Space Rock Explosion

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 27 2023 at 10:58

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 26 2023 at 12:29

A-Z of Far Out Space Rock from the Far East

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 24 2023 at 07:25

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - October 31 2023 at 16:19

I remember reading something a long time ago about Pink Floyd wanting to meet and consult with Delia Derbyshire. Supposedly she payed for a taxi to transport the band. She was working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She had re- worked or re-arranged a piece written by another writer which became the Dr. Who theme. But she also recorded obscure Electronic pieces which gained the interest of Roger Waters and Syd Barrett. She was using sound generators and cutting tape to form notes dating back as far as 1963. She had released an album titled THE DREAMS which contained tape recordings of people describing their dreams back by a darkscaped sustaining keyboard sound that was made popular years later by Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno.

It's always a possibility that Roger Waters was somewhat influenced by that idea as strange voice overdubs were usually present in the music of Pink Floyd. Syd Barrett was a fan of AMMM MUSIC and he seemed to be influenced by the guitar player and the style of sound effects which were evident on "BIKE". It's merely speculation that Delia Derbyshire had a future influence on the members of Pink Floyd, but the possibility of that is hinted or leaves a person wondering since Delia Derbyshire was an innovator . Certain sounds and rhymically produced electronics on her early BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP recordings can be observed on early recordings by The Residents, but it's also a possibility that her creative usage of sound generators was highly influential to others that are difficult to imagine or are displaced and masksed by modernism and technology..however the basis for it came from her head. She influenced the experimental side to Rock , but sadly it is not acknowledged enough...but I strongly believe she unconditionally had a lot to do with its growth and expansion in the 60s and 70s.

She wasn't using a Moog Synthesizer in 1964 and Bob Moog did not make it readily available for musicians and the film industry until the late 60s. She was utilizing sound generators to produce sounds that were later captured on the Moog Synthesizer and so Bob Moog made those sounds accessible by designing it to be played manually on a keyboard. Much of this interest from Rock bands also derived from Stockhousen who was experimenting with generators. The band CAN used a sound generator.

The idea was to fuse electronics with Rock. Roger Waters and Ron Geesin had some interest in each other musically. It's difficult to know what they observed in the Electronic Music and Avant Garde of the 20th century. It could be coincidental that Roger Waters borrowed the Synthesizer rhythm for "On The Run" from Mort Garson "LEAVE THE DRIVING TO US" but both tracks have similarities in style and sound.

It seems obvious that "SEVERAL SPECIES OF SMALL FURRY ANIMALS" practically emulates the style of Ron Geesin just as many of RICK WRIGHT'S keyboard sounds on Saucerful Of Secrets, More, and Ummagumma are truly reminiscent of the sounds Delia Derbyshire created in 1964 and additionally had similarities to Tangerine Dream's early material.

It's difficult to make an accurate conclusion as to how Space Rock formed, but it seems logical that Rock bands were consulting with Electronic artists in those times. Electronic music was just starting to receive recognition and the experimentation of its sound produced in Rock hadn't been thought of or perhaps pursued by bands until Beaver and Krause started hanging out with George Martin.

Krautrock was a very inventive style that intrigued me. Popol Vuh in the early years actually captured a totally unique style of keyboard sounds . Terry Riley was very creative and innovative on RAINBOW IN CURVED AIR. It all seemed to form quickly because it was the golden age of Electronic Music and a lot of musicians had lots of new ideas for music that hadn't been invented before. It was fascinating!

Hawkwind in the early years had the slightest influence of Syd Barrett's songwriting. For example "Astronomy Domine" could have easily fit into a Hawkwind album like In Search Of Space. "INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE" , "LUCIFER SAM, and ASTRONOMY DOMINE " contained a specific style that surfaced through the music of Amon Duul II, CAN ( certain tracks or jam sections), early GURU GURU which is often labeled as having an influence of Jimi Hendrix actually has an early Pink Floyd style on tracks like "SPACE SHIP" and various excerpts throughout KANGURU.

NEU and ASH RA TEMPEL seemed to follow that path as well..but it's important to realize that Krautrock had great originality. In the early 70s it was completely magical and it lured me in. The band GONG seemed to tread on that territory. I felt that Daevid Allen's writing had similarities to Syd Barrett. For example "The Isle Of Everywhere" and tracks from Camemberet Electrique. GONG were thought to be Canterbury...which they were, but they certainly innovated Space Rock even further making a new quantum leap and further leaving their mark to surface through other bands of their time.

Edited by Jacob Schoolcraft - June 09 2023 at 11:00

cstack3 wrote: I never heard of this band!  Bassist was John Glascock, ex-Jethro Tull member!