Haha, I see what you mean about the dog, one can only hope that the RSPCA stepped in before so much as a sarangi was strummed or a vocal strangled. A very different kettle of fish to Soft Machine, eh?

It ably demonstrates the fine line between getting it right and getting it wrong, to the extent that Kaleidoscope (the British one that went on to become Fairfield Parlour) sound very similar to the Incredible String Band in places but are an absolute galaxy apart with regards to quality. I also have a liking for Dr. Strangely Strange – the second album, Heavy Petting, anyways – who also bear similarities to the dreaded String Band.

I think it’s like you say, the String Band stem from the same right-on, middle/upper class tofu mentality that’s still around today and just got lucky, whereas the other two I mentioned were made up of actual musicians with an ear for a tune and the ability to sidestep the more toe-curling of embarrassing lyrics.

Thanks for the heads up on the Comsat Angels – I’ll have to give them a look. The latest Shindig magazine (don’t know if you’re acquainted) came with a free CD showcasing twenty new bands playing the sort of stuff that would’ve been around in the in the late 60s/70s. I was pleasantly surprised by it. A few decent acts on there worthy of further investigation.

Thanks again, Martin.

But consider – if this particular lot hadn’t made such an appalling record, then some other extended family of Lincoln-green clad create-your-own-reality hippy-folkies would surely have done, as it was not uncommon (in London certainly) at that time to find communal, arty, right-on well-to-do ‘families’ (typically within a large middle-class house) that saw the ‘Love, Peace & Freedom’ ethic as beginning at home.

And of course everyone within that social milieu could lay hands on a guitar and a Dylan album somewhere in the house – & usually a copy of A.S. Neil’s ‘Summerhill’ or Richard Neville’s ‘Playpower’ as manifestos (both great books, incidentally – I don’t see any books performing the same role for today’s teenage generation?).

“Lethal to innocent wildlife” ? Well, … take another look at that album cover – I do believe I see a distinct look of foreboding on Fido’s face!

As primary school kids c.1962 we had a hamper-load of around 200 45′s given to us, one of which was a folk single called “Out After Ale”, the chorus of which was -

“Sing Whoops-A-Saa, Tra-La-La-La, She Thought He’d Gone Out To Drink Ale” (!)

p.s. thanks for a great website with great writing – I look forward to exploring it more fully at ridiculous hours. And the one rock band post-1979 that I’ve followed assiduously are the Comsat Angels – their 1996 ‘My Minds’ Eye’ (available on Renascent) is an absolute classic.

Martin Westmacott