Gong (band)

This article is about the progressive rock band. For the experimental folk band, see The Gongs. For Chinese experimental rock band, see Gong Gong Gong.

Gong
Gong live at HRH Prog XI in Great Yarmouth, 2023 From left to right: Ian East, Kavus Torabi, Dave Sturt, Cheb Nettles and Fabio Golfetti
Gong live at HRH Prog XI in Great Yarmouth, 2023
From left to right: Ian East, Kavus Torabi, Dave Sturt, Cheb Nettles and Fabio Golfetti
Background information
OriginParis, France
Genres
Years active
  • 1967–1968
  • 1969–1976
  • 1977
  • 1990
  • 1992–2001
  • 2003–2006
  • 2007–present
Labels
Spinoffs
Members
Past members
Websitegongband.com

Gong are a psychedelic rock band that incorporates elements of jazz and space rock into their musical style.[3] The group was formed in Paris in 1967 by Australian musician Daevid Allen and English vocalist Gilli Smyth. Band members have included Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, Pierre Moerlen, Bill Laswell and Theo Travis. Others who have played on stage with Gong include Don Cherry,[4] Chris Cutler, Bill Bruford, Brian Davison, Dave Stewart and Tatsuya Yoshida.

Gong's 1970 debut album, Magick Brother, featured a psychedelic rock sound.[5] By the following year, the second album, Camembert Electrique, featured the more psychedelic rock/space rock sound with which they would be most associated.[1] Between 1973 and 1974, Gong released their best-known work, the allegorical Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, describing the adventures of Zero the Hero, the Good Witch Yoni and the Pot Head Pixies from the Planet Gong.

In 1975, Allen and Smyth left the band, which continued without them, releasing a series of jazz rock albums under the leadership of drummer Pierre Moerlen. This incarnation soon became known as Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Meanwhile, Smyth formed Mother Gong while Allen initiated a series of spin-off groups, including Planet Gong, New York Gong and Gongmaison, before returning to lead Gong once again in 1990 until his death in 2015. With Allen's encouragement, the band decided to continue as a quintet comprising guitarist Fabio Golfetti, bassist Dave Sturt, woodwind player Ian East, guitarist and vocalist Kavus Torabi, and drummer Cheb Nettles. They released the album Rejoice! I'm Dead! in September 2016,[6] followed by The Universe Also Collapses in 2019 and Unending Ascending in 2023.

  1. ^ a b David Ross Smith (20 November 2007). "Camembert Électrique – Gong | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  2. ^ Hegarty, Paul; Halliwell, Martin (2011). Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s. Bloomsbury. p. 64. ISBN 9781441114808.
  3. ^ Muggs, Joe (25 August 2016). "The silliness ran deep in Gong, but they could groove like mothers, too". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  4. ^ Lucky, Jerry. Progressive Rock. Burlington, Ontario: Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc., 2000. p.61
  5. ^ "Allmusic (((Magick Brother > Overview )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2009.
  6. ^ "Madfish". burningshed.com. Retrieved 9 August 2016.