Gong

A progressive rock band founded in 1969 by former Soft Machine guitarist Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth. The band are known for its trilogy (Flying Teapot, Angel’s Egg and You) of Radio Gnome Invisible, which themes revolves around the mythology of Zero the Hero and other characters.

They were also known for being one of the first music bands to be in the roster of Richard Branson’s Virgin Records during its inception of the label and the era of progressive rock.

The famous line-up included Steve Hillage, Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, Pierre Moerlen and Didier Malherbe during the release of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy; by 1975, when Allen left the band, the band spawned spinoffs ranging from Pierre Moerlen’s Gong, a jazz fusion ensemble, to Planet/New York and Mother Gong, both initiated by the two founding members.

The band was properly reunited by the 1990s with several recurring and new members as well as releasing several more albums, until the announcement of Allen’s diagnosis of cancer and subsequently his death in 2015; he appointed British guitarist Kavus Torabi, as a bandleader, to continue performing as Gong.