The most direct Hawkwind connection here is Tim Blake, who learned synths while he was a roadie for Hawkwind shortly before joining Gong. He's since played in later versions of Hawkwind. There's a video of Tim and Steve Hillage joining Dave Brock at a festival a few years ago that's quite good. This album is where things really take off for me, especially ZtHatWS, which is amazing live. You'll hear that kind of feel a lot more on the next 2 albums of the trilogy, which get increasingly sophisticated and musical. In classic Gong form, there are actually 6 albums in the trilogy, including Shapeshifter, Zero 2 Infinity and 2032. Daevid never really stopped the story, just added more cycles. it's also worth going one album back to Camembert Electrique, which is rougher and more raw than this, but has very memorable songs that stayed in the live set forever. I've been lucky enough to catch them live 6 times, 4 with Daevid and 2 with Kavus Torabi. Kavus's era is more guitar dominated, particularly when Hillage guests to give them a third guitar. When you finally get to Master Builder on "You", you might want to look at the current Gong's ultra high energy live take of it.
We really looked forward to your reaction to this side, Justin. We love Gong; they are among our ten most favorite bands. What reminded you of polka in "Pot Head Pixies" is actually a waltz. The double entendre/ambiguity in "I am your Pussy" (both meanings are definitely intended) is Gilli Smyth at her best; she was always very seductive on stage. The comparison with Hawkwind is spot on; both bands were befriended, and several Gong members played on the first solo album of Hawkwind sax and flute player Nik Turner (Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake (who for some time was a member of both Gong and Hawkwind at the same time), Miquette Giraudy (who is not a member of Gong on this album but later joined) and Harry Williamson, who never was a member of Gong but a key member of the spin-off band Mother Gong (once again, you absolutely have to listen to Mother Gong's album "Fairy Tales". The album is very little known, so you most likely won't get any other recommendations for it, but trust us - this album is an absolute gem).
Would love to see him react to something like New York Gong after he does the trilogy. Gilli’s album Mother would be a worthwhile listen too, as well as some Steve Hillage albums and Malherbe’s more recent Hadouk stuff. Lots of great Gong extended family albums to react to.
Always remember, GONG, were the antidote to the prog rock bores, who took themselves too seriously!!!. GONG used to play at Brigitte Bardot's parties back in the late 60s. Just good silly fun!!! Check out Pierre Moerlin's GONG , where they went jazz rock, great music!!!
This was a welcome surprise Justin. I hope, within your busy schedule, that one day you manage to complete the trilogy, as the remaining two albums are integral to the story. It also gets sonically superior as we move along! Great choice. 😊
That interlude in the first track sounds like a bit of English music-hall style whimsy. Daevid Allen, though Australian, had links with the British 'Canterbury Scene' (he was an original member of Soft Machine with Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers) which often blended trad English styles with jazz, rock and psychedelia.
Got into Gong when I bought "Camembert Eleqhtrique" for. £0.49 as an intro to the band promoted by Virgin Records. The Angels Egg Trilogy have been on my turntable for many years... Saw them at Free Trade Hall in Manchester and Sheffield Uni. at this time in the 70's...
Was lucky enough to see them live several times in their later years and met Daevid Allen in a pub in Santa Cruz before their show. Talked with him for about 30 minutes. Great guy, loved the fans and what he did. Total hippie....
As well as the (presumably Gilmour era) Pink Floydesque moments you mentioned Justine, I feel that Syd must also have had some influence in some of the whimsical elements.
Some might say that Christmas is all about getting intoxicated with your favourite substances then lying back and enjoying the entertainment, however weird, which makes Flying Teapot entirely appropriate! This is a bit of fun though not the best of Gong musically. I know that some people rate Angel's Egg as the highpoint of the trilogy but I think that 90% of the best stuff is on 'You'. Keep going! Btw, that was a straightforward waltz to my ears in Pot Head Pixies.
What a great day JP - Buzzcocks and Gong. One of the best gigs I ever experienced was Gong at around the time of Angels Egg. It was in an upstairs room of a pub in Birmingham. The promoters (I think it was actually the fledgling Virgin Records at that time as there were people who worked at the Virgin shop on the door) clearly had no idea how popular Gong were - the venue was full way beyond capacity.
