Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Radio & Music >

Hawkwind

Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER

15:31 / 26.04.05

I've searched the forums, and can't seem to find a Hawkwind thread, which seems to me to be a tragedy, so I thought I'd start one.
I'm far far too young to remember Hawkwind being in the hit parade, and only discovered them when I impulse-bought the "Epoch Eclipse" 30-year anthology cds in Oxford. Played them on the way home, and was absolutely blown away. They may be "absolutely diabolical musicans", but the sheer energy applied to songs like "Stepppenwolf" and "Uncle Sam's on Mars" send shivers down my spine every time.
So, anyone else appreciate the music of Hawkwind?

lord nuneaton savage

10:12 / 27.04.05

Yep, I absolutely fucking love 'em.
One of the best bands of the early 70s and (along with Roxy Music, of course) the only British band of the period to pay any attention to what was going on in German music at the time.
There is an element with T'Wind wherein they are probably more important for what they represent rather than what they actually recorded but it's easy to forget that when you listen to "Space Ritual" or (my favourite) "Doremifarsolatido".
Any band that gets Michaels Butterworth and Moorcock to write a book about them is all right by me.
I could go on about Hawkwind all bloody day...

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

10:27 / 27.04.05

I first time ever ever dropped acid at a Hawkwind gig in Hammersmith...I found this fucking great Australian hippy who helped me locate some by walking into the throng outside and shouting "Who's got the doses???" at the top of his not very powerful lungs...

Bloody marvellous. I bought five blotters, and ate one straight away. Once the show was underway, with all the lasers and projectors, I assumed not much was happening and ate two more.

Was I ever surprised when the gig finished and I walked outside. Whhhheeeeee--eeeeewww.

Great band. Quark, Strangeness and Charm, all in a Patchouli scented longbeard package that stands the test of time. Mostly.

lord nuneaton savage

10:44 / 27.04.05

Growing up in Devon meant that every time someone skinned up Hawkwind and Ozric tentacles would appear and start playing.

At least, that's how it felt...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:17 / 27.04.05

Possibly my favourite weekend ever was a few years back when Hawkwind had their 30th Anniversary all-nighter. Hours of music, some very nice drugs, and the strange experience of watching Samantha Fox doing guest vocals on "Master Of The Universe". And they had Lemmy again! Truly, 'twas wondrous. On the Sunday night was Motorhead's 25th anniversary show (of course, that night used up the remainder of the drugs). That was a fucking weekend and a half, that was. (My only regret is that I was in the toilets when Hawkwind played "Spirit Of The Age").

I used to be quite scornful of Hawkwind, but it eventually dawned on me that I actually owned, and liked, an awful lot of their stuff (which, depending on the conversation, I'd always make out was an exception) and may as well own up to it.

Yeah, there's a lot of "more what they represent than what they actually SOUND like" to them, but then, as has been pointed out, Space Ritual kind of fucks that one.

"USE YOUR WHEELS... IT IS WHAT THEY ARE FOR!!!"

Anyone heard that Meads Of Asphodel thing with Langton and Davey on it? Not familiar with the Meads, but any band who've collaborated with both Mayhem AND Hawkwind definitely need to be checked out...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:18 / 27.04.05

Oh, and your savage lordship... growing up in Somerset was MUCH the same.

14:27 / 27.04.05

Overheard walking into a Nick Turner plays Hawkwind (w/ Helio Creed) concert in Columbus, Ohio, about ten years ago:

"Son, I can't give you much in this world, but I can give you this..." , handing the kid a ticket for the show.

14:30 / 27.04.05

Hawkwind fucking rule - end of story.

I always think that if the other psychedelia / prog bands of the '70s were zooming through space in sleek, shiny ships with dazzling musicianship and state-of-the-art studios, and getting nowhere fast, Hawkwind were powering straight to the centre of the universe in some kind of big ol' rusty frigate powered by cider and a single guitar chord.

The Millenium Falcon of rock!

They might have released innumerable crappy albums since their heyday, but I still mightily approve of the way they do business.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:41 / 27.04.05

I really don't think anyone can put it better than that.

Professor Silly

03:43 / 28.04.05

I had never even heard of these guys until fairly recently.

I joined a space-rock band, and was nearly beaten to death when I informed them of this oversight on my behalf.

Since then I've been set straight...and I've been amazed by how many times they have come up in conversation in the weeks that have followed!

lord nuneaton savage

10:07 / 28.04.05

There's a revival on the way, never fear.

Funilly enough, Riz, I coincidently made the Millenium Falcon of rock comment to a mate last night. These things just hang in the ether, no?

The whole scene where T'Wind sprang from is very well documented in Mick Farren's biography "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette". It goes into detail about the whole Ladbroke Grove scene as well as bands like the Deviants and the Pink Fairies. It's a bloody good read.

Any band that goes to the lengths Hawkwind did to "Fuck people up good" (Lemmy) is alright by me.

