Gong is One and One is YOU!!!!

When I grew up and started listening to King Crimson I knew I was in some adventurous territory. I also knew that I would be up for the challenge of other progressive rock acts to listen to. My only fear was to hate some act and make me not like the act or the genre of music. Thank god I did not fall into that trap.

I just finished High School when I was on my way to the community college when I started hanging out at the local bookstore. As stated in previous posts I met new people and listened to new music and I got a more wider range of musical tastes. I also started listening to different radio stations. The first was a college station from Hartford. This station had all types of music and was heavy on the Jazz during the day and also at night. In the afternoons it was wide open. On one day it was Ambient music, another day was Folk and on another day was new Rock and Roll. The person doing the Ambient show made a point to tell his listeners that if you like the stuff he was playing you should listen to the man on Sunday nights from 9 to midnight. He told us his show was called "The Greatest Show From Earth"

This show was the show I got my wings to grow on about cool musical genres such as Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, Electronic Music and Rock and Roll not heard in like a million years. A prime example is he would open with "Mandolin Wind" by Rod Stewart followed by "Jackson-Kent Blues" by Steve Miller. But one night he opened the show with Gong. I never heard of them before this and after the song I wanted to run to the bookstore and buy the CD that he played. I did not care how much it cost as long as I now I owned it. The song "Blues for Findlay" swept me up and took a hold of me almost like King Crimson did.



Sadly, I was able to find the CD that song was on, but the price was out of my budget. In the early 1990's a price of $50.00 was way out of my budget. A friend who worked at the record store told me to go to a place in Northampton that might have it cheaper. He was right, it was and I picked it up. When I came to tell him the good news he told me about this girl who just started working at the book store who is a huge Gong fan. I was instructed to ask her questions. Another friend who worked there told me that she may be the hottest Gong fan too. So I came up to ask her where the Gong CD's were. They did not have much, but she did point out that she could order them. She also told me that If I listen to her radio show she would play some. Her show was midnight to 4am on the UCONN station.

I did and I was transformed to another state. A state that made me feel like I was part of a Psychedelic movement. I could never explain the way Gong made me feel, but they were amazing. They did everything right and then some. They made me like them just like I started to like King Crimson. Every song and album was a new adventure. These new adventures took me to the far reaches of my brain. Sadly she moved on after working at the book store for a few years, but her musical tastes were extraordinary. I still remember some of her picks to me and of course without question I listened.



Gong made me feel things I have never felt before. I went back to school after some time off and funny enough Gong is what made feel calm. I liked the way they made you feel like you were on this magic ride through that space and time. They were fun to listen to and even felt at times like an audio acid trip. The trip though, lasted for more then 15 years. I still to this day feel like I am still floating above the sky watching all that is around me.

So In this post I pick the three Gong albums known as the Gong Mythology or Gong's Radio Gnome Trilogy. These albums make up the titles Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You and these were released in 1973 and 1974. Each has a theme through out that continue to the next album.

Each of these albums have their own power, that I could never explain correctly. I will try to explain that the music is far above what we would listen to. It's spacey Progressive Rock is like no other music that was being put out at that time. The songs are not long but in the length of the songs they do give you a complete journey.



Last year I had the pleasure to see them at NEARFEST. It was their one and only visit the United States. I was extremely to see them a second time. It was also a first for me and the others because this was the first time Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Gilli Smyth and Daevid Allen were together on stage in over 30 years. My friend who knew only about them through my praise was in for a treat. They turned my world upside down and I still have never recovered from the impact of that performance. They played for about 2 hours, but that 2 hours felt like forever. As soon as they hit the stage, and remembering telling Mike Howlett how much of an impression they made on me. I was in my own little world.

Gong is an amazing band. They had different line-ups after these albums, but I am not sure if they had the power and transforming glow like this era of the group did. I do suggest if you can get all three of these albums, then this is the way to go. Each will put you in space like no other. I also suggest Camebert Electrique which I am sure I will talk about in another post. I don't think anyone could make a classic three album set like this ever again, but if they do, they have to live up to these extremely high expectations. Enjoy the space trip, you may never be the same again when you land.