Steve Hillage (cover of Motivation Radio album, 1977)
Years ago, when I took over the GEPR, one of the things I was determined to do
was give my version of "proper" reviews for Gong
and some of the incredible musicians who came and went from that band. I feel they
have an undeservedly poor rap fom the GEPR's more
symphonically-inclined contributors. I
like symphonic prog just fine, but my
favorites in the '70's were the pioneers of space
rock, especially Gong,
Clearlight and
Tangerine Dream. These guys seem to be treated
today with an embarrassed condescending attitude, something like: "yeah, we thought
they were cool then, but really, we've outgrown this stuff now". Too bad. This was
some of the most incredible, innovative music ever written (or "never written", since
much of it was improvised), and the solo works of members of these bands also offered
some spectacular moments. Steve Hillage's solo efforts are (in my humble opinion,
of course) among the best of them.
Stephen Simpson Hillage, also known as The Octave Doctor, Stevie
Hillside Village and other
pseudonyms, but mostly just Steve Hillage, was born August 2, 1951. He was a
co-founder of the band Arzachel (also known as
Uriel) with bassist Mont Campbell,
organist Dave Stewart
and drummer Clive Brooks. Together, they recorded their sole release Arzachel
in 1969, a brand of psychedelic rock that foreshadowed what would one day be known as
space rock. When Hillage went off
to Kent University, the other three continued on as
Egg. Hillage subsequently returned from
his university studies and recorded the 1972 album Space Shanty with his friend
Dave Stewart under the name of
Khan.
Hillage toured with Kevin Ayers, and
(rumor at the time had it) was then thrust upon
Daevid Allen's Gong by Virgin Records
execs. As much as I love Daevid Allen's
pre- and post-Hillage work with Gong, I
still think that Gong's very best albums were
the so-called "trilogy" period (Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and
You) which made use of Allen's
mythology but was increasingly influenced by Hillage. Though the combination
of Allen's "glissando" guitar style and
Hillage's echo and delay-feedback guitar created some of the most beautiful,
otherworldly and hallucinogenic sound imaginable, tensions in the band rose to the
point that Allen and partner
Gilli Smyth left the band, leaving Hillage
as the sole guitarist for Gong's transitional
(and, in my opinion, comparatively "straight" and uninspired) Shamal.
But before Shamal, Hillage released his first solo album, Fish Rising,
an album of very You-like music, using most of the remaining members of
Gong (Tim Blake,
Pierre Moerlen, Mike Howlett and
Didier Malherbe) along with his old friend Dave
Stewart contributing Egg-like organ and
future collaborator Miquette Giraudy (credited here as Bambaloni Yoni).
Though a later review here will state that Hillage went "downhill" after this
album, the quality of this album is so high that there is a long way downhill to go
and still put out some pretty good stuff. Fish Rising is one of the best prog
albums ever recorded, in my opinion. Like the Gong
albums of the same period, it is dismissed by some as "silly", but I don't find the
new-agey lyrics about Angels of the Rainbow and mystical salmon to be silly, simply
thought-provoking and having fun with words and language: "I will make you fishers of
men said fish to fishes, For fish is fisher of man who fishes, And if man is fisher
of fish and fisher of men, And fish is fisher of men and fisher of fish, And then
that man is Manna of man, Then we'll get there if we can." Silly? Well, maybe. Or
maybe it's deep. Sort of depends on your state of mind when you're listening to it
if you know what I mean.
Hillage abandoned Gong after Shamal
and launched into a solo career. His next album, L was supposed to be his
breakthrough into mainstream popularity, so he came to New York to record the album
with Todd Rundgren as producer. If Fish
Rising was practically a Gong album with
Hillage at the helm, then L is a Utopia
album with Hillage replacing Rundgren
on guitar. The remaining members of Utopia act as
his backing band (Roger Powell on keyboards, Kasim Sultan on bass and
John Wilcox on drums), and adds jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Miquette
Giraudy who also co-wrote many of the songs. L is a good album, intentionally
influenced by Todd Rundgren's pop sensibilities,
and thus less purely "prog" than Fish Rising, and also more American sounding
in its slick production quality. However, it still has plenty of progressive content ...
enough so that it never really had a chance as a "popular" album, and in that sense
it failed miserably. Many proggers don't care for L, but I like most of it,
even the remakes of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and George Harrison's
"It's All Too Much", given the Hillage/Utopia
"treatment" on this album.
Though L did enjoy some commercial success, aided by a tour of the USA backing
up Electric Light Orchestra, it was by no means the
breakthrough album for Hillage to become a pop star. For his next album, Motivation
Radio, he abandoned the poppish influence of Todd
Rundgren and joined forces with Malcolm Cecil (Tonto's
Expanding Head Band) as producer. Thinner than previous releases because it's
basically just Hillage's guitar, guitar synth and vocals, Giraudy's synths (handling
spacey noises, synth solos and bass) and occasional vocals and an uncredited drummer
(also Hillage?), this album is a great showcase for Hillage's guitar
style, and is one of my favorite albums of all time, especially when I'm feeling
depressed ... this is a very inspirational and motivational album, borrowing the
"Radio Gnome" concept from Daevid Allen's
Gong mythos (a supernatural radio station that broadcasts
directly into the brain of the listener via the music). A great album, admittedly
"downhill" from Fish Rising, though that's still "uphill" from the vast majority
of other albums.
