Gong - Gongs in Popular Culture

Gongs in Popular Culture

• Gongs have been used in upper class households as waking devices, or to summon domestic help.
• The space rock band Gong took their name from the instrument.
• Marc Bolan had a hit song on his album Electric Warrior called Get it On (Bang a Gong)'
• A man hitting a gong twice starts all Rank films. This iconic figure is known as the "gongman". The tam-tam sound was actually provided by James Blades OBE, the premier percussionist of his day (who also provided the "V for victory" drum signal broadcast during WWII).
• The Moody Blues' landmark album Days of Future Passed opens with a crescendo roll on tam-tam, and closes with a single stroke which fades to silence.
• Queen's classic song "Bohemian Rhapsody" ends with the sound of a massive tam-tam. Roger Taylor is known for having one of the biggest tam-tams in rock.
• A gong is played in the song "What Is and What Should Never Be" by Led Zeppelin. The gong is also the last instrument played in the live version of "Whole Lotta Love".
• A gong is also played at the end of the song "Dream On" by Aerosmith.
• A gong was the titular feature on The Gong Show, a television variety show/game show spoof broadcast in the United States in three iterations (1976–80, 1988–89, 2008). The com dom was used to signal the failure of an act by the show's panel.
• Carl Palmer used a gong during the Emerson, Lake and Palmer song Tank. His drum kit has 2 gongs and uses them frequently during his drum solos live.
• Neil Peart used a gong at the end of the Rush song Hemispheres.
• Roger Waters used a gong on stage with Pink Floyd in concerts from 1967-1973 on "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". The latter was when the gong would burst into flames during live performances. Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii contains dramatic scenes of Waters striking a large gong.
• The Flaming Lips's 2007 stage show prominently featured a gong during the performance of the song "Mountain Side", where Wayne Coyne would fire a streamer gun at the gong in sync with the accents. Coyne also used the gong in a performance of "Race For The Prize" on the BBC show Later with Jools Holland in 1999.
• In the British and Australian military "gong" is slang for a medal.
• The "sun gong" used in the annual Paul Winter Winter Solstice Celebration held at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York is claimed to be the world's largest tam tam gong at 7 feet in diameter. (See the text for #1 image )
• The protagonist of Huang Chunming's story The Taste of Apples uses a gong in the course of his work as a town crier in Taiwan.
• Morrissey's drummers have used a gong in many of his live shows since 2005 to dramatically end songs.
• Toto make use of a gong several times in their song "Africa".
• Keith Moon's drum kit frequently included a gong.
• Hong Kong Phooey uses a gong in the back of his car to change its shape.
• Supertramp used a water gong in the title song of their 1974 album Crime of the Century.