Hawkwind Press Cuttings Short Articles and News Stories 1969-1975

Home , Arthur Brown (musician), Brinsley Schwarz, Cambridge Corn Exchange, Concert tour, Dave Brock, Doremi Fasol Latido

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HAWKWIND PRESS CUTTINGS SHORT ARTICLES AND NEWS STORIES 1969-1975

Festival's Official Buskers / Unknown Source / June 1969 Any Questions / Melody Maker / 12 September 1970 Music More Important Than Money / NME / 16 January 1971 Drummer Strips at Lincoln Show / Lincolnshire Chronicle / 2 March 1971 Drummer's Stage Strip - The Bare Facts / Lincolnshire Chronicle / 5 March 1971 Concert Is A Winner - Thanks To Jo Ann / Lincolnshire Chronicle / 9 March 1971 Group Pops Up in the Nude / Yorkshire Post / 8 July 1971 Prediction '72 / Record Mirror / 8 January 1972 Any Questions? / Melody Maker / 5 February 1972 Hawkwind to split? / Melody Maker / 6 May 1972 Space in the charts for Hawkwind? / Record Mirror / 22 July 1972 Hawkwind Lift Off - Six Hour Rainbow Marathon / NME / 22 July 1972 Hawkwind at the Oval / NME / 1 September 1972 Hawkwind’s Free Rock / Disc / 2 September 1972 Hawkwind – Live Show / Sounds / 2 September 1972 Hawkwind to Meet Royals? / Melody Maker / 23 September 1972 Any Questions / Melody Maker / 21 October 1972 Hawkwind Concerts, 'Ritual' Double LP / NME / 07 April 1973 Hawkwind Party For Wembley / Sounds / 28 April 1973 Goes It Alone Upheaval / NME / 12 May 1973 Problems Resolved / NME / 19 May 1973 Oggi vi presentiamo Hawkwind / Ciao 2001 / 01 July 1973 Hawkwind's Silly show / Melody Maker / 17 November 1973 Hawkwind's Rocket Goes Astray / Sounds / 24 November 1973 Planetarium Aids Rock Band’s Debut / New York Times / 26 November 1973 Of Space Rituals & Topless Dancers / Los Angeles Free Press / 28 December 1973 The Ridiculous Roadshow Hawkwind in Chicago / NME / 26 January 1974 Timothy Leary Tribute / March 1974 / Melody Maker / 16 March 1974 Caught In Tornado Drama / NME / 13 April 1974 Capt. Lockheed Blasting Off / NME / 20 April 1974 Hawks Expand / NME / 20 April 1974 Calvert Cancels Lockheed Dates / NME / 4 May 1974 Hawks in Free Gig / New Musical Express / 27 July 1974 Fed Up Hawkwind Return For Rest / Record Mirror / 5 October 1974 Spock It To Me! / Let It Rock / 1 December 1974 Front Page Story: Back to Leeds / Melody Maker / 18 January 1975

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Festival's Official Buskers Unknown Source – June 1969

London buskers Meg Aitken and Dave Brock are on the official programme of the City of London Festival, which will run from July 4 to 17.

It will present an extremely varied gathering of talent, including the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Yehudi Menuhin's festival Orchestra, a number of ensembles and the Royal Shakespeare Company. There is to be music hall in the cellars of Whitbreads, the only brewery within the City boundaries, poetry, pop music and a "Prom in the Piaza" in Paternoster Square. Student painters will show their work in an open-air exhibition.

A word of warning to those planning to visit Whitbreads' 200-year-old cellars for the music hall. A poster on the wall advertising "London Stout - 2s 6d doz. bottles" dates back to about 1904.

------"Any questions" Melody Maker - 12 September 1970

WHEN I saw Hawkwind at the Lyceum on August 2, they had an instrument which looked like a little table on legs. It produced some beautiful electronic sounds. What was it? - Stefan Signer, Wimbledon.

What you saw was two music stands used as a table, on which stood two audio generators connected in stages to an oscillator, an echo-unit and a stereo amplifier. We assembled this apparatus ourselves, guided by our electronics genius, Dikmik. It is a cheap version of the Moog Synthesizer and we call it the Hawkwindiser! The effects we get out of it are somewhat mind- bending. They can make people really ill and even send them into a trance. The sounds are not necessarily audible, as the frequencies are so high pitched that they are beyond the human ear. But they can be sensed or felt. The whole thing works a bit like a voo-doo. But our aim is to produce sounds which will create exactly the opposite effect and make people feel happy and really good. - Guitarist-vocalist DAVE BROCK, Hawkwind.

