Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site unc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!unc!sherouse From: sherouse@unc.UUCP (George W. Sherouse) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: Re: GONG Discography Message-ID: <164@unc.UUCP> Date: Tue, 7-May-85 08:33:33 EDT Article-I.D.: unc.164 Posted: Tue May 7 08:33:33 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 10-May-85 03:04:03 EDT References: Reply-To: sherouse@unc.UUCP (George W. Sherouse) Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill Lines: 34 Keywords: What's it all about, Bertie? Summary: a summary The early gong (pre Gong est Morte) were the vehicle for the drug-crazed rantings of one soft and cuddly Daevid Allen. Allen was a founding member of Soft Machine (along with Robert Wyatt) but soon saw his destiny more along the lines of musical lunacy. He collected around himself a vast array of fine jazz/rock fusionists, a fair number of them percussionists. One of them was Pierre Moerlin. They set out to simultaneously set the standard for "space-rock" with their backdrop of whining synths, and to tell the story of the Pothead Pixies in three parts. This is classic stuff. Start with "You" and work backward until you can't stand it. After the demise of early Gong (that is after Allen moved on to do solo work) Moerlin picked up the pieces and carried on without the whining and bubbling synths and without (most of) the lunacy. What's left is to my mind the best fusion band of the period - particularly if you like percussion. (Other contenders are Passport and maybe Brand X.) If you want this stuff look for "Pierre Moerlin's Gong" on the cover. Allen's solo work is amazing. Not for the near-sighted. This could go on indefinitely but let me close by mentioning that Allen reemerged briefly with a band called "Planet Gong" who toured but didn't record as best I know. Good tunes to you, George W. Sherouse "I wish I was somethin'. I wish I was good. I wish I was made of mahogany wood."