Dr. Strangely Strange - Halcyon Days (1969) (2007)

DR. STRANGELY STRANGE were a group whose initial run lasted just four years in the late sixties but whose reputation has lived on in progressive music folklore. The band formed as a duo consisting of Ivan Pawle and Tim Booth but soon added keyboardist and multidiscipline artist Tom Goulding and drummer Neil Hopwood.

The band's connection to the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (via shared producer/manager Joe Boyd) also extended to an appearance on the band's 1969 record 'Changing Horses'. The group's sound has also been compared to that of ISB. Dr. Strangely Strange released a couple of albums before dismantling in early 1971 after Goulding departed for a stint in a Buddhist monastery. This began a long history of recurrent incarnations of the band, beginning in 1972 when Booth and Pawle teamed with POGUES/STEELEYE SPAN mandoliner Terry Woods and his wife for a short tour, followed by another tour including Booth and Pawle the following year. The two formed another iteration of the band in the eighties to tour once again, and reunited with Goulding to release a third studio album in 1996, and for a fourth recording ('Halcyon Days') in 2007.

The band announced yet another reunion in early 2008, and have performed live a handful of times in their native Ireland over the past year.

DR. STRANGELY STRANGE are a fairly minor act in the history of progressive folk music, yet their name is often mentioned along with bands like INCREDIBLE STRING BAND and STEELEYE SPAN. They deserve a place on ProgArchives for their recurrent history of producing relevant progressive music.