It was L that I heard first. At the time, I knew nothing of Utopia and Todd Rundgren who played on and produced it. I’ve never found out why it was called L, if there even was a reason
But I was captivated by its mix of spacey atmospherics and cosmic far-outness. It really hit me in the sweet spot because it played to my emerging hippy nature. It also played against the nature of the times. While punk raged, I was more taken with the effect of the moon and ley lines. And I liked the way he used the salmon as a metaphor for swimming against the tide.
Others who also loved him were also fellow travellers on this road. It was as though all the records from Fish Rising up till and including the Live Herald album feel like all part of the same vision.
The best studio album is, I think, Green. The peak of which is The Glorious Om riff which was originally recorded as Master Builder when he was in Gong. Its swirling riff like a sonic mandala. The live record captures many of his best material and is played with great vigour
All his albums all charted in the UK so I can’t have been unique in my appreciation. Motivation Radio was the most successful at #28. Afterwards he explored ambient music though I saw him with Gong in Edinburgh around 2010 and it was as uplifting as ever with the guitar soaring.
