Song:Isle Of Everywhere
Album:Absolutely The Best Of Gong
Gong is a progressive rock band that will be of interest of those who like similar groups like Soft Machine. And it's actually a spinoff of Soft Machine. Group leader Daevid Allen (born Jan. 13, 1938 in Melbourne, Australia) founded Soft Machine with Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers and Mike Ratledge in 1966. But Allen was refused entry to the UK after a tour due to visa problems and he stayed in Paris. It was there that he met professor Gilli Smyth and they formed Gong. They had to flee France for Majorca when they participated in the 1968 student revolutions and supposedly they found sax player Didier Malherbe living in a cave. Among those involved with Gong in the early days were Robert Wyatt, Gary Wright and Maggie Bell. They signed with Virgin Records in 1973 and added guitarist Steve Hillage. Their music is progressive rock mixed with jazz and spoken word elements. They created this mythical Planet Gong complete with characters. It was kind of a musical comic book. Isle Of Everywhere is from their 1974 album You. It was the third part of the Radio Gnome Trilogy of albums that built a strong cult following. Allen and Smyth left Gong in 1975 under mysterious circumstances. Virgin asked drummer Pierre Moerlen to take over the band. It actually became a different band. Allen would continue to record solo albums but by 1992 he formed a new version of Gong. Gong has reunited occasionally over the years and still performs today. This 2CD comp from Varese is a good intro to their music. Here's Gong performing Isle Of Everywhere in Amsterdam 2006.
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