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Gong, Steve Hillage etc


Clarky
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[quote name='mep' timestamp='1335270108' post='1628322']
I shall look forward to checking out some of the video links in the comfort of my own home & set of cans on.

I am a big fan of Hillage, Gong & Hawkwind.

I can't believe no one has mentioned the epic [i]Live Herald [/i]by Steve Hillage. One of my fav LP's of his.
[/quote]

Ahh, one of my very favourite albums.

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[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1335287216' post='1628710']
Anybody wanting to hear a mixture of Steve Hillage, Hawkwind and Gong should try The Magic Mushroom Band. No longer operating, but some nice people have put some of their stuff up on YouTube. Well worth an earhole.
[/quote]

I remember them. didn't they used to do something at the Crypt in Deptford?

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[quote name='paul torch' timestamp='1335287463' post='1628716']
I remember them. didn't they used to do something at the Crypt in Deptford?
[/quote]

They did. It was through that gig that they met the people who got them recorded on a "new bands compilation" LP called The Waking Dream.

I ended up as their PA man and broken-equipment-fixer around that time although I never went to Deptford with them. I do remember many gigs at the Nags Head in High Wycombe though. After that I got a gig as a guitarist in a Reading-based band run by a chap who was building his own studio, and the MMB came to record in that studio for Politics of Ecstasy. Due to some cockup with record levels on the tape, a lot of the signal was below the noise floor but the record company pressed it anyway and then someone (can't remember who) refused to allow distribution, so actual copies of the LP are extremely rare, although it is possible that there is someone who's got a lot of unopened boxes of it under his bed ...

Edited by musophilr
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  • 2 years later...

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1415960772' post='2605541']
I am hearing Gong music for the first time right now. I am really impressed with Mike Howlett.
[/quote]

Good, isn't he? Not flashy, but absolutely on it. I saw them a couple of years ago when they released the 2032 album and not only is his playing as good as ever, he had one of the nicest live bass sounds I've heard.

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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1415961065' post='2605548']
Good, isn't he? Not flashy, but absolutely on it. I saw them a couple of years ago when they released the 2032 album and not only is his playing as good as ever, he had one of the nicest live bass sounds I've heard.
[/quote]

I listened to 'You', and am now listening to the beginning of '2032'. I agree very much with your description. Not flashy, but there's still originality and interest in his basslines. On 'You', particularly the longer tracks, it sounds to me if he has composed exactly the right basslines for the long, musically interesting, tracks he's playing on. It all just sounds right.

EDIT: Digital girl mentions "php on her hard drive". I'm writing PHP as I'm listening to the album. :)

Edited by Annoying Twit
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Daevid Allen health bulletin from last month: hope he makes it!
[color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
On 1st October daevid's course of radiotherapy was completed. During the last phase of treatment it was decided to double the level of radiation and double the number of sessions to two per day. Consequently daevid is frail as could possibly be, far below shattered, very quiet and as Turiya e-mailed, "very introverted", he has also lost a lot of weight - but most importantly the cancer is gone. Now comes the slow journey back to being a healthy, happy, independent 77 year old.[/font][/color][color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
When he decided to embrace the radiotherapy course of action daevid said he would commit himself completely and utterly for the duration, and do whatever 'they' said needed to do done. Then, when it was all over, he would commit himself totally to naturopathic pathways back to wellness -[/font][/color]

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1415960772' post='2605541']
I am hearing Gong music for the first time right now. I am really impressed with Mike Howlett.
[/quote]

Never Glid Before on Angels Egg features one of the sweetest and most tasteful 4 bar bass solos ever.

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Just stumbled onto this resurrected thread. I was a total Gong head from the age of about 15 onwards, saw them many times, saw Hillage band many times, Here & Now used to stay with us in Leeds, was in the audience when they recorded their live material at Stonehenge late 70s....happy daze indeed. Somewhere I still have a telegram from Steve H. asking me to play bass for him when he left Gong. For some reason, I didn't do it.

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[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1415960772' post='2605541']
I am hearing Gong music for the first time right now. I am really impressed with Mike Howlett.
[/quote]

He's great. You know about [url="http://gongband.info/event/londonhighbur-uk/"]http://gongband.info/event/londonhighbur-uk/[/url] right?

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[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1415961800' post='2605561']
Daevid Allen health bulletin from last month: hope he makes it!

[color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]On 1st October daevid's course of radiotherapy was completed. During the last phase of treatment it was decided to double the level of radiation and double the number of sessions to two per day. Consequently daevid is frail as could possibly be, far below shattered, very quiet and as Turiya e-mailed, "very introverted", he has also lost a lot of weight - but most importantly the cancer is gone. Now comes the slow journey back to being a healthy, happy, independent 77 year old.[/font][/color]
[color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]When he decided to embrace the radiotherapy course of action daevid said he would commit himself completely and utterly for the duration, and do whatever 'they' said needed to do done. Then, when it was all over, he would commit himself totally to naturopathic pathways back to wellness -[/font][/color]
[/quote]

I think I posted here or somewhere else but we played on a festival bill with him in Italy and apart from a very chaotic sound check which
took hours..but to be fair, the weather in the medieval square was fantastic so who cares..and he came across as a nice guy. I also recall he was very fit as we saw him go from the hotel off for a run. Not the dopehead that we assumed, altho I can't say that about the band, but maybe the story fitted at that time.
His set made an impression as well.

I hope he gets well

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Just listened to the track and Hurdy Gurdy.

Back in the day - it was a long time ago, my mate used to constantly play me Hillage stuff
and I just didn't get it.

Listening to it now, I can understand his liking for it and now sort of get it myself - perhaps
even more, with a few more listens/tracks.

This has taken me back to my yoooof!

Thanks for the post.

I'm off to email him now and tell him that it has only taken me 35 odd years to catch on!

:)

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