Green continues Hillage's track record for finding famous prog producers
for his solo efforts, this time Pink Floyd's
Nick Mason. I would say this album is similar to Motivation Radio overall,
with a less thin (and less synthesized) guitar sound. Occasionally, it reminds more of Fish
Rising, but lacking Dave Stewart's keys,
Pierre Moerlen's drums and Mike Howlett's
bass, it never quite achieves that level of excellence. Lyrically, it still focuses on
new-age philosophy, eastern mysticism and U.F.O.'s as great galactic mentors. Great
stuff, though I must say Hillage seems to be rehashing old ideas a lot at this
point. Hard for me to put this down too much, since I love these ideas, but it is a
legitimate gripe for those who would like to see more "progress" happening in their
"progressive rock".
I haven't heard Live Herald, described here elsewhere as a live album of earlier
music plus one side of studio work. I do have the CD version of Open, which
contains the studio side of Live Herald, however. These studio cuts see
Hillage beginning to slide towards what would eventually become a more dancable
techno sound, especially in the synths but
also in the drums. Still plenty of spaciness and drug-induced philosophy, though.
It's hard to call "Aktivatior 1988" anything but a punk song ... well, except for the
synths and the Hillage guitar solo in the middle, making it more reminiscent of
The Here and Now Band. Not my favorite, but
fortunately it's short. The other songs are good, but Hillage appears to be
continuing his migration away from really complex prog stylings.
Open has its moments, but nothing really stands out on it for me. This is
partly because I didn't have the album back when it was released, and the CD version
just keeps getting bumped in favor of the other albums I'm more familiar with and
loved growing up. But I think it's also partly because Hillage was just running
out of new things to do with is unique but narrow guitar style. Not a bad album, but I
would certainly pick up any of the earlier albums before this one. My favorite song
is the title cut, despite (or perhaps because of) the "disco" style slap bass line,
which actually works very well on this song. Synth basses are also used in many of
the songs. "Open" and several other songs remind me of
Gilli Smyth's Robot Woman trilogy.
I'd have rather heard a Mellotron
here than the String Ensemble, though.
The CD release of Open also contains a Hillagized version of The
Beatles' "Getting Better", which is OK but not as interesting as some of his
other cover songs on earlier albums.
Rainbow Dome Musick is a fairly radical departure for Hillage, who is
clearly searching for new places to explore musically. This album falls pretty clearly
into the ambient genre, full of slowly-mutating
spacey pulsating relaxation music. I really liked it back in the day, but have since
grown tired of it as many many others began to emulate this type of music,
abandoning the more complex composition stylings that were losing favor by the late
'70's. But this was one of the original albums in the style.
I had grown away from Hillage by this time, spending more time and energy
(and album-buying budget) on fusion albums,
so I never heard For To Next or And Not Or, which have since been released
together on a single CD. Evidently, I wasn't the only one, because Hillage
dropped off the radar screen completely at this point, and I hadn't heard anything
about him until recently.
Hillage turned to producing albums, for the likes of Robyn Hitchcock and
Simple Minds. But by the end of the '80's, Hillage had disappeared from
the music scene. But, as fate would have it, Hillage walked into a local club
where, to his surprise, his own Rainbow Dome Musick began to play. He introduced
humself to the DJ, Alex Patterson of The Orb, and began working with
dance music because of this. He created a new Hillage/Giraudy project called
System 7 described variously as "blissed-out ambient" (the All-Music Guide)
and "I've only heard one report and it was unfavorable" (the old GEPR System 7
entry). I've listened to several MP3's on the System 7 web site, and I can't
say I find them particularly exciting. Of course, I'm not really into the whole dance/rave
scene, and it was interesting to hear that Hillage still has his chops polished
for this strange mixture of dance music and (simplified) prog guitar. If you're interested,
check out the web site below.
Bottom line is: Hillage was one of the best prog guitarists ever, and nothing
can take that away from him. I would sure like to see him make another attempt at a prog
album again, if just for old times sake. In the meantime, we still have wonderful CD re-releases
of his old albums to savor again and again. I agree with the assessment of another writer
below: start with Fish Rising and work your way forward until you lose interest.
-- Fred Trafton
|
Heaven's Cry - Top: Eric Jarrin (guitars), Sylvain Auclair (vocals, bass),
Rene Lacharite (drums). Bottom: Olaf Quinzanos (guitars), Pierre St. Jean
(vocals, guitars)
Michael Hedges in 1994
Herb Heinz
Jonas Hellborg
Helmet of Gnats - (front) Matt Boccino (keyboards), Chris Fox (guitars), Wayne Zito
(fretted and fretless basses) and (back) Mark Conese (drums, percussion)
Hermetic Science (2001 line-up) - Ed Macan (synthesizers, vibraphone, marimba), Joe
Nagy (drums, percussion) and Jason Hoopes (guitars, bass, sitar)
Heroic Verse - Dan Aulbaugh (drums), Tim Aulbaugh (keyboards), Kelsey Sharp (lead
vocals), Eric Zotigh (guitars) and Jim Sharp (bass)
Hidria Spacefolk at NEARfest 2004 - The guy in the upper left is GEPR editor Fred
Trafton (obviously not a band member). The rest of the guys (not in photo order)
are Kimmo "K.D." Dammert (bass), Mikko "Mike Acid" Happo (guitars), Teemu Kilponen
(drums), Janne "Lo Q" Lounatvuori (keyboards), Sami "Viiru" Wirkkala (guitar)
High Wheel - (not in photo order?) Wolfgang Hierl (vocals, guitars, flute, keyboards),
Uli Jenne (drums), Erich Kogler (vocals, basses, keyboards), Andreas Lobinger (vocals,
keyboards, accordion)