Radio Gonzo

CURLY'S AIRSHIPS is an epic work of words and music about the R.101 airship disaster of 1930, written in a new form of narrative rock music called songstory. This double CD involves eighteen featured performers, among whom are four of the original members of Van der Graaf Generator, including respected solo artist Peter Hammill and the composer of Curly's Airships, Judge Smith. Also participating are singer Arthur Brown (of The Crazy World), Pete Brown (of Battered Ornaments and Piblokto), Paul Roberts (of The Stranglers), John Ellis, (formerly of The Vibrators and The Stranglers), plus a 1920's dance band, a classical Tenor, an Indian music ensemble and several cathedral organs. Six years in the making, Curly's Airships is probably one of the largest and most ambitious single pieces of rock music ever recorded. Judge Smith talks to Jon Kirkman about the concept behind Curly's Airships and the reason for taking on such a mammoth project.