That session is a slow triple and reminds me of a waltz. I picture 1890's guys in straw hats an women in long skirts carrying parasols like in a Monet painting.
Now you have to listen to all of "Angel's Egg", which is part two of the "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy. The resolution of the story of the Pothead Pixies and Zero the Hero and all doesn't occur until the third part, "You". Can't wait until you get to that album. Blessings.
That little excursion the first track took half-way through, to which you were looking for a name for....I suppose you'd call that a waltz. (Ooops I wrote that before I noticed that Jeanine and Friederike Greifswald-Tolleson had commented similarly a couple of days before, hence this edit. And now I've scrolled down further I notice that Stevious said the same. Now I'm guessing that others may have done so before. Note to self, "scroll before commenting!")
Don't forget Kevin Ayers, he played alongside Deavid Allen in Soft Machine, and has had later contact and played together in various contexts, also with Gong. I would like to highlight some songs from Kevin Ayers, which are worth listening to. "Song from the Bottom of a Well", and "There Is Loving / Among Us / There Is Loving", and "Rheinhardt and Geraldine / Colores Para Dolores".
Afternoon, Justin. Dave from The Old Haunt. Not so keen on the silliness but love the spacy jazz-rock side of Gong, so not surprisingly Zero The Hero... is my favourite track too. We get much more of this on following albums like You and Shamal. P.S. My song ref The Old Haunt is by The Dear Hunter.
French waltz is possibly the style of the piece you queried about. This is possibly due to the fact that the band had been based in France from the late 60s, and a fair few of the members were French. There was and ex member called Christian Boule (I think) who went on to solo career copying the style of Steve Hillages Solo work
I first heard this in the sixth form of high school (Grammar School) and enjoyed it, especially the electronic keyboard floating sections, like "The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine". But the jazzy section of "Zero The Hero And The Witch's Spell" is marvellous. My favourite Gong track is "The Isle Of Everywhere" from their "You" album.
Omg, one of my favorite albums of one of my favorite bands. Absolute madness and beauty. Psychedelic but jazzrock at the same time. Saxplayer Didier Malherbe is brilliant. The band is also famous for it’s “glissando guitar”. The connection to the Soft Machine is of course Daevid Allen, he is one of the foundermembers of the soft machine. But he wasn’t allowed back into Britain after gigs in France, being a New Zealander and not British, they could do that on drugscharges. He stayed in France and started Gong. That’s why a lot of members are French.
Angel's Egg next then... one of the greatest albums of all time, along with You (part 3 of the trilogy). Let's go JP!!!!!! Also, no examination of this period of Gong is complete without giving Camembert Electrique a spin. Considered by most to be the unofficial part 0 of the trilogy, as Radio Gnome, Pothead Pixies, The Planet Gong, and characters from the trilogy make their first appearance. Then band would often return to or refer to the story on subsequent albums. They finally conclude the increasingly misnamed trilogy (as Douglas Adams might have said) with the album '2032'. This double album, released in 2009, was a massive return to form for the band, with classic line-up musicians rejoining the band ; Allen, Smyth, Hillage, Giraudy and Malherbe. Easily my favourite band.
That bit in track one seems to me to be a waltz...with a bit of oom-pa-pa thrown in 😀. ""Somebody some where has got to be high". Well DER!! It is 12:01 am 25/12 here in australia; so let me be the first to wish you and your family merry xmas. peace from australia.
Gong were great musicians.... looks can be very deceiving when looking at the cover art although, it is a trip for sure! This brings back memories although hazy ones......loved your analyses as usual Jp thanks.
