1978 Albums

Synthesist Michael Hoenig got his start in the German group Agitation Free, alongside drummer Chris Franke. That connection was renewed when Hoenig filled in for a vacationing Peter Baumann on Tangerine Dream's 1975 tours; and obviously, he learned a bit of their craft along the way. In 1976, he worked with Ashra's Manuel Göttsching, but recordings would not surface until decades later (as Early Water). In 1977, Hoenig became one of the first German musicians to sign an international deal, inking with Warner Brothers in the US.

Following the completion of the Gazeuse! Session, Gong fractiously fell apart; Pierre Moerlen however found himself in New York, where he made the acquaintance of a young American bassist, Hansford Rowe. Returning to France, he gathered up his brother Benoît, Mireille Bauer and a new talent, François Causse on congas. The band, called Gong-Expresso, played the May 1977 Gong reunion shows at Paris Hippodrome, which led to the okay from Virgin Records for a new record.