Facelift Magazine - The Canterbury Scene and Beyond

Five unforgettable "Canterbury Moments"

Gong in their heyday (1973?) playing on and on at the Hammersmith Palais long after the management had put the houselights up and opened the doors onto a freezing winters night to try and get rid of us.

Finding an original copy of "Arzachel" in an Oxfam shop for 50p - trashed almost to the point of unplayability, but what the hell...

Going to a photographic exhibition at Battersea Arts Centre only to find Lol Coxhill wandering about the halls improvising an accompanyment to the pictures on his soprano.

Robert Wyatt on TOTP with "I'm A Believer", Fred Frith strumming the back of his guitar and other such hi-jinks from his cast of megastars. (anyone got a video copy?)

Slipping into the bar of the Hotel Ryde Castle in the Isle of Wight for a beer

"Club Canterbury" - five tracks you wouldn't be ashamed to shake a leg to

at a club near you;

"Song For The Bearded Lady" from We'll Talk About It Later - Nucleus -

"Apricot Jam" - from Coxhill/Miller/Miller/Coxhill

"This Is What Happens" - from Dedicated to You - Keith Tippett

"Superman" from Fine Old Tom - Tom Newman (a borderline Canterbury case in himself, but the backing musicians are high pedigree, and the song is quite perfectly mad)

"Dog o Matic" - from Shapeshifter - Gong

Five Personal Heroes

Ollie Halsall for the sublime solos on Kevin Ayers 3 tracks on the "1st June" live LP

Robert Wyatt for many a Rivmic Melody, perhaps especially the astonishing pyrotechnics on Teeth (listen to the recently released Virtually version)

Richard Sinclair for years of beautiful vocals (come back soon)

Chris Spedding for marvellously combative guitar on the first few Nucleus albums

Tim Blake for the Octave Doctors - honey for the ears

Five Magical Musical Moments From My Youth

Nine Feet Underground

Half Asleep/Half Awake

Slightly All The Time

Calyx

A Sprinkling of Clouds

Trout Mask Replica 4.7 - Proof They Can Still Do It With Some Cracking

Albums From More Recent Times

Phil Miller/Fred Baker - Double Up

Glo - Even As We Glo

Mont Campbell - Music from A Round Tower

Robert Wyatt - Schleep

Pip Pyle - Seven Year Itch

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