Don't ask me what this title means -- I don't know. But anyone who has ever dealt with snooker knows who Steve Davis is, and so do I. And Kavus Torabi? He's not only a nicely chaotic guy, he's the officiating head of Gong, and it was still Daevid Allen personally who has chosen Kavus to take the helm. And yes, Gong still exists (their latest sign of life is the live double album Pulsing Signals).
Steve Davis OBE is known for having won everything you can win in snooker. But he's also known for having a huge collection of soul records and being well-sorted in several other music genres, especially prog. And since several years he has a radio show on local station Phoenix FM, Brentwood and Billericay. Since he invited Kavus to be his guest on this show, the two of them are friends. They even run a sort of electronic band project together, The Utopia Strong, Steve also is deejaying sometimes.
Medical Grade Music is a sort of mail exchange between Kavus and Steve, discussing their personal music and record histories and preferences. A lot of this stuff is simply unknown to me, but there are chapters on Magma, Stray Cats, Gentle Giant, Zappa, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Die Laughing, Henry Cow, Cardiacs, and of course Gong. Even Neu! is mentioned somewhere. All this stuff is connected to their life, their growing-up and their musical progression, which especially on Kavus' side (who comes from Tehran originally) is colorful and sometimes adventurous -- and fun to read anyways.
The book has 330 pages and comes with several appendices, listing their top records, favorite artists, last DJ sets, Steve's rig rundown, and more. It's available still as hardcover but now also as paperback and e-book. And it gives you many many opportunities to put your trusted streaming service through its paces.
Steve Davis and Kavus Torabi: Medical Grade Music
White Rabbit Books, London 2021
ISBN 978-1-4746-1849-3
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