There were always two Van der Graafs: the one which skirteted the limits of making "pop records"in the studio... and the live one. The latter was as noisy as it was unpredictable.In any sequence of three shows one was likely to be an execrable cacophonic  maelstrom, one a comparatively measured representation of songs and arrangements... and one the real, chaotic/calm, thing which was nor aim and our raison d'etre.

             The recorded legacy  of VdGG, though almost complete in terms of studio work, doesn't show much of the live aspect. The only live recording made of the band was at the end of its days in an atypical line-up. Apart from the predictable crop of dodgy cassette-recorded bootlegs  these BBC sessions are probably the closest thing to the sound and style of the live which still exist.

            The line-up throughout is the classic four- piece one: myself (vox, piano, guitar and moods), Hugh Banton (organ, bass pedals, and design), Guy Evans  (drums and tiptoe) and David Jackson (saxes, flute and his own devices) and the songs are presented in their chronological order. Many people thought we were mad to play music like this... for us it was always Serious Fun. There you go...there we went. Pass me my mirror shades
 

PETER HAMMILL
 

SONG LIST

Darkness - 10/06/71

Man-Erg - 10/06/71

Scorched Earth - 03/07/75

Sleepwalkers - 03/07/75

Still Life - 01/04/76

La Rossa - 01/04/76

When She Comes - 11/11/76

Masks - 11/11/76