Back in the halcyon days of 1973 / 1978 Giorgio Gomelsky was in control of almost all the MAGMA recordings and supposedly held the rights to re-release 'ATTAHK', 'ÜDÜ WÜDÜ' & 'LIVE' etc on any label he wished e.g. Tomato, Charly, Ariola. Well, did you know that late in the late '70s he was talking about releasing a box set of 9 or 10 MAGMA albums? All new material and / or live performances of old favourites. This was to be on the Marmalade label and would have included 'ËMËHNTËHT-RÊ'. The record company had actually included this set in their catalogue listings supplied to the record shops, but the final product never materialised. I wonder who has got the demos?
Apparently
Seventh records are now planning to release the original 'INEDITS' album on
CD - an album that Christian has referred to as "the first Magma Pirate (bootleg)".
It would be nice to think that Giorgio's record companies could now produce
two triple CD box sets of rare material for our eager consumption. Mind you,
I hear whispers that someone else might beat them to it with a couple more alternative
CDs.
When Seventh records have re-released the last of the back catalogue, perhaps someone would consider digging out the master tapes for the following albums, which were all, planned but never quite materialised in their original form:
'WURDAH GLAO' 74
Theusz Hamtaahk pt2
'ËMËHNTËHT-Rê' 1976/1977 3 LP box set
'PTÄH' 1977 solo album, which started with 'ZOMBIES', leading into ÜDÜ WÜDÜ
ending with a 20 minute drum solo with vocals
'PTÄH'.'LA COLERE DIVINE' 1977 alternative title for 'Ptäh' album, included
songs: Titilbon' & 'City Lady'
'THEUSZ HAMTAAHK'1979 45-minute version. Planned in 1976
'ANOTHER DAY' 1989 2 LP live performances recorded in London
Then of course there were a couple of solo albums that did not turn up in the
record racks as promised:
KLAUS BLASQUIZ - 1st 1978 (with Jannick Top arrangements)
KLAUS BLASQUIZ - 2nd 1981 (possibly reworking the 1st album?)
STELLA VANDER - 1st 1988 (with Liza Deluxe & Patrick Gauthier)
There was also a rumoured single and possibly an album by Christian Vander and Rene Garber to be called 'DEHRSTUN / STUNDEHR'. This was going to be released on the Freebird label, and the single at least is legendary. A test pressing was made, but not officially released. It included the first version of 'Eliphas Levi' on the B-side. If any reader does actually have the single, please send me a photocopy of the sleeve or label so that I can include it in the discography in the next edition of Ork Alarm! A tape would be nice too!
Another non-existent album was 'LA CHAT QUI PECHE' by Mal Waldron and Christian Vander. This was actually a live tape of Christian and Didier Malherbe playing at the Parisien Jazz club of the same name with Mal Waldron in 1969. Again if a vinyl album of that actually exists I'll eat my beret.
PATRICK GAUTHIER's solo album 'BEBE GODZILLA' which features one of Vander's rare guest appearances on drums on the first two tracks called 'Bébé Godzilla' and 'Le Grand maître Orient' may soon be available again. Musea are considering this for CD release in 1994.
KHAN JAMAL's jazz album 'GIVE THE VIBES SOME' (Palm 10) also features Christian Vander as a guest. This album was recorded in 1974; let's hope it gets a CD release one day.