------Music More Important Than Money NME - 16 January 1971

With one LP to their credit and a steadily increasing number of bookings each week, Hawkwind would seem to be doing quite well. But their general disregard for any kind of financial reward and a determination to avoid the hustling of the record industry means that they are often short of cash. It is on these occasions that the singer, guitarist and composer Dave Brock is likely to be found busking in London's Portobello Road market.

But this breadline existence has not yet deflated their ideals, or changed the group's direction. They play a continuous form of electronic music while socially they follow a lifestyle similar to America's Grateful dead or the German community band Amon Duul.

Wherever they play they bring along a large number of friends, charge minimal prices for gigs and have probably played for free more times than any group in Britain.

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Recent ventures have included almost spontaneous sets in the camping sites at the Isle Of Wight and Bath Festivals last year. Basically, they want to give their audience something extra, adding new dimensions to live performances.

"We've played with so many groups who get payed phenomenal amounts of money but just play six numbers and go home, that we want to try and give the audiences something more", explained easy-going Dave Brock.

"If we had a little more money, I would like to turn the whole act into a kind of circus with a complete light show where we could give things away, papers and fruit and things like that. For instance, if a monotonous sound like a chanting goes on long enough, it can really dull people's minds. It's all very interesting."

"Originally we just wanted to freak people out, but now we're just interested in sound. Very few people seem to realise what can be done. As it is, we try to create an environment where people can lose their inhibitions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We also want to keep clear of the music business as much as possible. We want to just play for the people. It's like a ship that has to steer 'round rocks, we have to steer around the Industry. But I'd like the group to go on Top Of The Pops. I mean, it's so ridiculous, we could just go on and turn it into a party. Get everybody to join in and just never stop. They'd never be able to get us off."

James Johnson

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Drummer Strips at Lincoln Show Lincolnshire Chronicle - 2 March 1971

Pop group drummer, Terry Ollis, stripped off on stage at Lincoln Theatre Royal last night, but remained discreetly hidden behind his large drum kit. Ollis was the driving force behind Hawkwind, the top group in a concert which virtually filled the stalls and circle of the theatre. With sweat pouring off him, Ollis stripped to the waist early in the group's set, and soon afterwards took off his trousers. But no-one in the audience seemed offended by the strip. A fuller report of the concert will appear in next week's "Poppin' Around".

------Drummer's Stage Strip - The Bare Facts Lincolnshire Chronicle - 5 March 1971

A pop group drummer was supposed to have stripped naked on stage on Monday. The incident came during a pop show when the drummer, Terry Ollis of Hawkwind, threw discretion to the wind. But he did remain hidden from most of the audience - behind his drum kit. After the show, promoter Jim Kirbyshaw said, "He's absolutely no dress sense". Theatre administrator Bryan Newton said “We will have to try and be a bit more careful in the future. I will be talking to the promoter about future shows, to make sure we have an idea about what a group is going to do." But the bare facts are, as theatre officials discovered later, that drummer Ollis had been wearing skin-tight, flesh-coloured briefs!

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Concert Is A Winner - Thanks To Jo Ann Lincolnshire Chronicle - 9 March 1971

Naked drummer Terry Ollis stole so much of the attention at last week's Theatre Royal gig that many people forget it was the best yet. The change from the "two group formula" made all difference, and the "surprise guests" were far better than one could have hope for, writes Steve Goodwin. It was just as well, since John Peel, who had, I imagine, been responsible for drawing a large part of the crowd, failed to materialize. Newark group, Cherokee Smith opened the proceedings but fell rather flat. However, Dave Turner, a sort of Monty Python of the folk song kept the audience laughing for forty minutes and put the show back on its feet. Another surprise came after the interval when Jo Ann Kelly took the stage for a better set, I think, than Hawkwind's. A real professional, her guitar playing was immaculate and her voice must be the only British female one which does justice to the blues.

Hawkwind's turn came with very few of the audience really knowing what to expect. The lights went off the stage and a dazzling strobe began flashing on the audience. Dave Brock on guitar and vocals, Nick Turner on sax, vocals and flute, Dave Anderson on bass, and Ollis on drums are all competent musicians, but it was Ollis who made the big impression. And not just because of his strip, for with or without his clothes, he is a superb drummer.

