Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gong
Label: LTM/Charly Records
Release: 1978
Length: 42:39
Rating: 3.5/5
In 1977, the eccentric-genius Australian musical innovator Daevid Allen decided to put his solo career on hold and resurrect Gong, the legendary heavyweights of the Canterbury scene, whom he had abruptly walked out on in 1975 right before a gig, claiming that an ‘invisible wall’ was keeping him from getting on stage and cutting him off from the audience. In the meantime, Gong, under the leadership of French drumming maestro Pierre Moerlen, had mutated into a jazz fusion outfit, which had to rename itself Pierre Moerlen’s Gong once Allen returned, while Daevid and his partner Gilli Smyth had to use the name Planet Gong for their version of the band for legal reasons.
The only official release from this version of Gong was the live album »Floating Anarchy«, which Allen and Smyth recorded with members of the space rock band Here & Now. Apart from the track »Opium For the People«, which was recorded in the studio, the rest of the album comes from a gig in the French city of Toulouse on November 6, 1977.
This live outing, little known outside the most devoted Gong faithful, is interesting above all because it contains completely new pieces, or versions of material that had never appeared on any studio Gong album. That goes for the opening psychedelic orgy »Psychological Overture«, where Smyth’s half-comical howling sounds like some post-apocalyptic witches’ gathering. The title track, »Floating Anarchy«, echoes the early Gong in its approach, as do the rest of the performances, while the production is pretty tinny, though that doesn’t hurt the obscure nature of most of the material too much.
The sounds of the day didn’t move Allen all that much, although his vocal approach has ‘caught’ some punk influences in places, especially on the anarchistically charged »Opium For the People«, while Stephan Lewry’s guitar style blends Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix influences at the same time. »Stoned Innocent Frankenstein« features a juicy hard rock, proto-NWOBHM guitar riff, while Allen’s trademark mix of avant-garde-spiced psychedelia and space rock otherwise rules the day.
The epic experiment »New Age Transformation Try: No More Sages« opens with a short psychedelic recital from Smyth, while ethereal synthesizer waves courtesy of Gavin Allardyce dominate, the kind that were typical of Gong with Tim Blake (Hawkwind) in the lineup. Allen was in great vocal form and, as always, the driving force of the band, even in this short-lived version of Gong. The fourteen-plus-minute space rock epic adventure »Allez Ali Baba Black Sheep Have You Any Bullshit: Mama Maya Mantram« is the most interesting Planet Gong creation, comparable in quality to the most colorful moments of the cult »Radio Gnome Invisible« trilogy.
»Live Floating Anarchy«, the only official album released under the Planet Gong name, just before Allen’s brief ‘prog punk’ phase, is a one-of-a-kind oddity in the Gong discography. The obscure production suits the nature of most of the material pretty well. It’s no artistic breakthrough, but at the time of release it was clear proof that eccentric Uncle Allen hadn’t forgotten how to make innovative, completely one-of-a-kind space rock, strictly for those with a select taste.
Lineup
Dingbat Alien (Daevid Allen) – vocals, guitar,
Gilli Smyth – ‘space whisper and recitals
Prof. Steffy Sharpstrings P.A. (Stephan Lewry) – guitar, vocals (2)
Keith da Missile Bass (Keith Bailey) – bass guitar
Kif Kif Le Batteur (Keith Dobson) – drums
Gavin Da Blitz (Gavin Allardyce) – synthesizer
Suze Da Blooz & Anni Wombat – backing vocals
Production
Gong
Track list
1. Psychological Overture Zero (2:36)
2. Floatin’ Anarchy Zero (5:16)
3. Stone Innoc Frankenstein Allen (3:19)
4. New Age Transformation Try: No More Sages Zero (12:06)
5. Opium For The People. Allen (4:24)
6. Allez Ali Baba Black-Sheep Have You Any Bull Shit: Mama Maya Mantram Zero (15:01)
