Episode 26

a tribute to Pip Pyle (1950—2006)

Listen Here

1. Lady June (and friends) — "Bars" (from Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy, 1974)

2. Delivery (feat. Carol Grimes) — "Miserable Man" (from Fools Meeting, 1970)

3. Gong — "Blues for Findlay (instrumental)" (from Continental Circus, 1971)

4. National Health — "Tenemos Roads" (from National Health, 1977)

5. Khan — "Stargazer" (from Space Shanty, 1972)

6. Dashiell Hedayat — "Cielo Drive, 17" [excerpt] (from Obsolete, 1971)

7. Daevid Allen — "It's the Time of Your Life" (from Banana Moon, 1971)

8. Kevin Ayers — "Strange Song" (from Rainbow Takeaway, 1978)

9. Robert Wyatt — "'Round Midnight" (from the Shipbuilding EP, 1982)

10. Caravan — "For Richard" (from If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, 1970)

11. Hatfield and the North — "Nan's True Hole" (recorded live in Nancy, France 1975-07-02)

12. Short Wave — "Nan's True Hole" (recorded live at The Forum, London, 1994-10-08)

13. Brainville — "Shadow" (recorded live at The Lanterns, Ashburton, 1998-06-18, released on Live in the UK, 2004)

14. Pip Pyle's Equipe'Out — "Hanello" (from Pip Pyle's Equipe'Out, 1987)

15. Gong — "Tried So Hard" (from Camembert Electrique, 1971)

16. National Health — "Squarer For Maud (part one)" (live in Bryn Mawr, PA, 1979-11-26, released on Playtime, 2011)

17. Hatfield and the North — "To Mum and The Gongs" → "Brandy As In Benji" → "Going Up To People And Tinkling" → "Calyx" (recorded live at Birmingham Town Hall, 1974-04-24)

19. Soft Heap — "Petit 3's" (from Soft Heap, 1978)

20. Soft Heap — "A Flap" (recorded live at A L'Ouest de la Grosne, Bresse-sur-Grosne, France, March 1982, released on A Veritable Centaur, 1995)

21. Soft Machine — "Neo-Caliban Grides" → "Out-Bloody-Rageous" (live in Høvikodden, Norway, 1971-02-28, released on Live at Henie Onstad Arts Centre, 2009)

22. Gilli Smyth — "I Am a Fool" → "Back to the Womb" (from Mother, 1978)

23. Hatfield and the North — "Big Jobs" → "Calyx" (live at the Bowery Poetry Club, NYC, 2006-06-26)

24. Delta Sleep — "Dust" (from forthcoming EP)

25. National Health — "Phlákatön" (from Of Queues and Cures, 1978)

26. some Canadian National Health audience members — "Phlákatön" (recorded somewhere in Canada, 1979, released on National Health's Missing Pieces 1996)

27. Adam, Matthew and Matt — "Phlákatön" (undisclosed location near Barham, Kent, 2012-11-22)

[voiceover ambience: Centipede — "Septober Energy — Part 1" (from Septober Energy, 1971)]

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Errata/clarifications: The drummer with Khan on that album track was Eric Peachy — what became of him? I mentioned that I was going to "focus on" Gong's Continental Circus album, but only played one track — I'd originally intended to include "What Do You Want?" (a version of "Fohat Digs Holes in Space") as well, but had to cut that due to time constraints. Dashiell Hedayat's real name appears to have been Jack-Alain Léger. The first Soft Heap track is called "Petit 3's", not "Petit"

There wasn't time to mention a number of Pip's other projects:

• All Wet and Dripping (a shortlived "Canterbury-influenced band in which he replaced Charles Hayward")
• The Weightwatchers (unrecorded touring band with Elton Dean and Keith Tippett)
• Phil Miller's In Cahoots (Pip was the drummer for many years)
• Rapid Eye Movement (with Dave Stewart, Jakko Jakszyk and Rick Biddulph)
• T-Mit (with Mark Hewins, Richards Sinclair and Vince Clarke)
• Absolute Zero
• Pip Pyle's Bash!

Also Pip's composition/songwriting with Hatfield, etc. should have got a mention, as drummers who can write music are few and far between.

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Calyx website biography of Pip

Dave Stewart's "In Memoriam" piece

Wikipedia entry for Pip

Guardian obituary

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If you want to try recording or performing your own version of "Phlákatön", here are the lyrics!

"Phlak
phlakka phlakka
phlakaton cash!
ker-chaffa, ker-chaffa
oum-ka-ka oum-er-ka-kaf-dof
flibbet, flibbet, flibbet, flibbet
raka-taka raka-taka
BISH!"

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Some YouTube comments have questioned the thinking behind putting the following footage from Pip's funeral in the public domain, but it appears to have been cleared by his family. The general feeling seems to be that he would have wanted people to have enjoyed themselves at the event.

[from the Pip Pyle homepage, 2006-09-11]: "Pip's funeral will be held in England in a week or so (the date has not been fixed yet). Pip's children are planning to decorate Pip's coffin with the type of stickers he had on his drum cases, and have asked that if anyone has any Hatfield and the North, National Health, Gong, Chicken Shack, L'Equipe Out, Soft Heap, Bash!, Musicians' Union or 'Keep Music Live' (etc.) stickers they would like to donate, could they kindly send them now to the Funeral Directors...

Alternatively, bearing in mind that these stickers are often treasured possessions, you can scan them and send the image to Sam Ellidge and Sam will make them into stickers. All submissions are welcome. Please feel free to send anything that tickles your fancy, however daft or irreverent — Pip had a wicked sense of humour and would have liked the idea of people having a bit of a laugh at his funeral."