Gong came into being almost by accident in the late sixties when Daevid Allen was refused entry back into Britain following European dates with Soft Machine. Deciding to stay in Paris Allen began working alongside Gilli Smyth and various musicians on what would eventually be recognised as Gong.

The first recognised recordings from the band were Magick Brother, Mystic Sister in 1970 followed by albums such as Camembert Electrique, Flying Teapot, Angels Egg and You. These last three albums followed the fortunes of Zero the Hero and told the tale of the pothead pixies and was told over the course of the next three albums and became the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy. This mythological story was extremely popular and the resultant albums sold exceptionally well however following the departure of core members Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Steve Hillage citing the age old musical differences reason for leaving the band Gong moved in a more jazz oriented direction with the addition of Allan Holdsworth alongside Pierre Moerlen and Didier Malherbe. Allen, Smyth and Hillage have all recorded as solo artists and Smyth subsequently formed the offshoot Mother Gong. Occasionally the three have re united as was seen by the release of the live Gong album recorded in 1977.

Various permutations of Gong have worked together over the years under various names including Mother Gong, Expresso Gong, Gongmaison, Planet Gong and so on and so forth and also included an amazing array of musical talent moving through the ranks. Some versions of the band have Daevid Allen on board and others do not however over recent years Daevid has once again become the leading light and inspiration behind the very fluid Gong concept that began over thirty years ago.

Gong At Montserrat and Other Stories is a wonderful mix of the old and the new and also the rare.

The old is footage of the classic line up of Gong which featured Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage, Pierre Moerlin and Tim Blake. The more recent footage comes from 2006 and finds Daevid Allen in an al fresco mood reciting his poetry and singing songs. There is also footage of acidmothersgong from the RFH I 2002. Perhaps the rarest piece of footage is the original line up of the Soft Machine featuring Daevid Allen. This footage was filmed at UFO in 1967 at a benefit for UFO founder John “Hoppy” Hopkins.

This DVD received a very positive response when played at the Gong UNCON in Amsterdam in November 2006 and will no doubt sell well to the large and devoted Gong fan base.