Pierre Moerlen (Gong) Interview, 1980
By Bill Rosenblatt ’83
This was my first ever interview with a musician on the air. There I was, a wide-eyed sophomore, treating this obscure French drummer like he was a huge rock star. The drummer was Pierre Moerlen, leader of Gong. They were in Princeton for a WPRB-sponsored stop at Alexander Hall (now Richardson Auditorium) on their first US tour ever.
[LISTEN or DOWNLOAD: Pierre Moerlen interview, 8.28.80]
[Digitized 11.25.14 by Bill Rosenblatt]
If you have no idea who Gong was, you are far from alone. Gong was originally a band from France that started in the late 60s, led by Australian guitarist/singer Daevid Allen, formerly of the seminal British psychedelic band Soft Machine. They had a cult following through the early-mid 70s as a wacky, spaced-out post-hippie band, along the lines of early Pink Floyd (but zanier) or Hawkwind (but softer and proggier). Gong’s “Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy” of 1973-74 is its best-known work and remains a favorite of mine to this day. (more…)