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Rating: Suppose you are a brilliant personality, unconventional, an unabashed fan of more or less heavy drugs, but above all, suppose that you have contemplated a project that no one before had ever approached: summarizing EVERYTHING in three albums. Using as tools the story of a primordial civilization, itself a product of your mind as sick as it is freaking genius. Then you are called Daevid Allen and you have created one of the most extraordinary and innovative works ever: the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, including this astonishing debut: Flying Teapot.
Those idiots at Ondarock, and in particular the one who curated their very personal "History of Progressive," claim that you are known far beyond your actual merits (but does he know Michael Jackson?), and that in your music, they perceive large compositional gaps filled with cunning. He even says that your departure from the band was beneficial! Madness. Well, unlike him, I've listened to your record, so I dare to talk about it as well.
You couldn’t have made a more twisted album! So crazy, limp... absurd choruses, jumping sounds, sudden fusion bursts that would be extremely innovative even if done today. But you did it forty years ago and this seems bewildering. That "The Octave Doctors And The Crystal Machine" so much resembles the electronic sounds that would come shortly after. Anyway, you absolutely have to introduce me to Pierre Moerlen, aka Dierre de Strasbourg or Lawrence The Alien. His drumming work in songs like "Flying Teapot" and "Zero The Hero And Witch Spell" are unforgettable, in my opinion. But of course, all the others too: you all contributed to creating that sound as irresistible as it is unique.
The gems of your record for me are precisely represented by "Flying Teapot," one of the pinnacles of all seventies music, "The Pot Head Pixies," and "Zero The Hero." The first, with its musical perfection, the Frankenstein-like movie start that leads into that kind of singing I wouldn't even know how to define, so absurd and brilliant; then that musical interlude on the verge between Jazz and fusion accompanied, indeed dominated by the usual monstrous drumming of Lawrence the Alien (remarkable, however, are also the winds, signed by Didier Malherbe) until the arrival of those crazy vocals then interrupted by a grand keyboard finale, it’s your masterpiece.
Another thing: the cover is wonderful and those little green creatures are adorable. Never as much as the teapotmobile, though. Congratulations, then!
One question: But what does "Banana, Nirvana, Manana" mean?
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Flying Teapot (11:51)
If you feel belief hi Pete
I got a story to tell you
Of a band of little green men
From a far away planet
If you want to know about love
Then ask the wee geezer
He can teach you telepathy
He can read your mind backwards
If you try to do the cat in
You can only be a loser
Paranoia never touch him
He's got ways of laughter
Baby don't you bring yourself down
Got to catch you up later
If you want to know about love
You can ask the wee geezer
He can teach you telepathy
He can read your mind backwards
If you try to do the cat in
You can only be a loser
Paranoia never touch him
He's got ways of laughter
Baby don't you bring yourself down
I'll catch you up later
Give him a bit of your love you get it back later...
Give him a bit of your love you get it back
later (repeat)
...Hear me now from the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet...
Have a cup of tea, have another one, have a cup of tea
Have a cup of tea, have another one, have a cup of tea
Have a cup of tea, have another one, have a cup of tea...
High in the sky, what do you see ?
Come down to Earth, a cup of tea
Flying saucer, flying teacup
From outer space, Flying Teapot (repeat)
03 The Pot Head Pixies (03:02)
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Hey Pete you gotta meet the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
So meet, you'll never beat the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Oh me, they're something to see, the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Oh my, they come from the sky, the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Beware! Be aware! Beware! Be aware !
Somebody somewhere has got to be high
They got a Flying Teapot, don't need a taxi
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
They're from the planet of love, the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Ding dang dong, singing the song, it's pretty catchy
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
They just can't give you enough, the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Be there! Be aware! Be there! See you there!
Open on Saturday seven to nine
I'm a real Pothead Pixie
The green planet Gong is my home
I live everywhere but in case I'm not there
You can reach me by Radio Gnome
Somebody somewhere has got to be high
Hey Joe, you gotta know the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Hey-ho, they come and they go, the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Hey Pete, get up on your feet and catch a taxi
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Oh oui, we're gonna meet the Pot Head Pixies
I am - you are - we are - crazy !
Now so
Now you know
Here and now
They come and go
Bom bom bom bom...
Good afternoon
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By bogusman
"A music more intoxicating than definitely psychedelic: the world imagined is a musical comedy disguised as a concept album."
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