Planet Gong

Anarchy by name and by nature. The ever more complicated convolutions wracking the never stable Gong mothership through the mid-'70s had, by 1977, settled down sufficiently to at least allow listeners to discern which version of the band they most enjoyed listening to - the increasingly jazz-inflected lineup helmed by Pierre Moerlen or the free-form mad machine led by founder Daevid Allen. Floating Anarchy, as you might expect, is the latter.
Though it is difficult to see how flying teapots, pothead pixies, and the witch Yoni's pussy ever made their way into the realms of the British new wave, Allen had, in fact, been soundly embraced by the punk congnoscenti - his Here and Now project toured heavily, frequently playing alongside the youthful Fall, while links between the collective mentalities of Gong and the Crass crew were never hard to discern…

Limited 12 CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD box. Curated by Steve Hillage and released with the full involvement of original members, legendary psychedelic surrealists Gong are the subject of a box set with the release of Love From Planet Gong: The Virgin Years 1973-75. Released to coincide with Gong's 50th Anniversary, the set covers the band's classic years in a stunning package that includes: their seminal first four Virgin studio albums plus bonus tracks; previously unreleased, multi-tracked full gigs, the complete John Peel Sessions from 1973 and 1974; previously unreleased quad Pye and Westlake mixes of You re-formatted to 5.1 surround-sound, and artwork including rare and previously unseen work by the late Daevid Allen…

Gong slowly came together in the late '60s when Australian guitarist Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his wife, singer Gilli Smyth, along with a shifting lineup of supporting musicians. Albums from this period include Magick Brother, Mystic Sister (1969) and the impromptu jam session Bananamoon (1971) featuring Robert Wyatt from the Soft Machine, Gary Wright from Spooky Tooth, and Maggie Bell…

Psychedelic trailblazers Gong will be the subject of the new box set Love From Planet Gong: The Virgin Years 1973-75, to be released by UMC on 27 September. Coinciding with their 50th anniversary, it’s curated by former member Steve Hillage and has the full involvement of original band members.

Gilli Smyth first started performing with Soft Machine in the sixties when the band played their mixture of poetry/music gigs. Gilli became more active as a performer following the formation of Gong with her partner Daevid Allen following his departure from the aforementioned Soft Machine in 1968. Following her departure with Allen from Paris following the Paris riots of late 1968 Gilli along with Allen decamped to Spain although the duo once again returned to France in 1969 where the second edition of Gong became a reality. Gilli was the only female in the band originally and developed her "Space Whisper" which became an integral part of the Gong sound.

Formed in 1969 by Daevid Allen, one of the founding members of Soft Machine, classic albums such as 'Camembert Electrique', 'Flying Teapot' & 'You' established Gong as one of the most unique, innovative & experimental rock groups of the Seventies. Recorded in the middle of their most critically lauded 'Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy' era, 'Live at Longlaville': Salle Elsa Triolet, 27.10.74 is a previously unreleased concert recently discovered in the archives. Despite 1974 being one of the most intensive years in the band's history, with over 150 gigs clocked up, relatively few live recordings from that time exist. We are fortunate to have unearthed such a good one. When it came to squirrelling away recordings for future enjoyment, enlightenment or even possible enrichment, Gong were not the Grateful Dead.