Echoing many comments, yes, a good album, not their best. But still lots to enjoy, and this imho, the better of the 2 sides. And i'm glad they started on TPHP's, the weakest (though not terrible) of the 4 tracks, so it only get better thereafter. For me it's ZTHATWS, that's the stand out track on the LP. This's the type of Gong, meandering, dreamy, spacey, sound that really does it for me. And don't get too caught up in the whole trilogy thing. Feel free to jump to Camabmber Electrique next time you're on Planet Gong :)
Good Afternude. There's definitely a bit of Spike Milligan in the Pot Head Pixies. There's Spike Milligan in Monty Python, too. I think you might find hidden Milliganimals in the least expected corners of just about anything, without really realizing it. I think the song itself might largely be for the purpose of saying, "Come on inside; I won't hurt you." Gong lives on, BTW. (It's a new Gong again, like it was the last time, again, but it's still a Gong. It has Kavus Torabi - once of Cardiacs - on vocals. Daevid Allen literally nominated him for the job. And it's pretty much a job, since he largely does it because he was "told to" - or was asked so nicely to do it that he had to say yes. The person responsible for there being yet another Gong on this Earth isn't one of the musicians in that Gong; it's the Ancestral Being, thereof.) "Track 3" (?) has a bit of *Dundrets Frödjer* in it. (The one by *Sammla Mammas Manna* , I mean). th-cam.com/video/gwouLphkxiA/w-d-xo.html (They were censured by the yore-tide Swedish Serious Progressive Authorities for it, but failed to desist from being what one might call, "a bit silly sometimes".) Ask someone who knows what she's talking about; she'll tell you you need to listen to this song one day. If you can manage it. And if it's not too much inconvenience. Otherwise we are sorry to have thus troubled you, and apologize for this incontinence.
If you have about 30 seconds to spare, you can quickly get some idea of how there might be some Milliganimals spinning on the hamster wheels so many people have installed in some unused chasm of their minds. As a bonus, you'll learn the victorious delicacies of *The Dustbin Dance* th-cam.com/video/D0EBIZahkig/w-d-xo.html
Yes, that comedic section with the tack piano is in Waltz form but the genre is Vaudeville. Similar song: "Shine on Harvest Moon". I love the combination of jazz, psychedelic rock and humor. For many decades there were inferior CD pressings of the album. With the box set we finally got a sonically improved version. Yes, spacey Hawkwind comparisons, but for me Gong is far better than Hawkwind. Hawkwind is more basic riff driven music. Much more depth, musicianship, and harmonic vocabulary with Gong.
This is the weakest of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy (probably due to the relatively small influence of Steve Hillage at this point), but it's still awesome silliness. ❤
The most direct Hawkwind connection here is Tim Blake, who learned synths while he was a roadie for Hawkwind shortly before joining Gong. He's since played in later versions of Hawkwind. There's a video of Tim and Steve Hillage joining Dave Brock at a festival a few years ago that's quite good. This album is where things really take off for me, especially ZtHatWS, which is amazing live. You'll hear that kind of feel a lot more on the next 2 albums of the trilogy, which get increasingly sophisticated and musical. In classic Gong form, there are actually 6 albums in the trilogy, including Shapeshifter, Zero 2 Infinity and 2032. Daevid never really stopped the story, just added more cycles. it's also worth going one album back to Camembert Electrique, which is rougher and more raw than this, but has very memorable songs that stayed in the live set forever. I've been lucky enough to catch them live 6 times, 4 with Daevid and 2 with Kavus Torabi. Kavus's era is more guitar dominated, particularly when Hillage guests to give them a third guitar. When you finally get to Master Builder on "You", you might want to look at the current Gong's ultra high energy live take of it.
We really looked forward to your reaction to this side, Justin. We love Gong; they are among our ten most favorite bands.
What reminded you of polka in "Pot Head Pixies" is actually a waltz. The double entendre/ambiguity in "I am your Pussy" (both meanings are definitely intended) is Gilli Smyth at her best; she was always very seductive on stage.
The comparison with Hawkwind is spot on; both bands were befriended, and several Gong members played on the first solo album of Hawkwind sax and flute player Nik Turner (Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake (who for some time was a member of both Gong and Hawkwind at the same time), Miquette Giraudy (who is not a member of Gong on this album but later joined) and Harry Williamson, who never was a member of Gong but a key member of the spin-off band Mother Gong (once again, you absolutely have to listen to Mother Gong's album "Fairy Tales". The album is very little known, so you most likely won't get any other recommendations for it, but trust us - this album is an absolute gem).
Xitintoday is a fantastic lp, as are most of Uncle Nik's lps.
