OFF: style of Hillage music?

[Nick Medford]

In message <200112060046.TAA13969 at listserv.spc.edu>, Doug Pearson
<jasret at MINDSPRING.COM> writes

>Possibly my alltime favorite "estranged bandmember" album sleeves is the
>inside gatefold of 'Vive Gong/Gong est Mort' from '77 where Steve Hillage's
>face is whited-out.

Although that may not be due to estrangement- I thought it was because
they were involved in a dispute with Virgin Records and that contractually
speaking Steve wasn't supposed to be on that album, so they obscured his
identity. Whether they really thought this would be an effective ruse, or
whether it was done more as a sort of protest gesture, I don't know.

Wasn't it around that time that various Gong-ers, possibly including Steve
(not too well up on this particular bit of Gong mythology), staged a sit-in at
Virgin's offices, refusing to budge until some demand or other was met?
Anyone know more about that?
--
Nick Medford