Gong. Anyone Else Think They're Good?

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Can we talk about Gong? I only know Camembert, the Radio Gnome Trilogy and Shamal.
I went through a large part of my teens listening to them after I first heard them early 90's when a friend played them to me.
I am aware I've missed out on loads of Gong, but does anyone else like them?
Did you ever see them live? If you hate Gong then this thread is also for you!

Important questions: Are you friends with a Gong fan, or fell out with someone who was a Gong fan?

And if there's already a thread about them, then can I have this post, shame faced, merged with the original Gong one?

This is how I'd rank the Gong albums I've heard.

Live Etc...
Angel's Egg
Camembert Electrique
Flying Teapot
You
Shamal

[Flying pig437]

I've only heard one song but that was good. I think it was TRied so hardd. I remember it 'cause it seemed a very down to earth title for a Gong song.

[voxish]

Can we talk about Gong? I only know Camembert, the Radio Gnome Trilogy and Shamal.
I went through a large part of my teens listening to them after I first heard them early 90's when a friend played them to me.
I am aware I've missed out on loads of Gong, but does anyone else like them?
Did you ever see them live? If you hate Gong then this thread is also for you!

Important questions: Are you friends with a Gong fan, or fell out with someone who was a Gong fan?

And if there's already a thread about them, then can I have this post, shame faced, merged with the original Gong one?

This is how I'd rank the Gong albums I've heard.

Live Etc...
Angel's Egg
Camembert Electrique
Flying Teapot
You
Shamal

I only really remember 'Camembert Electrique' - along with the 'Faust Tapes' it was one of the very first ultra-cheap give-away LPs (49p IIRC). Unfortunately although it has some great tracks it was a bit uneven IMHO. I also wonder if, because of it's giveaway price, it detracted from the appeal of the band...cheapened them if you like? I saw only Gong live once, in Manchester probably 1974/5 - don't remember much about it except it must have been a good show - then again I enjoyed Mott the Hoople the same year so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask!

[danielcaux]

Oh yeah, I quite liked Gong in my college years. Perhaps the most Floydish of all the bands that followed in the footsteps of Barrett and early Floyd. I'm only familiar with he Daevid Allen years though and haven't met a fellow Gong fan in real life yet :

1970: Magick Brother. I only listened to it a couple of times, but the song "Ego" really clicked with me, the lyrics are spot on. Curious fact, the wordless vocals remind me a lot of Pow R Toc H.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLDFjHSEoyk

1971: Camembert Electrique. Many claim it's their masterpiece. I like it, but it's quite chaotic, it very well could be the pothead derranged european cousin of Piper At The Gates of Dawn. Favourite song: "Fohat Digs Holes In Space", sounds like it could be track 2 in either Meddle or Saucerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk1jsxcXWqE

1973: Flying Teapot. The first in the Radio Gnome trilogy. Strong record, centered more around long winded "instrumentals" than regular psychedelic songs. The orgasmic "space whispers" from Gilli Smyth really take flight on this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-tJmjqOAX0

1973: Angel's Egg. In my opinion their masterpice. Eclectic and eccentric, but undeniably catchy all the way. It has it all: ambient electronics, odd pop rockers, space rock instrumentals, psychedelic blues epics, bar stand pirate singalongs, vaudevillian chanteuse odes to prostitues and even gamelean rock lullabies, a decade before Robert Fripp reinvented his career with that sort of music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_3RTa5ctT4

1974: You. This was the last album Allen did with the original Gong. It's more proggy and instrumental, and not as much allen-esque as their previous albums, but still great music all the way, with the exception perhaps of the loong and boringly repetitive "Isle of Everywhere". "A Sprinkling of Clouds" is their most famous track, but my favourite still is "Master Buldier".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKfTKNp_yUI

[Idisaffect]

Love Is How You Make It is psychedelic, maaan.

The Rado Gnome trilogy is great. But don't overlook 1977's Floating Anarchy. It goes under the heading Planet Gong. This is a guitar heavy, psychedelic punk album by Daevid Allen and it's as good as anything he ever did. It's way better than most of the wanky fusion crap Gong started putting out after Allen left. It's a logical follow up to the Radio Gnome trilogy that acknowledges the emergence of punk rather than ignoring it the way Pierre Moerlen's version of Gong seemed to do. This might be Gong's heaviest album. It's easy to miss because it is technically filed under Planet Gong and the remnants of Gong were still putting out instrumental albums at this time under the name Gong.
Also, the 2 albums Allen put out under his own name around this time are worth a listen. Now Is The Happiest Time Of Your Life and Good Morning. These are more acoustic but still good.
Finally, New York Gong from 1979 is a post punk type of album that takes the music in a new direction. It's basically a collaboration between Daevid Allen and Bill Laswell.

