Fmt: LP Ltd 500   sclp 008   5 033281 011255  

25 copies were privately made in 1968 by the 17 year old strang, who carried them home from

the studio several miles in a rucksack on foot. very few survive today, and it is a little understood

lp. the title refers to nuclear armageddon and the total death of all life, not a hippie idyll, and the

songs are apocalyptic poetry that confront the cold war, hiroshima and nagasaki, platonic forms

and the nature of reality, there are also a few explicit drug references to lsd and amphetamines.

this darkness of intent makes the lp exceptional for the time, and seminal. musically it draws

from donovan and the incredible string band , at times becoming experimental, and yet with

an air of fragility that predicts vashti bunyans lp made two years later. john strang continues to

compose privately to this day, but walked away from a Transatlantic Records deal in the early 70s

to pursue a career in Psychiatry, for which he was knighted. A concept lp about mental illness

was due for release on Transatlantic, which we are currently restoring from surviving tapes and

cassettes, entitled “Shame and Stigma” it is forthcoming. Full lyrics included which demand

careful reading, plus an insert explaining the lp written by the artist himself.

john strang - the masterpeace (gatefold)

Tracks:

A1        Village School

A2        Seagull No.3   

A3        Late In The Day          

A4        Dreams          

A5        Madame Bartholemew         

A6        Acid Albatross

A7        Little Fat Man

A8        Butterfly         

A9        Ge-Bomb        

B1        Masterpeace 1           

B2        Twisted Tree  

B3        Swallow No.7 

B4        He Was Only A Child  

B5        Blistered Blades Of Grass      

B6        No Money To Pay       

B7        Love Grew In The Night         

B8        Little Anna      

B9        Masterpeace 2