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Raft Podcast January 2006 Interviews with Coxon, concretes, great comps, music and chat!
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December's Raft Podcast Hit the radio!
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Gong Span the Decades
In some ways, perhaps, Gong is Australian Daevid Allen and whichever musicians are, or have been lucky enough to work with him over the last three decades and more. In other ways it’s a musical philosophy, heavy on experimentation and goofy yet seductive mysticism (their spiritual outlook seemed to come from somewhere in the Himalayas). Whichever way you look at it, they were definitely one of the most original outfits around when they recorded their Radio Gnome trilogy in the first half of the 70s. Truly, madly, deeply out there, Angel’s Egg and You are the second and third parts, now fully remastered from the original master tapes and featuring previously unissued bonus cuts.
The Gong story begins at Easter 1966 when Allen had a vision, during which, allegedly, he foresaw his career with The Soft Machine and then Gong. Read all about it in Allen’s autobiography, Gong Dreaming. After his departure from The Soft Machine, he and his wife Gilli Smyth settled in France, where they tinkered freely, assembled a talented group of collaborators and began using the name Gong in 1969. Their gellowship constantly in a state of flux, with more comings and goings than La Gare Du Nord, they recorded three albums for the French label BYG before returning to Britain and signing with Richard Branson’s fledgling Virgin in late 1972.
Flying Teapot - Radio Gnome Invisible (1973), which still ranks as one of rock music’s flipped-out flights of fancy, was their first release for the label. It expanded on the mythology of the peaceful planet Gong, peopled by Pothead Pixies, Octave Doctors and Radio Gnomes, which had first appeared on their previous LP Camembert Electrique; focusing on the trials of Zero the Hero which are central to the trilogy. It also marked a transition to a more sophisticated sound, which achieved even greater consistency on the second installment - the work of perhaps the definitive Gong line-up.
Angel's Egg (1974) successfully blended all the elements that each brought to the table, from Tim Blake's synthesizer bubbles to Pierre Moerlen's tight and sophisticated drumming, from Didier Malherbe's multicoloured sax and flute leads, to Steve Hillage's cosmic guitar soloing, not forgetting Allen's amusing vocals and glissando guitar layers, and Smyth’s hypnotic “space whispers”.
Continuing the quirky narrative of its predecessor, the tracks are seamlessly woven together and punctuated by several short but brilliant instrumental interludes. The genius of this approach is felt particularly as the galactic wizardry of Castle In The Clouds glides into the the burlesque swing and beguiling Gallic commentary of Smyth's Prostitute Poem. And also where Oily Way, a slinky groove reminiscent of Babe Ruth’s The Mexican, segues purposefully into the mystical Inner Temple (“Good evening. We are representing the Hubba Gubba Tea Company of Tibet”), which in turn becomes the unhurried transcendental jam, Outer Temple. You continues in a similar vein - atmospheric, inscrutable, welcoming and gently unhinged - before heading off into the realms of what can only be described as space rock. Much more of an instrumental LP than its predecessor, as the story of Zero the Hero enters its final cycle Allen’s vocals are confined to a minority of tracks and Steve Hillage takes a more prominent role on epic, jazz-oriented tunes like the ten minute plus Isle Of Everywhere and the furious Master Builder - both live favourites.
"The creation of You was very different to Angel's Egg,” Allen has revealed. “I had come to the conclusion that because I was contributing a lot of the material, that it was too much my original creation. It was time we created something completely together, so we booked up a cottage in England, and we lived there for a week, we saved up some wonderful acid, we took this acid together as a group and we all played and played and played.”
Allen left Gong before their next long player, but has rejoined several times since and will be leading the band on stage on their upcoming UK tour (check www.planetgong.co.uk for details), his guitar and sense of humour well to the fore. Would... you... like... some tea? Yes please. Milk. Two sugars.
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
The Raft has discovered The CarbonNeutral Company
They help business, government and individuals to tackle their contribution to climate change. In addition to forestry projects, their work includes carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy and biomass schemes, as well as carbon management and risk consulting
“Bohemian Rhapsody” 30th Anniversary