In case you didn't know, early Soft Machine had Allen as an original member and some of the early demos have his influence and guitar playing.

Anyway...Floating Anarchy is the one to get....

[my breakfast.]

I love Gong. I saw them two years back and they rocked.

However some of their stuff I do not like. The trippy lyrics and campy melodies can be annoying, as can the whole wacky-brained idiosynchratic story-telling vibe. Octave doctors? Pothead pixies? Have a cup of tea?


I really like some bootleg stuff of theirs. The Chris Cutler tapes are pretty good, especially as the synth effects are in perfect stereo meaning they retain their spacerock/starfield synth patterns and landscapes. Oily Way is pretty cool as it highlights just how they fused jazz and skiffle (?) with heavier psychedelic leanings. Not as grinding as Hawkwind but certainly drinking from the same fountain.

[J Ed]

Im sure theres loads of gong threads, but this page has already generated a good list of reviews of their essential albums
Live Floating Anarchy is actually the first one I ever heard, but other than Allen and Smith its not the same band, the musicians are another group called Here and Now that Allen & Smith met playing at anarchist free festivals after leaving the band theyd started (Daevid Allen was prevented from going on stage one night by an invisible aura of bad vibes or some such flakiosity)
and yes theyre much louder and thrashier than Hillage, Malherbe, et al ever were

actually very first Gong I ever heard was Gylli Smiths first solo album Mother which a former ladyfriend once had a cassette dub of but didnt know the artist ... that ones very hard to find too

Steve Hillages solo albums are worth getting: his first, Fish Rising, essentially is a Gong album, he and his lady led the band for a moment or two after Allen & Smith left before departing themsleves, and in live recordings between You and Shamal you can hear the new material being worked out

theres a few archival live recordings that have been released: Bataclan 73 and Sheffield 74 are the two I have (as well as the original live compilation Live Etc, and the 1977 reunion Gong Est Mort Vive Gong)
very hard to find but recommended: the classic lineup contributed one side of unique material to the Glastonbury Fayre triple album (1971) and another to the Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwalls DanceHall various artists set (1973)

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

Here's a couple of further Gong albums I've heard of but never got.
This is from their 1990's "comeback" album "Shapeshifter". I was aware of it, but never got round to it. Even without Steve Hillage this violin and acoustic guitar make a haunting listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQDv7Bu0IuA

And this is meant to be the best post-Daevid Allen Gong album, "Gazeuse!" it seems more precussive than Jazzy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0tsWMzmr-c

This thread has been more successful than I thought!

[Massed Gadgets]

I love Gong and it's various offshoots, like Daevid Allen's solo stuff, Mother Gong (The Owl and the Tree is really good), University of Errors (Allen with San Francisco band Mushroom), and Gong Maison. My favourite album is still probably Flying Teapot, but all those classic early albums mentioned are great. Also Shapeshifter (1992) and Zero to Infinity (2000) are quite good; essentially picking up where the early Gong left off with You. 2009's classic Gong reunion line up called 2032 is really good too (even early members like Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy were back for this one!). It successfully updates the mythology for the modern era and features some great music too. I also love Steve Hillage's albums Fish Rising, L, Motivation Radio, and especially Green. I never delved much into Pierre Moerlen's Gong however. I remember listening to it years ago and just thinking it wasn't really Gong to me.

[Stephen]

If you're wanting to get a DVD of them then this one is just about perfect.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqyo9YU2FzI

[my breakfast.]

I spy Mike Howlett on bass. He was awesome when I saw them. He was using a red Precision bass that had an extra pickup fitted, and was playing through an Ampeg SVT 'fridge' amp and was amazing. Quite a funky player.

He uses the same bass today as he used in the early 1970s.






It did sound like the upper frets were worn away on it!

[nosaj]

Not what you would call a fan, but have a few albums I listen to from time to time.

[J Ed]

I stumbled upon this clip of Camembert Electrique era Gong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irpN8B-Acrs
its from a dvd of French tv appearances that supposedly came out last year
I havent seen it in shops, instead I keep finding the Monserrat and Other Stories dvd which has really lousy reviews round the net
this one looks to be much more essential

oh and heres the link to a more ancient Gong thread with more ancient Gong discussion

[Stephen]

Nice find J Ed, it's good to see folk can have fun without recourse to drugs

[PublicImage]

Floating Anarchy is great. You should listen to the "Gospel of Free" live album by Here & Now, which is more or less the same lineup, but without Allen and Smyth. I like it more than their studio recordings.