Would love to see him react to something like New York Gong after he does the trilogy. Gilli’s album Mother would be a worthwhile listen too, as well as some Steve Hillage albums and Malherbe’s more recent Hadouk stuff. Lots of great Gong extended family albums to react to.
Always remember, GONG, were the antidote to the prog rock bores, who took themselves too seriously!!!. GONG used to play at Brigitte Bardot's parties back in the late 60s. Just good silly fun!!! Check out Pierre Moerlin's GONG , where they went jazz rock, great music!!!
This was a welcome surprise Justin. I hope, within your busy schedule, that one day you manage to complete the trilogy, as the remaining two albums are integral to the story. It also gets sonically superior as we move along! Great choice. 😊
Don’t forget ( in Richard Adam’s style) it is A Trilogy in Four Parts ( the fourth being 2032)
Next -'' GONG YOU'' album!
That interlude in the first track sounds like a bit of English music-hall style whimsy. Daevid Allen, though Australian, had links with the British 'Canterbury Scene' (he was an original member of Soft Machine with Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers) which often blended trad English styles with jazz, rock and psychedelia.
Sounds like Spike Milligan in a Goon Show sketch. And the dance is a waltz.
Some honky tonk piano too which brings in some air from circus as well.
Gong are still going today despite Daevid Allen leaving us. I saw them a couple of months ago and they still sound great despite the gap Daevid left.
Got into Gong when I bought "Camembert Eleqhtrique" for. £0.49 as an intro to the band promoted by Virgin Records. The Angels Egg Trilogy have been on my turntable for many years... Saw them at Free Trade Hall in Manchester and Sheffield Uni. at this time in the 70's...
I would describe the piano interlude in Pot Head Pixies as English Music Hall - like a lot of the Small Faces, Kinks and even some of the Beatles
I get the Bonzo's, My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe. So perhaps psychedelic music hall dada? th-cam.com/video/-daYplQj5CE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Y1OP7GbDEUsAEenm
A quick note on the bassist on this album, Francis Moze... he was the first bassist for Magma. Gong and Magma...the yin and yang of prog.
Was lucky enough to see them live several times in their later years and met Daevid Allen in a pub in Santa Cruz before their show. Talked with him for about 30 minutes. Great guy, loved the fans and what he did. Total hippie....
Yyyeeeehhh, More Gong please
My favorite album is 'You'
The final 3rd of the 'Teapot' trilogy
As well as the (presumably Gilmour era) Pink Floydesque moments you mentioned Justine, I feel that Syd must also have had some influence in some of the whimsical elements.
It's a waltz. 3/4 time.
Some might say that Christmas is all about getting intoxicated with your favourite substances then lying back and enjoying the entertainment, however weird, which makes Flying Teapot entirely appropriate!
This is a bit of fun though not the best of Gong musically. I know that some people rate Angel's Egg as the highpoint of the trilogy but I think that 90% of the best stuff is on 'You'. Keep going! Btw, that was a straightforward waltz to my ears in Pot Head Pixies.
"You" is the masterpiece of FT Trilogy. The music gets better album by album!
What a great day JP - Buzzcocks and Gong. One of the best gigs I ever experienced was Gong at around the time of Angels Egg. It was in an upstairs room of a pub in Birmingham. The promoters (I think it was actually the fledgling Virgin Records at that time as there were people who worked at the Virgin shop on the door) clearly had no idea how popular Gong were - the venue was full way beyond capacity.
Sounds awesome Elvin! Ty :)
That session is a slow triple and reminds me of a waltz. I picture 1890's guys in straw hats an women in long skirts carrying parasols like in a Monet painting.
this side brings some of my favourites! incredible album all along
You know Daevid Allen actually knew and lived among the beat writers and I think this has a real beatnik vibe.
He is also a former member of Soft Machine
Now you have to listen to all of "Angel's Egg", which is part two of the "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy. The resolution of the story of the Pothead Pixies and Zero the Hero and all doesn't occur until the third part, "You". Can't wait until you get to that album. Blessings.
