Dr. Strangely Strange

After playing an initial 1967 Trinity College gig with guitarist Humphrey Weightman, and some 1968 gigs with keyboard player/vocalist Brian Trench, Booth and Pawle teamed up with multi-instrumentalist Tim Goulding (born 15 May 1945, Hatch Street, Dublin), vocals, recorder and keyboards, at that time an aspiring painter. Goulding and Pawle were living and rehearsing in a Lower Mount Street house rented by Goulding's girlfriend, "Orphan Annie" Mohan, which its tenants nicknamed "The Orphanage". Tim Booth later lived in a second Orphanage in Sandymount, Dublin. The two Orphanages became a springboard for a new generation of Irish rock, helping launch the careers of Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, Gary Moore and others.[1] Percussionist/vocalist Caroline "Linus" Greville joined the band for two brief periods in 1968 and 1969. After signing with the Incredible String Band's producer and manager Joe Boyd, Dr Strangely Strange debuted in 1969 with Kip of the Serenes. The album was produced by Boyd. Later in the year Pawle guested on the Incredible String Band's Changing Horses album. Linus was asked to leave to cut down on touring costs at the end of 1969, after some early recording sessions for the next LP. The band became popular on the UK college circuit, playing support slots the length and breadth of the UK.[2]

Their second album, Heavy Petting, was released in September 1970 and featured Gary Moore on lead guitar, with Dave Mattacks on drums. In summer 1970, at a Burton-on-Trent concert, they enlisted drummer Neil Hopwood. Goulding left at the start of 1971 to briefly study Buddhism at Samye Ling monastery and then work on his painting career. Pawle and Booth teamed with Gay Woods and Terry Woods for a six-week European tour,[3] but Dr Strangely Strange began falling apart. The group disbanded in May 1971, after playing a concert with Al Stewart at London's Drury Lane Theatre.[4] Booth and Pawle felt the combination was not working, and there were tensions in the band.[5] The Woods explained: "We said that if the Strangelies hadn't gotten it together during the time we were on the Continent then we would leave, because six weeks of gigging should pull a band tighter. Unfortunately, instead of getting together, they were getting looser".[6]

The original band reunited in 1972 for an Irish tour, and briefly reconvened in the early 1980s. During this time Goulding worked as an artist, Booth became a graphic designer and made animated films and Pawle ran a laundrette.[7] In October 1994, the band played at the Griffin Hotel in Leeds as part of an Incredible String Band convention weekend. The band reformed, with the original trio plus fiddle/mandolin player Joe Thoma, to record a third album in 1996.[8] Gary Moore guested again.

On 16 June 2007, the four-piece band regrouped for a Bloomsday concert at London’s 12 Bar Club to mark the launch of the archive collection Halcyon Days. This was followed by a special homecoming gig in the Sugar Club on Leeson Street, Dublin, Ireland on 1 March 2008.[9] In February 2009, Hux Records reissued Kip of the Serenes as a Collectors' Edition with four bonus tracks.[10]

On 19 July 2009, the band participated in the Witchseason Weekender (featuring artists from Joe Boyd's Witchseason Productions company) at The Barbican, London. They performed a free concert on the foyer stage and then participated in the full Sunday evening concert entitled The Music of the Incredible String Band.[11]

October 2011 saw the Hux re-release of Heavy Petting, marked by a launch gig at London’s Jazz Café.

A book about the band’s heyday, Dr Strangely Strange – Fitting Pieces To The Jigsaw (Adrian Whittaker) was published in 2019, with extensive contributions from Pawle, Booth and Goulding.[12]

• Kip of the Serenes (Island Records, 1969) – reissued with bonus tracks, 2009 (Hux)
• Heavy Petting (Vertigo Records, 1970) w/ Gary Moore on guitar.[13] Reissued with bonus tracks 2011 (Hux).
• Alternative Medicine: The Difficult Third Album (1997)
• Halcyon Days (Hux Records, Released 16 June 2007)

• Adrian Whittaker's book Dr Strangely Strange - Fitting Pieces To The Jigsaw
• Link to Gay Woods' website, where she mentions her and Terry Woods' brief membership of the band