02.04.10
Band of Electric Gypsies
Since at least 1995 the script on the net for the Cash episode of The Young Ones has egregiously mistaken the band responsible for the music playing in the fourth act. Here’s the incorrect bit from the net transcript:
NEIL: No, listen, Stonehenge…No, listen, everybody, right, listen…
[frustrated, Neil silences the loud music by smashing the record player with his truncheon. Everyone is quiet.]
Right, listen…
[he realizes what he's done]…
Oh, no…Led Zeppelin! Anyway, listen everybody, right, like I don’t want to bring the whole evening down or anything, okay, but basically you’re all under arrest.
[Stonehende collapses aginst her wall. Warlock discovers Neil's radio and takes it out of his belt.]
Okay, roll the film!
What we are hearing are the strains of Electric Gypsies by Steve Hillage. Fifteen years later, the very commercial, radio-friendly Led Zeppelin are still getting the credit for music they’ve nought to do with. Whatever else the late Willie Dixon might’ve thought, they’re not even close:
The Canterbury scene (or Canterbury sound) is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many prominent British avant-garde or fusion musicians began their career in Canterbury bands, such as Hugh Hopper, Steve Hillage, Dave Stewart, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Mike Ratledge, Fred Frith, and Peter Blegvad. Over the years, with band membership changes and new bands evolving, the term has been used to describe a musical style or subgenre, rather than a regional group of musicians.
Here’s the Gong in its entirety.
