Rock and Roll has certainly had its share of particularly strange groups throughout the years but I'm not going to touch on the obvious stand-outs at this point in time. Some people think KISS was a rock oddity but if you have some knowledge of Rock history, you'd know that many bands took the "make-up and elaborate costumes" route and many teenagers and young adults didn't think it out of ordinary at all. Before KISS, Alice Cooper did a more psychological but creepy approach to Rock that may never die out. Today it is known all over the world as Death Rock and there are a myriad of European bands which tout just that but they are certainly not original. Alice Cooper takes the bows for that alone.
Here's a band I consider to be my version of an oddity. Does anybody remember the band Magma? Didn't think so. Don't feel bad, I don't either but they were before my time! It's not surprising that most of you won't because it was a band formed in 1969 in France by Christian Vander. They considered themselves an Art Rock phenomenon because they invented their own language: Kobaian. That's right, Kobaian which was supposed to be from the planet Kobaia.
Here's a band I consider to be my version of an oddity. Does anybody remember the band Magma? Didn't think so. Don't feel bad, I don't either but they were before my time! It's not surprising that most of you won't because it was a band formed in 1969 in France by Christian Vander. They considered themselves an Art Rock phenomenon because they invented their own language: Kobaian. That's right, Kobaian which was supposed to be from the planet Kobaia.
This gets even better so keep reading.
Vander was a percussionist who loved Elvin Jones music (Jazz) but he was really a devotee of both contemporary Classical and modern Jazz (a` la Coltrane, Sun Ra). Christian Vander, from these influences, constructed music that had some intriguing polyrhythmic tunes and all his albums were conceptual (very much like Frank Zappa!) but involved interplanetary communication, galactic warfare and even the apocalypse. They toured with another band called Gong (who were even more bizarre, keep reading...) and while touring often stayed in fans homes because they were so low budget. This is not to take away from their musical viability, however, as they put out an impressive amount of albums and if you attend enough garage sales you may run across one of their albums someday! Here are some titles to look for:
Magma- 1970, 1001 Degrees Centigrade- 1971, Live (on Utopia Records) 1975, Udu Wudu- 1976, Edits, Attahk- 1977.
If you ever find any of these e-mail me because I'd like to buy at least one of these records and actually hear them ! ! ! !
Now Gong were formed a year later than Magma in Paris by an expatriated Australian by the name of Daevid Allen. All but a few of their titles were in English and they had the distinction of being not only in compliment to Magma (i.e. UFOs, mythology buffs) they were more of a European post-hippie band which mixed Rock, Folk and Jazz in with synthesizers but emulated Magma's musicality. (The Kelly Family might be a good example as a more modern equivalent.) As time progressed in their evolution they had frequent personnel changes. When Allen started out he was basically a beatnik who attended the Canterbury College of Art back in 1966. While his group evolved he went on to greener Rock pastures. He had the opportunity to work with an impressive number of "well-knowns", mentioned further in this entry. Before his departure from Gong he was able to complete a trilogy he created about the planet Gong. These LPs were Flying Teapot, You, and Angel's Egg.
In 1979 with the release of one of his few French titles N'existe Pas he led the first Gong group to play the U.S. He lived for a time in Woodstock (quel surprise!) and did solo tours for a time as the Divided Alien Clockwork Band.
Pierre Moerlen took over Gong in 1973 and the real Gong specialized in percussion-heavy Jazz Rock under Moerlen's influence. His first recording with them was Angel's Egg in 1973. He had actually studied music at his father's old alma mater the Strasbourg Conservatory in 1967 until 1972 and was well prepared for his rotating cache of sidemen which included some big names like Steve Hillage, Todd Rundgren, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor ( on whose solo debut in 1979 Moerlen contributed.) The only remaining original member was Didier Malherbe, the saxophonist/flutist.
He re-united with Allen in 1977 to record Gong Est Mort and at that point they began to do more work in America after signing with Arista. Gong is most unique in that many different "incarnations" of the band, using the very same name, were allowed to flourish which most likely is the reason that Moerlen's band received very little notice for their U.S. concerts. Their brand of Rock was simply more popular in Europe at the time. Don't hesitate to let me know if you ever see Gong's or Magma's LPs in a garage sale. Check out Gong's discography below:
1973- The Flying Teapot
Angel's Egg
1974- Continental Circus
Camembert Electrique
You (Virgin Records)
1976- Shamal
1977- Gazeuse
Live!
Magick Brother
Gong Est Mort
Expresso 1978
Expresso II
Expresso II
1979- Downwind
Time is the Key
Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live
Evelyn M. Wallace
All rights reserved 2007