-Steve Goodwin

------Group Pops Up in the Nude Yorkshire Post – 8 July 1971

Hawkwind, a pop group booked to play at a youth festival pop concert on July 18, are expected to appear on stage in the nude. Mr. Tom Spencer, one of the organizers of the York International Youth Festival, said yesterday that Hawkwind, one of the groups featured at the open-air concert in the Museum Gardens, were supposed to play in the nude - "but at the moment I have no further details of their act."

He described the festival as the cheapest in the country at 50p a head. "It will be an opportunity for everyone to take part. This is for the people of York and we would have liked every event to be free, but the corporation would not allow that. It is going to be the most compact and exciting two weeks of the whole celebration and everyone is going to be able to afford to see it."

Mr. Robert Shepherd, Deputy City Treasurer at York, said "The corporation has advanced £6,000 towards the youth festival and we expect a nominal income of about £1,000, making a deficit of £5,000. We wanted to make it as cheap as possible to give all the young people in the area the opportunity of enjoying it," he said.

------Prediction ‘72 Record Mirror – 8 January 1972

Record Mirror's clairvoyant staff peep into the crystal ball and predict 1972 stardom for some recent - and not so recent - arrivals on the scene.

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For me, the group to make it in 1972 must be Hawkwind. An etheral search for cosmic consciousness - that is one way of putting where they're at. The medium of sci-fi musical projection being the message - that's another.

Their roots are in what the overground used to call the underground, but their common ideal based on a commune concept has been finding snowballing acceptance on the campus circuit. And it's about to break even bigger.

In some ways, they're just a band of roadies. Certainly toting gear has been a background common to saxman Nik Turner; to Dik-Mik, who plays synthesiser; and to Del Dettmar, who plays oscillators. And guitarist/singer Dave Brock, drummer Terry Ollis and bassist Lemmy complete the present line-up.

My view is that without detracting from their individuality, Hawkwind's musical ID uses space and time as the backdrop for their odyssey. What's more, they are unorthodox to the point of being unique. And the scope of their developments at musical level is free from pre- conceptions. Since their heads have already developed and seen the turn of the next century, 1972 to them is just another year in the present past. Get the idea? But for the rest of us, I reckon Hawkwind could well be the shape and sound of things to come.

Del Dettmar and the rest of the Hawkwind outfit are at the Manchester Hardrock this Thursday, and venture within the grim portals of Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday to entertain the inmates. They also play the Liverpool Stadium on Saturday September 30th (?), supported by Brinsley Schwarz, the Sutherland Brothers & Spyder King, with tickets at 70p. The show is being put on by Triad, on behalf of Clearwater.

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“Any Questions?" Melody Maker - 5 February 1972

Q. How did Hawkwind get their name and how do they define their music? - Robert A. Wingate, Malvern.

A. Well, it all started as a joke, because Nik Turner has a prominent proboscis and suffers from indigestion! But really it goes a lot deeper than that, because we're all deeply involved in ancient mythology and numerology. The hawk represents a winged god in Egyptian mythology and is a symbol of strength and power in Pagan mythology. It is a dominating bird of prey, with a strong spirit, travelling on the wind. The title is also connected with Hawkmoon, a character devised by famous science-fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, in his story of the runestaff, an ancient staff with great powers of good. All our names and the title Hawkwind have powerful influences when worked out in numerology. We play extra-terrestrial music, in which we try to get the audience involved. Participation creates energy and through the energy it is possible to make experiments. We are working on all kinds of sound developments, because sound has different points which can either make you feel good or bad. It's a matter of getting them sorted out. - DAVE BROCK, Hawkwind.

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Hawkwind to Split? Melody Maker - 6 May 1972

HAWKWIND is in danger of disbanding following the theft of their van containing £8,000 worth of equipment.

The white Transit was stolen from Russell Road, Palmers Green, London, last Thursday.

The van was later recovered but the equipment, which was uninsured, had been removed. The group is offering a reward of £500 for information leading to its recovery. Unable to afford replacement, the group will probably be forced to disband without it.

Already they have had to cancel all gigs apart from Bickershaw, where they will be able to use the festival's sound system.

A spokesman for UA, the group's record company, anticipated that the thieves would probably try to transport the equipment to the continent as it would be too readily identifiable to sell in Britain.