Some day you should do ¨Linda Ciudad ¨from the ¨Buenos Aires Blus¨album by La Pesada ....1972
The style you were looking for in that transition section, I believe would be some sort of derivative of a jazz waltz (maybe?)
This reminds me, we need more Hawkwind. I recommend "Doremi Fasol Latido".
That little excursion the first track took half-way through, to which you were looking for a name for....I suppose you'd call that a waltz.
(Ooops I wrote that before I noticed that Jeanine and Friederike Greifswald-Tolleson had commented similarly a couple of days before, hence this edit. And now I've scrolled down further I notice that Stevious said the same. Now I'm guessing that others may have done so before. Note to self, "scroll before commenting!")
Don't forget Kevin Ayers, he played alongside Deavid Allen in Soft Machine, and has had later contact and played together in various contexts, also with Gong. I would like to highlight some songs from Kevin Ayers, which are worth listening to. "Song from the Bottom of a Well", and
"There Is Loving / Among Us / There Is Loving", and
"Rheinhardt and Geraldine / Colores Para Dolores".
I forgot about KEVIN AYERS: "The Confession of Dr. Dream ..." Certainly the whole album.
Classic.
In a word! 🤩
Afternoon, Justin. Dave from The Old Haunt. Not so keen on the silliness but love the spacy jazz-rock side of Gong, so not surprisingly Zero The Hero... is my favourite track too. We get much more of this on following albums like You and Shamal.
P.S. My song ref The Old Haunt is by The Dear Hunter.
Gong are mad crazy hippies.
French waltz is possibly the style of the piece you queried about. This is possibly due to the fact that the band had been based in France from the late 60s, and a fair few of the members were French. There was and ex member called Christian Boule (I think) who went on to solo career copying the style of Steve Hillages Solo work
Side 2 is by far my favourite on this album.
I'd think you'd enjoy the Gong album Time is the Key which is jazz when Pierre Moerlen was with them.
This helps get through the Holidays! After New Years, I will "Rejoice! I'm Dead!" Peace to all "Pot-head Pixies" and Love to The Planet Gong.
I first heard this in the sixth form of high school (Grammar School) and enjoyed it, especially the electronic keyboard floating sections, like "The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine". But the jazzy section of "Zero The Hero And The Witch's Spell" is marvellous.
My favourite Gong track is "The Isle Of Everywhere" from their "You" album.
Omg, one of my favorite albums of one of my favorite bands. Absolute madness and beauty. Psychedelic but jazzrock at the same time. Saxplayer Didier Malherbe is brilliant. The band is also famous for it’s “glissando guitar”.
The connection to the Soft Machine is of course Daevid Allen, he is one of the foundermembers of the soft machine. But he wasn’t allowed back into Britain after gigs in France, being a New Zealander and not British, they could do that on drugscharges. He stayed in France and started Gong. That’s why a lot of members are French.
I had You, Camembert Electrique and Angel's Egg - lovely and nutty band.
Mannnn I love this band 😂 Can’t wait til you do Angel’s Egg and You!
Angel's Egg next then... one of the greatest albums of all time, along with You (part 3 of the trilogy). Let's go JP!!!!!!
Also, no examination of this period of Gong is complete without giving Camembert Electrique a spin. Considered by most to be the unofficial part 0 of the trilogy, as Radio Gnome, Pothead Pixies, The Planet Gong, and characters from the trilogy make their first appearance.
Then band would often return to or refer to the story on subsequent albums. They finally conclude the increasingly misnamed trilogy (as Douglas Adams might have said) with the album '2032'. This double album, released in 2009, was a massive return to form for the band, with classic line-up musicians rejoining the band ; Allen, Smyth, Hillage, Giraudy and Malherbe.
Easily my favourite band.
That bit in track one seems to me to be a waltz...with a bit of oom-pa-pa thrown in 😀.
""Somebody some where has got to be high".
Well DER!!
It is 12:01 am 25/12 here in australia; so let me be the first to wish you and your family merry xmas.
peace from australia.
I'd say the section you was searching a genre name for is sort of old-timey English music hall style.
That tea pot's got a front door! :0)
I'm at minute 6 at the moment, and just wanted to pause and ask: Cabaret?
Back to Gong. LOVE the titles! AND music!
