Hawkwind

Hawkwind was the seminal British 1970s acid-rock[?] band. An unrepentant bunch of hippies, their music is fundamentally driving psychedelic rock, cosmic orchestral pieces and even some humorous dance music. Their music usually deals with urban and science fiction themes.

Formed in the summer of 1969 as Hawkwind Zoo, they were offered a record deal by Liberty Records[?] in November of that year and immediately shortened the band name to Hawkwind. Their live performances quickly gathered them a cult following, and their second album In Search of Space[?] was very successful.

They achieved chart status with the release of the single Silver Machine[?] in 1972. Their follow up single Urban Guerrilla[?] had to be withdrawn after increased terrorist activity by the Provisional IRA.

Hawkwind have had a long-standing connection with the Stonehenge free festival[?], which was considered such a cultural threat that Margaret Thatcher sought to close it down in 1985.

On October 21, 2000 the Hawkestra, a band formed by virtually all former members of Hawkwind, played at the Brixton Academy[?].

Over the years they have had many line-up changes, however Dave Brock[?] has been at the heart of the band since they formed. Other members have included Lemmy Kilmister (who went on to front Motorhead), Nik Turner[?], Harvey Bainbridge[?], Del Dettmar[?], Hugh Lloyd-Langton[?] and Robert Calvert.

Also Hawkwind have been known for giving credit to non-musician members of their crew, such as Liquid Len, a lighting engineer, and Stacia[?], a dancer. Their distinctive graphic design was created by Barney Bubbles, who would later create the graphic identity for Stiff Records.

The science fiction writer Michael Moorcock has a long association with the band. One of Hawkwind's albums Chronicle of the Black Sword[?] was based largely on his Elric book series.

Hawkwind should be credited with the genesis of Lemmy's Motorhead speed metal style of music.

List of Original Albums

People are recommended to buy the original albums and avoid the repackaged greatest hits. Fortunately these albums are starting to be re-released on CD.

The Space Ritual concept album and Warrior on the Edge of Time[?] in particular are representative of Hawkwind's style at the peak of their success. Their 1980s work is well represented by Levitation[?] and Chronicle of the Black Sword[?].

The 1990s saw the band moving towards a world music approach.

Year Title

• 1970 Hawkwind[?]
• 1971 In Search of Space[?]
• 1972 Doremi Fasol Latido[?]
• 1973 Space Ritual
• 1974 Hall of the Mountain Grill[?] (named after their favourite "greasy spoon")
• 1975 Warrior on the Edge of Time[?]
• 1976 Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music[?]
• 1976 Roadhawks[?]
• 1977 Quark, Strangeness and Charm[?]
• 1978 25 Years On[?]
• 1979 PXR5[?]
• 1980 Live Seventy-Nine[?]
• 1980 Levitation[?]
• 1981 Sonic Attack[?]
• 1982 Church of Hawkwind[?]
• 1982 Choose Your Masques[?]
• 1983 Zones[?]
• 1984 Stonehenge / Do Not Panic[?]
• 1985 Chronicle of the Black Sword[?]
• 1986 Live Chronicles[?]
• 1987 Out and Intake[?]
• 1988 The Xenon Codex[?]
• 1990 Space Bandits[?]
• 1991 Palace Springs[?]
• 1992 Electric Tepee
• 1993 It is the Business of the Future to be Dangerous[?]
• 1994 The Business Trip[?]
• 1995 Alien 4[?]
• 1996 Love in Space[?]
• 1997 The 1999 Party[?]
• 1997 Distant Horizons[?]
• 1999 In Your Area[?]
• 2000 Spacebrock[?]
• 2001 Yule Ritual[?]

External links:

• Hawkwind Mission Control (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hwind/hw_x.htm) - The Official Band Website
• Scot Heller's Review of the Hawkestra Concert (http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue13/hawk09)
• List of Hawkwind members and guest members (http://hawkwind.4t.com/HWguest)
• Starfarer's Hawkwind Page (http://www.starfarer.net/index) - An irreverent fan site devoted to Hawkwind, inventors of Space Rock