------Space in the charts for Hawkwind? Record Mirror – 22 July 1972

Hawkwind having a single in the charts seems as likely as the Prime Minister joining Sha Na Na on keyboards or Tottenham Hotspur getting relegated into the Second Division. But all things are possible, and Hawkwind look like scoring heavily with "Silver Machine" written by a former member of the band, Bob Calvert.

If somebody had told me a couple of months ago that H. Wind would be doing "Top of the Pops" and things like that I would have declared them insane. But "Silver Machine" is a very commercial song, already beating off contenders in the lower reaches of the charts, that will get a lot of support from the Hawkwind followers who seem to be gathering (to take over the world?) in every nook and cranny of every town in the country. The band have always been a popular act, especially in "underground" music circles, and have been drawing enormous crowds to their live gigs since the beginning of the year.

The single was recorded at the Greasy Truckers gig at the Roundhouse a few months ago, and was later overdubbed here and there. It wasn't included on the Truckers album but can be heard in its entirety (the single was cut to eight minutes) on the L.P. of the Glastonbury festival.

"It wasn't conceived as a single" said lead guitarist Dave Brock. "We've been doing it on stage for about eight months. We only release about one album a year, so we thought we'd put "Silver Machine" out as a stop gap."

"Silver Machine" is, in fact, part of a Space Ritual the band are currently working on. The ritual, they stress is not an opera like "Tommy", is to be about space in its broadest sense - having space to live, work and breath, outer space, and any other kind of connotation the word has.

Although the ritual will be a stage act, it is likely that the band's next album, which goes into the shops in October, will be a "taster" for it - a sort of prologue for the whole thing which people can listen to before going to see the show.

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When the ritual is ready to be unveiled the band want to issue a kind of programme to people as they enter venues, to see the Wind. "We want to get people involved and let them know what it's all about" said Nik Turner, the band's flautist and alto sax player. "We want them to sing along with us, chant, and get into it all."

"The act is continuous" Simon King the drummer told me. "We play for 90 minutes non stop. When we finish a number we let the electronics take over instead of saying something like 'Thank you very much and our next number is...' "

Most rock bands use a permutation of lead, bass, drums, organ and vocals, but as Hawkwind are rather more than a straight rock outfit, their line-up is a little unconventional. Apart from Simon, Dave and Nik, the band comprises Lemmy (possible origin: "Lemmy 'ave that bottle of Newcastle") on bass, DikMik on audio generators and percussion and Del Dettmar on synthesizer.

"We depend heavily on electronics and we want to bring more of that into the act" says Dave, "but we also want to include country things and other stuff too."

"The music and sounds' are just toys to play with" said Lemmy taking his bottle of Newcastle away from his mouth for a moment. "They're things to play with and have fun with. We can't get off into what we're doing unless we're enjoying it."

"You've got to keep a balance between the music and the electronics" said Nik.

-Charles Webster ------Hawkwind Lift Off - Six Hour Rainbow Marathon, British tour NME - 22 July 1972

Hawkwind - who take a major leap towards popular acceptance with the entry of their 'Silver Machine' in the singles chart this week - are to put on a 6-hour party at the London Rainbow in August. For so long dismissed as a lower division band despite their potential as crowd-pullers, Hawkwind are also currently being lined up for their first major UK tour. The Rainbow gig on the 13th August starts at 4pm and will be Hawkwind's own promotion. The tour will take place late Autumn, with the band playing major venues - four a week - over a two-month period.

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Hawkwind at the Oval New Musical Express - September 1972

Oval Preview - How Hawkwind Overcame the Timewarp

AND SO, AFTER the musical excursions and eccentricities of Frank Zappa, the mighty space travellers Hawkwind close the show.

The last few months have been pretty remarkable for the band - what with the success of "Silver Machine" and their recent Rainbow concert where, after all the tickets had been sold nearly two hundred people stormed the doors to gain free admission.

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In a way it's amazing how even now, even for a band like Hawkwind, a hit single can bring about so many, changes. Lately old-time Hawkwind freaks have been at little taken aback to go to a gig and find bunches of kids more likely to be found in the studios of Top of the Pops.

And don't forget not so long ago Hawkwind at open air events were just as likely to be found playing somewhere round the back of the car park (off a lorry, perhaps) rather than actually on the main stage.

Most importantly, though, the single has helped to provide the band with cash so as to improve their stage act and make their long promised Space Opera something of a reality - who knows - the Oval gig may be the ultimate Hawkwind gig so far.

