singemonkey wrote
It blew my mind when Bob said he liked The Incredible String Band ???
Doesn't everybody?
Seriously, interest in the ISB is on the up in the UK. Not enough that they're going to reunite and play out a week at the 02 arena, but enough that people are coming out of the woodwork and admitting to owning the CDs.
The ISB were, I think, viewed as being so quintessentially 60s that it was embarrassing - all that outrageous clothing, the drugs, the whimsical lyrics, the constant references to just about every scripture you can think of (and a few that you couldn't).
Last year there was even a sort of tribute concert in London, with Joe Boyd (discoverer, producer, manager) involved and conferring his blessings and Mike Heron participating. The other performers were a seemingly odd mix of old farts (two blokes with the surname "Thompson", Robin Hitchcock) and younger artists who couldn't have been a glimmer in their parent's eye when the ISB were in their pomp.
I might add that whilst I have a liking for the ISB, what really gets me going is Mike Heron's first solo album
Smiling Men With Bad Reputations that takes the ISB's eclecticism and patchouli-drenched, incense-burning, paisley-wearing 60s mentality and crosses over into rock. And more than rock - the first track opens up with a startling and utterly authentic stab of township jive courtesy of guest Dudu Pukwana.
