Protogong : Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Ziska Baum, Loren Standlee, Tanner Celensu, Natch Depoit, Don Cherry (only at Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm), George Andrews, and more play a colourful season (poetry, lightshow, etc.) at La Vieille Grille in Paris - everyone would jam away for hours around nothing…. Gilli and Ziska develop the concept of space whisper, which Daevid accompanies on glissando guitar. They appear on one track of Dreaming the Magic of Your Maya by Princess Flower and the Moonrays, before being blown apart by the 1968 student revolution.
September 1969 - February 1970
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Raschid Houari, Christian Tritsch, Daniel Laloux (left March 1970), Dieter Geweissler (left end of 1969), Burton Greene (guest), Earl Freeman (guest), Bare Phillips, Tasmin Smyth : Magic Brother/Mystic Sister (pop album of the week on French radio). Play first gig at Amougies Festival. Spend two months hard gigging around Paris. Bob Benamou and Jaques Fivel take over as managers. The band move into, live and rehearse at Château du Theil, Normandy. Garçon Ou Fille
April 1970 - January 1971
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Raschid Houari, Christian Tritsch, Michael Brown (sat in briefly, October 1970) : Camembert Eclectique; tour and 'raid' radio stations, move to Montalieu.
February 1971 - November 1971
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Pip Pyle, Christian Tritsch, Kevin Ayers (July 1971 - January 1972), Lol Coxhill (sat in on 'Section'), Gerry Fitzgerald (ex Mouseproof) : Camembert Electrique, Continental Circus, Obsolete (Dashiell Hedayat). Perform at Glastonbury Festival. Kevin Ayers almost joins for a while but prefers a more cosmopolition lifestyle.
November 1971 - July 1972
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Christian Tritsch, Laurie Allan (ex DC and the MB's - left in April 1972), Mac Poole (April-May 1972 - ex Warhorse), Charles Heyward (June-July 1972 - ex Quiet Sun). Tour extensively with Magma. Cut first session for John Peel. Some of the material on Glastonbury Fayre was actually recorded by this lineup in a Belgian nunnery and not at the Festival.
September 1972 - October 1972
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Christian Tritsch, Raschid Houari, Francis Moze (ex Magma), Rob Tait (ex Battered Ornaments, Piblokto), Di Bond. Gilli gives birth to son Taliesin, 04/07/72. Georgio Gomelsky and Benamou encourage Daevid to meet Richard Branson in the UK. Tour Cathar country in France.
October 1972 - February 1973
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Christian Tritsch (left by the end of 1972), Raschid Houari (left by the end of 1972), Francis Moze, Laurie Allan, Steve Hillage (joins January 1973), Tim Blake; Flying Teapot recorded at Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, January-February 1973
May 1973 - November 1973
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen (goes to study with Stockhausen), Steve Hillage, Tim Blake : Angels Egg November 1973, Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwalls, 'Ooby Scooby Doomsday' single. Engage on first Virgin-backed tour of record stores and parking lots, then a few gigs without Gilli due to pregnancy difficulties.
November 1973 - February 1974
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Mike Howlett, Rob Tait, Di Stewart, Steve Hillage, Tim Blake. Camembert Electrique re-released by Virgin for the price of a single - reaches number 5 in the album charts. Tour north of England. Gilli gives birth to a second son, Orlando, 28/01/74. Record second (and finest) Peel session for Radio 1.
March 1974 - August 1974
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen, Steve Hillage, Tim Blake, Gilli Smyth, Chris Cutler (when Pierre isn't available); Arthur Brown (live concert guest). The band move to Middlefield Farm near Oxford, and are almost immediately busted for dope. Tour Holland and south of England.You
September 1974 - April 1975
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen, Mike Howlett, Brian Davison (joins January 1975 - ex The Nice, Refugee, David Essex), Bill Bruford (joins November 1974 - ex Yes, King Crimson), Laurie Allan (busted on French border, November 1974), Steve Hillage, Tim Blake (goes solo March 1975), Miquette Giraudy. The band polarise into factions. Steve Hillage begins work on Fish Rising with most of the members of Gong. The musical emphasis starts to shift towards percussion-driven instrumentals.
April 1975 - July 1975
Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett, Brian Davison, Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, Dave Stewart (ex Hatfield and the North - joins in France, June 1975). The band continue in a more instrumental vein.
August 1975 - December 1975
Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen, Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, Patrice Lemoine, Jorge Pinchevsky (joins December 1975), Mireille Bauer (joins September 1975), Laurie Allan (when Pierre isn't available). Dispensing with the arcane loonery, they bring in Pink Floyd's Nick Mason to produce Shamal, marking a shift towards a more polished jazz-rock sound.
January 1976 - June 1976
Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett (Penetration, Strontium 90, Illegal Records), Pierre Moerlen, Patrice Lemoine (Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes), Jorge Pinchevsky (busted with a violin case full of grass on the way into the UK - and where was the violin?), Mireille Bauer; Pierre becomes a full time member of the prestigious percussion de Strasbourg whilst not with Gong.
July 1976 - April 1977
Didier Malherbe, Pierre Moerlen, Mireille Bauer, Benoit Moerlen, Francis Moze (Naissance), Alan Holdsworth (ex Nucleus, Soft Machine, etc.), Mino Cinelou (percussion - Miles Davis, Weather Report) Gazeuse
May 1977
Didier Malherbe, Daevid Allen (resumes solo career), Gilli Smyth, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen (goes off to study with Stockhausen), Steve Hillage, Miquette Giraudy, Tim Blake; the 'classic' line-up reunite four years later. Gong Est Mort (Tapioca TP 10002/3)
1977?
Hansford Rowe, bass (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) Pierre Moerlen, drums (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) Jorge Pinchevsky, violin - only for French gigs in May+June Mireille Bauer, percussion (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) Benoit Moerlen, percussion (Pierre Moerlen's Gong) First gig is at the 1977 Paris Gong reunion.
April 1990
Daevid Allen, Keith Bailey, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steffe Lewry, Twink (ex Here & Now); form "re-union" band for Bedrock TV show : Live on TV 1990
March 1992 - December 1992
Daevid Allen, Keith Bailey, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Graham Clark, Shyamal Maitra; drop the 'maison' tag Shapeshifter (Celluloid 669142) - first proper Gong studio album since many years…
April 1994 - October 1994
Daevid Allen, Keith Bailey, Rob Calvert, Pip Pyle, Steffe Lewry, Gilli Smyth
1995 : 25th Birthday Party
Daevid Allen, Tim Blake, Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Steffe Lewry, Gilli Smyth : The Birthday Party