To appear at the concert the band are breaking off recording their new album at Rockfield studios, and it's reasonable to suppose, therefore, they'll be playing some newish material along with oldies and goodies such as "Master of the Universe."

Anyway, what is definite is that vocalist and writer Bob Calvert, who has become something of behind-the-scenes man lately, will be joining them on stage, and that the new lightshow they introduced at the Rainbow will be in full kaleidoscopic operation.

Also the band promise "some surprises" but refuse to disclose any further details. Maybe the heavens will open.

JAMES JOHNSON ------

Hawkwind – Live Show Sounds - 2 September 1972

HAWKWIND ARE the second band to be announced for the concert at the Oval on Saturday, September 16.

As announced in SOUNDS last week, the concert features Frank Zappa and Hot Rats and will last from midday to 9 p.m.

Tony Harms, speaking for the Foulk Brothers, promoters of the concert, said that Hawkwind would close the show. Zappa will play the late afternoon spot.

Harms said that this is because Hawkwind need darkness for their lights and visuals, and that Zappa wanted to play earlier anyway.

Four other bands will be added to the bill, and they are all likely to be British. Tickets cost £2, and they went on sale at the weekend. The Oval's capacity for the event is 15,000.

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www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Hawkwind's Free Rock Disc - 2 September 1972

Hawkwind are to play a special charity gig in Windsor's Home Park on September 23. All proceeds are to go towards electric trolleys, invented by Lord Snowden and Quinten Crewe, which can be loaded on wheelchairs and make crippled people's lives considerably easier. Other artists include Quicksilver Messenger Service, MC5 and the Pink Fairies, and a special marquee to seat 10,000 people is to be put up.

Renowned for doing charity gigs and giving value for money, Hawkwind have left themselves out of pocket after their Rainbow show where they gave away free food. They are also being pressed for damage done when 600 fans, unable to get in, stormed the crash barriers at the front of the theatre and allegedly caused £600 worth of damage.

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Hawkwind to Meet Royals? Melody Maker - 23 September 1972

HAWKWIND, who top the bill at the Windsor Fringe Festival on Saturday, may be meeting royalty after the event.

The festival is being held to raise funds for the purchase of wheel chairs for the infirm in the district, and these chairs have been designed by Lord Snowdon. It is expected that Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon will attend and hold a reception in Windsor Castle after the concert.

Other bands on the festival bill are Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, the Pretty Things, Pink Fairies, Renaissance, Brewer's Droop and Mahatma Kane Jeeves.

Hawkwind will be repeating their "Rainbow Party" at Liverpool Stadium on September 30. Other bands featured will include Brinsley Schwarz and Greasy Bear.

On October 5 Hawkwind appear at the Mile End Sundown, London, and they are at Leicester University on October 7.

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"Any Questions?" Melody Maker - 21 October 1972

WHEN CAN we expect another LP from Hawkwind? When will they do their next tour and will they visit Nottingham? Will they develop the musical directions employed in (a) "You Know You're Only Dreaming" and "Adjust Me" (b) "Children of the Sun" and "We Took the Wrong Step Years Ago"? - Dylan Bickerstaffe, Toto, Notts.

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Hawkwind will be recording another LP about the second or third week in November. They describe it as "Harmonies between colours and sounds - the setting of the Space Ritual." They haven't yet decided on a title. Full details of the album will be given when their Space Opera goes on the road. They will be doing about 30 dates all over the country from November 9 to December 22. Their schedule is not at present finalised because theatres have to be chosen more for their stage capacity than their seating accommodation due to the ambitious effects envisaged by Hawkwind. Yes, they intend to carry on developing their musical directions along the lines of (a) and (b). Every aspect of everything they have done before will be covered in their new album and their stage show.

------Hawkwind Concerts, 'Ritual' Double LP NME - 7 April 1973

Hawkwind are to play three major British concerts this month, before setting out on a self-promoted tour of Germany. The group's double live album of their 'Space Ritual' show is being released by United Artists on May 4. And the band are scheduled to leave for a major tour of America in June.

The three British venues, not previously visited by Hawkwind on their 'Space Ritual' tour, are at Cambridge Corn Exchange (April 13), Swansea Top Rank (18) and Douglas IOM Palace Lido (22).

The German tour opens in Bremen on April 26 and extends through until May 11 in Hanover - seven concerts are so far confirmed, with more to be finalised.

