1970 Albums

King Crimson's third album found Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield back in the studio just months after the release of their previous album, In The Wake Of Poseidon. Andrew McCulloch, post-Manfred Mann, came in on drums, joining the returning Mel Collins and Gordon Haskell (who also provided bass guitar). "Cirkus" opens the album and quickly descends into a typically foreboding Mellotron line; but there is a difference this time around: on Lizard, the Crim sound is exclusively constructed in the studio as this would be the only King Crimson lineup that did not play live.

The wacky world of Gong began in 1967, after Daevid Allen found himself ex-Soft Machine and stranded in France, courtesy of British Immigration. Returning to Paris, Allen secured a guitar, Binson amplifier and a "gynaecological surgical instrument" through benefactors; subsequently, he invented his trademark glissando guitar technique. Reunited with Gilli Smyth, the pair found like-minded musicians to create their improvised art.

Sometime during King Crimson's first American tour in late 1969, multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald and drummer Michael Giles decided to part ways with their cohorts (they hated touring). Returning to England, they recorded this eponymous album, enlisting the help of Peter Giles on bass.

Following his ejection from The Deviants during their 1969 US tour, Mick Farren returned to the UK. With a contractual obligation to Transatlantic Records outstanding, he teamed up with guitarist Steve Hammond and both John Gustafson and Peter Robinson of Quatermass. Farren also enlisted Twink and Steve Peregrine Took, as a sort of precursor to the Pink Fairies, along with a few other mates. Both sections of "Mona,"-yes, the same Bo Diddley number covered by The Rolling Stones and The Troggs- are typical of Farren's love for rock ‘n' roll as he played it with The Deviants.