Dr. Strangely Strange Present the Dublin Launch of their New album, Anti-Inflammatory

Dr. Strangely Strange are an Irish experimental folk group, formed in Dublin in 1967 by Tim Booth (vocals and guitar), and Ivan Pawle (bass and keyboards). 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 (vocals, recorder and keyboards) at that time an aspiring painter. Goulding and Pawle were living and rehearsing in a Lower Mount St 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.

Percussionist / vocalist Caroline “Linus” Greville joined the band for two brief periods in 1968 and 1969. Gary Moore often sat in on live shows in this time as well, before he joined Skid Row, augmenting the band on various instruments. After signing with the Incredible String Band’s producer and manager Joe Boyd, Dr. Strangely Strange debuted in 1969 with the album Kip of the Serenes, which 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.

Their second album, Heavy Petting, was released in September 1970 and included Dave Mattacks on drums and a returning Gary Moore on lead guitar. 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, 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. Booth and Pawle felt the combination was not working, and there were tensions in the band. 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”. – Wikipedia