The German tour almost fell through, because the local promoter advised the group last week that he was no longer in a position to make the necessary arrangements, Hawkwind's manager Doug Smith immediately flew to Germany and fixed the concerts himself.

The new double LP will retail at £3.10. It was recorded live at Liverpool Stadium and Brixton Sundown.

------Hawkwind Party for Wembley Sounds - 28 April 1973

Hawkwind: Six Hour Party

Hawkwind are to star in their own six hour party at Wembley's Empire Pool on May 27. The show is part of the three day festival promoted by Peter Bowyer although artists for May 25 and 26 have yet to be announced.

The Hawkwind show will start at 4pm and it also features the Sutherland Bros and Quiver, Rare Bird, Fruupp, Magic Michael and the dee-jay Andy Dunkley. Special lighting will also be laid on.

Tickets go on sale the first week in May, and are available from the Empire Pool, Harlequin Records and leading agencies. Arrangements are being made for ticket offices to be set up in the provinces.

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www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Goes It Alone - Upheaval in Hawkwind NME - 12 May 1973

The NME understands there is considerable upheaval within the Hawkwind ranks at present, although no official confirmation could be obtained from their management. The group's recording company, United Artists, admitted that they were 'having their problems' and imitated that a line-up change was imminent.

Bassist Lemmy is believed to have left Hawkwind before they departed for their self-promoted German tour, from which they have recently returned. And it is understood that electronics mand Dik Mik has either left or is about to depart from the band's line-up.

Speaking of lead guitarist Dave Brock, a UA spokesman told the NME: "I'm told he has taken himself off somewhere and is getting uptight and refusing to play with the band. Plans may be afoot to make his departure a reality, as the group have had to play several gigs without him." Brock has recently been recording a solo album.

It is not thought there is any question of Hawkwind splitting, as they are scheduled to play Wembley Empire Pool for promoter Peter Bowyer on May 27, and an American tour is subsequently being lined up for them. But, if current reports are substantiated, it appears they have certain internal problems to resolve before undertaking these commitments.

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Hawkwind: Problems Resolved NME - 19 May 1973

Reported upheavals in Hawkwind have now been resolved, with the band back to full strength for their May 27 concert at Wembley Empire Pool. They begin a visit to Holland on June 1, and are currently negotiating British, American and Japanese tours.

Bassist Lemmy, who missed the start of Hawkwind's recent German tour, was apparently ill but re- joined the band after three gigs. Electronics man Dik Mik left temporarily - "he leaves practically every week" according to their manager - but will be appearing at Wembley and on other British dates, although he's expected to miss the Dutch tour.

Poet Bob Calvert re-joined the band last week after a short absence spent writing new material - for Hawkwind and his own projected group Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters. Guitarist dave brock is also preparing new material for the band, and a spokesman this week denied that he had missed any Hawkwind gigs or had any intention of leaving.

The new double album 'The Space Ritual Alive at Liverpool Stadium and Brixton Sundown' is released by United Artists this week - packaged in a six-page full-colour fold-out sleeve.

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Oggi vi Presentiamo Hawkwind (Today We Present Hawkwind) Ciao 2001 (Italy) – 1 July 1973

Genre: Electric (Space) Rock Brief History: Founded in the summer of the '69 by Dave Brock, John Harrison and Mick Slattery. Later the same year they were joined by DikMik, Nik Turner, Terry Ollis and the bassist, Dave Anderson, ex- Amon Duul II. Subsequently, Anderson was replaced by Lemmy, and towards the end of '71 Del Dettmar joined on synthesizer. Shortly afterwards, Terry Ollis was replaced on drums by Simon King. The most recent arrivals have been the flautist Bob Calvert and the dancer Stacia. Emerging from the underground, they reached a mass audience in 1972 when their single "Silver Machine", got into the U.K. Top Ten. Label: Liberty- United Artists Producer: Dave Brock, Del Dettmar, Doug Smith Discography: Hawkwind, In Search Of Space, Doremi Fasol Latido. The band are in the course of recording a new LP, which they intend to be a space rock opus.

Members: DAVE BROCK: Instrument: Dick Knight Custom and Milner 6-string guitars, Tony Zemaitis 12-string guitar Education: self-taught Favourite Musicians: Big Bill Broonzy, Velvet Underground.

NIK TURNER: Instrument: Conn alto sax, Collonean flute Musical Training: two years' saxophone and clarinet lessons Main compositions: Brainstorm, Master of The Universe Favourite Musicians: Miles Davis, Charlie Parker.