Love it! Thanks.
Gong were great musicians.... looks can be very deceiving when looking at the cover art although, it is a trip for sure! This brings back memories although hazy ones......loved your analyses as usual Jp thanks.
"Koool" stuff Man !!! 🌠🛸🌌🪐 🙃👍
Really Great Trippy Prog-Fusion here Justin !! ✌🎼🎸🎹🎵🎤🎷🥁🎶
Merry Christmas Ronnie!
@@JustJP Merry Christmas to you and yours also Justin !!! Prog On 🎄🎁✨✌🎼🎸🎹🥁🎻🎵🎶
YEAGHHHH!!
It's been a long time since I've heard this. That section sounds like Samla Mammas Manna.
jazz rock fusion on the doper'''s level!
Echoing many comments, yes, a good album, not their best. But still lots to enjoy, and this imho, the better of the 2 sides. And i'm glad they started on TPHP's, the weakest (though not terrible) of the 4 tracks, so it only get better thereafter. For me it's ZTHATWS, that's the stand out track on the LP. This's the type of Gong, meandering, dreamy, spacey, sound that really does it for me. And don't get too caught up in the whole trilogy thing. Feel free to jump to Camabmber Electrique next time you're on Planet Gong :)
YES. Camembert Electrique is my favorite Gong album too.
What's your favourite of the trilogy? I go with "You" everytime!
@@Katehowe3010 'You' is best for me, too.
@@murdockreviews Great taste! 😉
@@Katehowe3010 😊
Good Afternude.
There's definitely a bit of Spike Milligan in the Pot Head Pixies. There's Spike Milligan in Monty Python, too. I think you might find hidden Milliganimals in the least expected corners of just about anything, without really realizing it.
I think the song itself might largely be for the purpose of saying, "Come on inside; I won't hurt you."
Gong lives on, BTW. (It's a new Gong again, like it was the last time, again, but it's still a Gong. It has Kavus Torabi - once of Cardiacs - on vocals. Daevid Allen literally nominated him for the job. And it's pretty much a job, since he largely does it because he was "told to" - or was asked so nicely to do it that he had to say yes. The person responsible for there being yet another Gong on this Earth isn't one of the musicians in that Gong; it's the Ancestral Being, thereof.)
"Track 3" (?) has a bit of *Dundrets Frödjer* in it. (The one by *Sammla Mammas Manna* , I mean). th-cam.com/video/gwouLphkxiA/w-d-xo.html (They were censured by the yore-tide Swedish Serious Progressive Authorities for it, but failed to desist from being what one might call, "a bit silly sometimes".)
Ask someone who knows what she's talking about; she'll tell you you need to listen to this song one day. If you can manage it. And if it's not too much inconvenience. Otherwise we are sorry to have thus troubled you, and apologize for this incontinence.
If you have about 30 seconds to spare, you can quickly get some idea of how there might be some Milliganimals spinning on the hamster wheels so many people have installed in some unused chasm of their minds. As a bonus, you'll learn the victorious delicacies of *The Dustbin Dance* th-cam.com/video/D0EBIZahkig/w-d-xo.html
Please check out Pierre Moerlen's Gong - Time is the Key. It's fire 🔥
Brave listen JP.... Gong's - YOU is their best imo.
Yes, that comedic section with the tack piano is in Waltz form but the genre is Vaudeville. Similar song: "Shine on Harvest Moon".
I love the combination of jazz, psychedelic rock and humor. For many decades there were inferior CD pressings of the album. With the box set we finally got a sonically improved version.
Yes, spacey Hawkwind comparisons, but for me Gong is far better than Hawkwind. Hawkwind is more basic riff driven music. Much more depth, musicianship, and harmonic vocabulary with Gong.
Gong has a season ..that season is mushroom season
Waltz
Wonderful album, weak only in comparison to the next one. Can't wait for Angel's Egg!
This is the weakest of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy (probably due to the relatively small influence of Steve Hillage at this point), but it's still awesome silliness. ❤
Without a doubt. Imo, "You" is where it's really at! 😄
@@Katehowe3010 thanks lol
I'm thinking DEVO? :0/