OFF: alt.music.planet-gong

[Paul Mather]

Chuck,

>      I need a little Gong advice from the Gong aliens. I've
> seen two Gong records - I regret that I can't remember the damn
> titles, but one is from '75 and another from '77. Were they
> still good at this time? Is it real psychedelic freak-out type
> stuff that a HW junkie would eat up?

If the '77 album is called _Live Floating Anarchy '77_ then I love
that one.  'Ere 'n Now meets GonG for a great fusion of hard driving
rock and psychedelic weirdness.

Of course, the recommended starting point for GonG has to be the
legendary _Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1: Flying Teapot_.  That,
and the followup, _Angels Egg_.  I don't know what the release
dates for them are, though.

_Shamal_ is from 1975, but leans more towards jazz than the regular
fare served up by the Pot Head Pixies and the Octave Doctors.  It's
certainly not "psychedelic freak-out type stuff".  I'm not sure, but
Steve Hillage might have departed by then, leaving Pierre Moerlen and
the jazz faction in control.  (Daevid Allen [the "Dave Brock" of GonG]
was also gone.)

Btw, another one to look out for is Steve Hillage's _Fish Rising_.
Although it's officially a Hillage solo album, just about everyone
in GonG plays on it.  "The Salmon Song" is wonderful, but check
out the live version on Hillage's _BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert_
for a truly stellar version!

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, _Radio One_

e-mail: paul at csgrad.cs.vt.edu                    A stranger in a strange land.

"Ali Baba have you any bullshit?"

        --- Gong, _Live Floating Anarchy '77_