DIKMIK: Instrument: audio generators, oscillator, percussion Musical Training: no Favourite Musicians: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan

BOB CALVERT: Instrument: Vocals Musical Education: no Main compositions: Loads of poetry, Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters Favourite Musicians: Velvet Underground, John Lennon.

LEMMY: Instrument: Hopf bass, Fender Telecaster guitar Musical Training: self-taught Favourite Musicians: Beatles, Hendrix.

SIMON KING: Instruments: Hayman drums Musical Education: self-taught Favourite Musicians: Beatles, David Bowie.

DEL DETTMAR: Instruments: synthesizer VCS3 and keyboards

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Musical Training: piano lessons. Has also played with: Cochise, Juicy Lucy, Edgar Broughton, Pete Brown Favourite Musicians: Thelonius Monk, Charlie Mingus.

STACIA: Dance - influenced by the great ballerina Isadora Duncan.

------Hawkwind's Silly Show Melody Maker - 17 November 1973

HAWKWIND have devised a new stage presentation, "The Ridiculous Road Show Starring The Silly Hawkwind Brothers" which will be unveiled on their massive British tour next month.

The new show supersedes "Space Ritual," which will, however, form the basis of the band's stage act for their first American tour which starts in Philadelphia on November 23.

Hawkwind are headlining the 5-date tour - uniquely, for a British band on their first visit to the States. They will be appearing in New York (25), Chicago (26), Detroit (28) and Los Angeles (December 5).

A number of support bands have been lined up for the tour, including Zoe, Chilli Willi, Bronco, Ace, Fruupp and Magill, the band fronted by former Hawkwind guitarist Hugh Lloyd-Langton.

And the Clacton concert will be a joint date with the Sutherland Borthers and Quiver - all proceeds will go to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.

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Hawkwind's Rocket Goes Astray Sounds - 24 November 1973

Pete Erskine travels in style to Paris with Hawkwind

The pilot in rumpled blue serge and tarnished braid, is leaning over the port engine cowling emptying the sixth of approximately thirty-pint oil cans into its static innards.

It is a bright crystal clear Sunday morning but an icy wind is gusting across the Gatwick tarmac tugging at the shabby crew of journalists and the maleficent looking Hawkwind drifting across from the departure lounge. When these boys travel, they do it in style.

There are two planes - twin engined twelve seater De Havilland Doves - and the feeling as you climb up the tiny step ladder, bending double through the tiny door, is something like a bit part in a '40's bravado and shrapnel bomber Harris film and a flashback to those grainy old movies detailing the pioneers of aviation - ladies in huge hats dipping into picnic baskets full of smoked salmon and champagne and gentlemen in tan leathers and goggles. All very romantic. As the pilot shuts his little coffin shaped door the engines crank away, catch and burble into action. Everyone laughs. the noise and vibration is colossal.

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

A brisk and expensive cab ride the other end, slewing through the cobbled streets of Paris and we are backstage at the Olympia in surroundings washed in oozing red paint, broken up by a dearth of matt black and a liberal application of art nouveau posters.

Simon King, Hawkwind's drummer, is leaning against a counter, sipping brandy, wearing a two tone slate grey and black three piece suit telling somebody that he's pretty sceptical about the forthcoming US tour. "I'll believe it when it happens," he says. Earlier, on the plane Dave Brock had been saying that he wasn't looking forward to it at all. "I prefer to play here," he said "and in any case, they'll be expecting the Space Ritual and we've been doing it for so long now we want to try something else." "That's the thing," he added, "audiences but mainly promoters - always force you into some kind of category."

Hawkwind's set is something I've never witnessed before, and it could be my failing, or lack of imagination, but after about a quarter of an hour of what initially seems to be good, pounding rock and roll, nothing much else seems to happen. I mean they keep up the pitch splendidly. There's no let up or anything.

Stacia skits across the stage in various guises, the lights project a series of rather one-dimensional moonscapes, a few rocketships, an astronaut or two and your optical Milky Way, but intellectually or lyrically there appears to be no tie up whatsoever. Musically it's purely a question of pitch - which lets face it, is surely the basis of many rock and roll acts.

