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Khan - Space Shanty

MichaelC

pfm Member
Well I had to feature this.

What with Steve Hillage having popped up here and there and a few mentions of Khan in other threads...

So it is spinning as I tap this out.

What a decently thick slab of vinyl. Surprise, surprise - it's the Deram label again!

And I love the cover - one of the best album covers ever?

This of course features Dave Stewart (he of the Egg) but really this is a fantastic showcase for Steve Hillage.

A fantastic album.
 
I don't have this but will track it down, big fan of Steve Hillage; as a teenager I had the emblem from the Green LP on my favourite pair of knackered jeans, happy days indeed!
 
I've just purchased a copy of the bass player's solo album Cold Cuts by Nicholas Greenwood which is rather good and very valuable if you have an original (mine is a reissue on Akarma). The drummer Eric Peachey is also featured on it. Steve
 
Most of the material of this album was written by Steve. Sound is also very guitar dominant so I count this as Steve Hillage 's first solo album. It's definitely on par with Fish rising.
 
Well I've looked about and this has become one expensive LP, Michael yours may be worth £150!!!

As such I have ordered a reissue, apparently there was a limited run of 1000 pressed on 180gm followed up by a top up of another 250 copies.

We'll have to see how the sound is.

Many seem to think this is very similar to Fish Rising, which I do have a nice original of.
 
Well I've looked about and this has become one expensive LP, Michael yours may be worth £150!!!

I know some go for that judging by PopSike, but it's very high IMO and I'd expect to land it for a lot less. I bought a copy new back in the 70s though it got culled in The Great New-Wave Clearout of 1980. I decided I wanted to hear it again and about 10-15 years ago and snagged a nice tidy EX/EX copy off eBay for £6.00 IIRC (I was the only bidder, I'd stuck a tenner on). It's one of those albums that not many people know so can slip between the cracks.
 
I know some go for that judging by PopSike, but it's very high IMO and I'd expect to land it for a lot less. I bought a copy new back in the 70s though it got culled in The Great New-Wave Clearout of 1980. I decided I wanted to hear it again and about 10-15 years ago and snagged a nice tidy EX/EX copy off eBay for £6.00 IIRC (I was the only bidder, I'd stuck a tenner on). It's one of those albums that not many people know so can slip between the cracks.

Things move on, a friend recently sold a blue triangle DSOTM for a crazy 2K on the bay, turquoise Zep 1s can get over 3K.

I was offered a solid blue DSOTM 2 years ago for £140! and I thought the Zep 1s were pricey at £500+ back then.
 
Just picked up a lovely original Deram nm/nm copy of this. Sounds far better than my 90s issue CD - great Hillage LP with lovely Stewart flourishes.
 
A refresh of this thread - it is playing now. And, what I will say, other than what a stonkingly good record this is, is that Deram certainly knew how to ensure what came out on their label was superbly produced. The quality of the recording is really quite astounding.

I just love this record.
 
Blimey, we were talking about this back in 2014! Well, I have got to the K’s and it got a proper scrub up yesterday and is playing now. Still fantastic. The cleaning will recommence during the week, I have got a couple to do before hitting the King Crimsons...

This is definitely one of my gems, first press, cover is near as mint as you can get as is the record itself. For the life of me I cannot remember where I got my hands on this. It would have been a long long time ago, yet it doesn’t have my usual Beanos sticker... A mystery.
 
I bought a copy of this as a Japanese import, along with a copy of the "Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp" back in the 90s:
https://www.discogs.com/Khan-Space-Shanty/release/2511752

As a Hillage fan, it was worth getting but it's possbibly my least favourite of his recordings. It's never really clicked: not whacky and hippy enough like Gong and not enough whimsy like most Canterbury rock. I prefer the Arzachel album to this.

If you do like it, it's worth checking out the Nick Greenwood album, "Cold Cuts" - it sounds a bit like a slightly heavier Khan IMHO (and features Eric Peachey on drums) - horrible cover though.
https://www.discogs.com/Nicholas-Greenwood-Cold-Cuts/master/292606
 


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