from the LP You, Virgin Records, 1974If there was a lifetime achievement award given to the most psychedelically altered band ever, the intergalactic teapot of so-called “pothead pixies” we know as Gong would surely be among the front runners, giving lysergic swimming pools like Hawkwind and the Grateful Dead a genuine run for their money. Formed around the time of the 1968 student revolution in France, Gong was ultimately the idea of Aussie ex-pat Daevid Allen & his then girlfriend and British ex-pat, Gilli Smyth; they were forced to flee during the riots, & wound up encamped on the Balearic island of Mallorca, finding other hippie musicians (they apparently discovered saxophonist Didier Malherbe living in a cave there…) while ingesting copious amounts of hashish and mushrooms--- it was during those months spent out of his mind that Allen created all the mythology that would follow Gong until his departure. This is actually the last Gong release he appeared on, and his influence here had been much diminished, the band replacing his tongue-in-cheek humor with a greater emphasis on synthesizers & spacey atmospherics; no worries though, the music is just as incredible as ever, slowly building steam until around five & a half minutes in when the train goes completely off the tracks, into a wormhole that projects you into a parallel universe, for a moment…no, really. Don’t believe me? Grab your bong and your headphones, then tell me otherwise!
