Gong in the Spring
Daevid Allen- vocal, guitar
Gylli Smyth- vocals
Steffi Sharpstrings- guitar
Didier Malherbe- sax
Mike Howlett- bass
Pip Pyle- drums
Mama Kin Music Hall
Boston, Mass.
March 6, 1996
original broadcast date: March 21, 1996 on WCUW 91.3 FM Worcester "Glasnost Radio" show.
performance quality: B+
recording quality: B+
source: master audience tape
runtime: 106:53 (minutes/seconds)
disc 1: 57:30
1: intro 5:28
2: you can't kill me 6:58
3: Radio Gnome invisible 7:17
4: Witch's song > I am your pussy 5:16
5: I never glid before 6:27
6: flute salad "Les B's" 6:00
7: oily way 3:04
8: outer temple > inner temple 6:49
9: she made the world > master builder 10:09
disc 2: 47:06
10: Mercury > I am a witch 9:18
11: the isle of everywhere > get it inner > 11:05
12: you never blow yr trip forever 12:08
13: encore break > comments 1:58
14: band introductions > fohat digs holes in space 12:35
15: Gong radio ID for WCUW 91.3 FM Worcester 2:03
16: Mike Howlett radio ID :12
(plus 4 short radio ID's)
lineage: Naka. CM-100 microphones >
Radio Shack mini-mixer >
Naka. BX- 100 cassette deck >
Maxell XLII-S 90 min. cassettes
soundforge 4.5 > FLAC 6 > torrentially yours.
A Glasnost Radio "You Are There" Production 1996 (not just practicing this time.)
a 3 step torrent uploaded for the first time ever anywhwere March 6, 2008.
reseeded in 2011 with some re-tracking, total runtime, setlist
and a flac > wav > flac (sb's aligned) reconversion to remove the sbe's.
Do not sell this recording.
share freely, losslessly and gaplessly.
comments:
this is the 1st of 2 Gong concerts I recorded for broadcast on WCUW radio. It was a cold dank raw
day, typical for a March Boston day, and Daevid was not feeling well for this show at all (he had a
cold) but they still managed to dog it out and put on a good show. It was the first time I'd seen them
since the 1st radio recording I ever made of anyone, 17 years earlier, Planet Gong. This was a different
band on the 96 tour. Some may not know it, but Daevid Allen has been doing this as long as Mick Jagger
(Allen was in his 60's when this show happened) and may do it longer than anyone else when he's all through
with music. Gong was around before the Grateful Dead's long Dark Stars. They just never got nearly as
popular, but they have become quite accomplished space rockers, still some of the very best. This recording
has 1 splice (tape flip) sort of in between songs, during a spacy transition, missing just a few seconds,
everything else is in here. This is a shorter show than the October 96 one, but the quality is identical.
Both were recorded in the same place, same deck/mikes/placement/brand of cassette. I hope to share more
of both my own archives and some of 10 years of Glasnost Radio recordings. Much like Dime, WCUW is also
a nonprofit organization and in the interest of sharing and preserving musical talent in the community.
Unfortunately it is also very low-budget (listener supported) and low-power (100 watts) and many of the
broadcasts suffered poor transmitter static problems so people never got to hear the way these really sound.
I feel as a debt to the artists kind enough to share in this nice little tradition of Glasnost Radio concert
broadcasts, they should be heard without the static, and the best of them will be, eventually (unless one
objects). Most of these shows are unknown/local bands, some are pretty good and a few, not so unknown. It
was a big deal for me to be a part of it. Most of the WCUW people haven't any idea who Gong is (maybe that's
for the better) but at least a few felt it was pretty cool that they would let us do this- twice in 1 year.
I never got to meet Pip Pyle, unfortunately. He seemed very shy (also very good drummer in National Health
and in this Gong tour and a good guy). I will have the October Boston show to post later, if you like this one,
the October one is virtually identical sound quality as this is- same mikes/deck/position of mikes/place
and cassette tape. There is some talking of crowd, none very loud but audible in recording, mikes were on stands
on either side of the soundboard, all with the kind permission of (oh, that's Jethro Tull, sorry), let's say
with the good blessings of Daevid Allen (who I have met 3 times), the godfather of all things Gong (this one,
easy to confuse with the only remotely related Pierre Moerlen's Gong, I will have some of them to share too),
I think this was a rare WCUW broadcast with reception quality of audible (that's rather good for them) but
now you get it with only the sound the band put there. This recording sounds alot better than it's ever been
heard on the radio, so here's another Glasnost Radio Production. All yours. Not just whistling dixie this time.
(if we got to broadcast a Dixie Dregs show I would be, but we never got to do that. Aw shucks).