"We were always aiming for horrible" (Dave Brock)

lord nuneaton savage

10:09 / 28.04.05

And, of course, they were awesome enough to release a (probably crap) album called "It is the Business of the Future to be Dangerous"

Let's say that again. In capitals.

IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE FUTURE TO BE DANGEROUS.

Right the fuck on.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

12:20 / 28.04.05

Ozric fucking Tentacles.

What was the other lot as well, they had an album called 'The Politics of Ecstasy'?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:23 / 28.04.05

WRT the Millennium Falcon thing... strangely, the Hawkwind weekend resulted in me and a friend, horibly smashed on all manner of chemicals, plotting out a ten-album a cappella black metal space opera, The Adventures of Drugbeard and Boozehat- Quest For The Fags Of Booze (one day, it will be recorded. Oh yes) in which Lemmy appearead as a Han Solo-type character, flying an Ace Of Spades-shaped spaceship.

lord nuneaton savage

09:53 / 29.04.05

Y'know Stoat, that's exactly the kind of thing that gives us Hawkwind fans a bad reputation. And do we we fucking care?
No we do fucking not.

lord nuneaton savage

09:54 / 29.04.05

Hawkwind as the Millwall FC of rock, p'raps?

11:08 / 29.04.05

IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE FUTURE TO BE DANGEROUS.

From Michael Moorcock to Warren Ellis. Lo, how the mighty have fallen.

lord nuneaton savage

13:43 / 29.04.05

Please explain.
Me no so comic-y...

(Warren Ellis is a comic dude, right?)

14:22 / 29.04.05

Yes. And "It is the business of the future to be dangerous," while (to my knowledge) not an actual Warren Ellis line, has the sound of one.

The Hawkwind/Moorcock connection, presumably, needs no explanation?

m

15:42 / 29.04.05

I've only ever seen and heard the Solstice at Stonehenge DVD from 1984. I expected it to be a bunch of tired old geezers about ten years past their prime, and I don't know if they were just playing old material or what, but I was impressed with just how much the guys still manage to kick out the jams. So, where's a good place to start with Hawkwind? Is there a cut off date for the really good records or should I just go for anything with Lemmy on it?

Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER

15:59 / 29.04.05

If you've the cash, I'd say the Epoch Eclipse 3-disk best of, which has tracks from the whole history of t'Wind, and is an intriguing musical journey in itself. It also has the Silver Machine remix on by Scourge of the Earth, which is utterly brilliant in itself.

m

16:16 / 29.04.05

Thanks for the recommendation, but I tend to avoid best-of sets, unless the original records are just completely out of print or too expensive.
I'm curious, how does the later HW stuff compare with the earlier? Is it just more of the same, just not as great?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:18 / 29.04.05

SPACE RITUAL! SPACE RITUAL!

or, y'know those crappy Castle Communications compliations you can get, the "Best Of And The Rest Of..." ones? The Hawkwind one is actually pretty damn good. It has High Rise, Spirit Of The Age, and Urban Guerilla on it. It is a good thing.

20:17 / 29.04.05

space ritual is teh awesomest.

I AM THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

THE WINDS OF TIME ARE FLOWING THROUGH ME.....

15:14 / 02.05.05

I was fortunate enough to have been at primary school in North Devon with both of Harvey Bainbridge's kids *and* to have got lifts from the man himself in his Hillman Imp (I think) to one of those classes for overexcited children which were so ubiquitous in the 80s.

I did see Hawkwind in South Wales (Cardiff, Newport?) in '91, a long time after Harvey left. I'm sure they were supported by the Ozrics, but whatever - I had a great time.

20:59 / 02.05.05

I have a vague memory of listening to a song by Hawkwind as a teenager and thinking they were cool enough to write the name down.

That's all I remember.

What's the best point of entry for me?

03:19 / 03.05.05

Start at Space Ritual. I doubt anyone would disagree.

lord nuneaton savage

11:13 / 03.05.05

Or Doremi Fasol Latido. It's probably their most straightforward and concise studio album. I have a soft spot for Warrior on the Edge of time, personally. Mainly 'cos it features big Mike Moorcock reading a poem called "The Wizard Blew his Horn", although I realise this will mean its not to everyone's taste.

13:20 / 09.05.05

great band, much underrated and reponded to punk very decisively and really embraced the aesthetic (wasn't lydon a fan), seen them play a few storming gigs but best of was their 'chronice of the black swords' tour in 1984-ish when they all dressed up as chaos lords and did a two hour dystopian rock opera. totally tap, and atypical of their messed up dark futurism

their original version of 'motorhead' is real good too. and yes that book about them as superheroes is great, god bless michael moorcock.

13:17 / 11.05.05

I may be buying me a space ritual. I have an old fanzine of illustrated Hawkwind lyrics, which features them on all kind of acid space adventures. It rocks in a kind of mammothly unfasionable way.