fr Elton Dean chronology"/>