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JOHN STRANG-VALENTINE LEWIS LLOYD-MARTIN FARQUHARSON : The masterpiece. 25 copies were privately made in 1968 by the 17 year old strang, who carried them home from
the studio several miles in a rucksack on foot. very few survive today, and it is a little understood
lp. the title refers to nuclear armageddon and the total death of all life, not a hippie idyll, and the
songs are apocalyptic poetry that confront the cold war, hiroshima and nagasaki, platonic forms
and the nature of reality, there are also a few explicit drug references to lsd and amphetamines.
this darkness of intent makes the lp exceptional for the time, and seminal. musically it draws
from donovan and the incredible string band , at times becoming experimental, and yet with
an air of fragility that predicts vashti bunyans lp made two years later. john strang continues to
compose privately to this day, but walked away from a Transatlantic Records deal in the early 70s
to pursue a career in Psychiatry, for which he was knighted. A concept lp about mental illness
was due for release on Transatlantic, which we are currently restoring from surviving tapes and
cassettes, entitled “Shame and Stigma” it is forthcoming. Full lyrics included which demand
careful reading, plus an insert explaining the lp written by the artist himself.
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