There comes a certain point where the intrinsic qualities of a particular form of live music are lost to an audiences supposedly inaudible desire for that old debbil riddem; something a young chap can shake his mane and pop his fingers to. Time and time again the band would offer a respite, a lull when only the bass and drums would be ticking over and each time the audience would start beating out the rhythm on the backs of chairs and stamping their Gauloises butts into the concrete floor; we're all so groovy and tasteful but the distance between Stevie Wonder and Gary Glitter isn't that great, really. On one level it all comes down to the same thing - an innate desire for a kind of physical gratification.

In any case, Hawkwind are not to be compared to anyone else because their aims and approach is so opposed to the normal get-up-and-show-em-yer-licks rock and roll band, but they do say they want to put on a show and from that point of view I must admit to being disappointed. I really didn't think the lights were that good - having talked with their lightsman last year, Liquid Len and the Lensmen, I was expecting something a little more graphic, a little less predictable.

They did their encores though, and the sell-out house seemed well pleased and especially demonstrative, cheering Nik Turner as he narrated parts of the ritual in French. One could imaging the US doing their pieces for Hawkwind - in fact their Chicago gig is sold out already - as they seem to love nothing more than a bit of open ended fantasy to grind their teeth on. After all, look what happened to Uriah Heep.

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www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Planetarium Aids Rock Band's Debut New York Times – 26 November 1973

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www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Of Space Rituals & Topless Dancers Los Angeles Free Press - 28 December 1973

Hawkwind is an anachronism. It's like 1968 psychedelia never left. Referring to their music as "acid rock," this British quintet appears as five faceless, jean-attired hippies (except for vocalist-saxophonist Nik Turner who sometimes flashes a baleful iridescent mask). During the course of a performance they invariably remain pretty much sheltered in the dim lights in the background.

Their overall sound of riff, patterns, droning guitar chords, synthesized galvanic zaps and echoic vocals (reminding one of a cross between Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd) are complemented by a light show flashing imagery of planets, stars, space ships, skulls and dinosaurs. The music is repetitious and monotonous, but Hawkwind masterfully builds on their one-chord patterns, creating an intense, uniquely satisfying culmination (if you're not driven from the hall beforehand). It doesn't matter that their light show is average by San Francisco standards of five years ago, no one else is incorporating light shows into their performances and that alone makes it worthwhile.

"In the front row there was this beautiful blond chick surrounded by these four guys. When Stacia turned around and revealed her boobs, the guys' jaws dropped. 'Aaugh.' They were stunned!"

Hawkwind's Dave Brock, referring to the band's own well-endowed female dancer who goes topless at the climax of every gig, was commenting on the high point of a recent appearance. How many other major rock groups can you think of that cart around their own topless dancer? There are a lot of weird things about this band.

"We started out in 1969," began original member Dave Brock, "in the Notting Hill Gate area (England's one-time equivalent to Haight-Ashbury). We used to be a street band and we didn't have much in the way of equipment. After the band started, some of us were still busking." It was a very strange scene then, with wizards and Hell's Angels associated with the group. One time they spiked their engineers with acid during a recording session at Air London Studios. They didn't record there ever again.

Turner provided the original inspiration for space-oriented themes which permeate most of the group's albums. He describes their music as "science fiction-fantasy, good time rock." The band's current album, Space Ritual, is composed of a series of dreams of an astronaut hanging in space. It poses the question, can an astronaut dream while in a near-comatose state during suspended animation?

Hawkwind's only single of 1972, "Silver Machine," was a giant hit in Europe. It's the top-selling 45 in Germany of the last five years, and was voted the favorite little record in England. A year later they followed it up with "Urban Guerilla," only to withdraw the single as it was rising on the British charts, owing to the unintentional allusions to the alleged activity of the I.R.A. bombers in England last summer.

Bob Calvert, resident poet, used to appear as a guitarist with the band. But when it was discovered that his stage activity of waving a machine gun and changing hats reached maniac proportions, it was mutually agreed that he should remain at home. The members of Hawkwind are helping Calvert complete his own LP, Captain Lockheed and the Starfiqhters, which is the story of U.S. Korean War Starfighters that were subsequently sold to Germany, incurring an abnormal number of crashes after modifications. (Making special appearances are Vivian Stanshall, Arthur Brown and Jim Capaldi.)

There are other peculiarities about the band as well. Although Hawkwind LPs have been released in the States, a disproportionate amount of the sales have been from the import bins, not from England as one might expect, but from France and Germany. Del Dettmar learned to play the synthesizer when the

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

musician responsible for playing that instrument in a band he roadied for died in a crash.

Then there's Stacia. "Two-and-a-half years ago I just got up on stage and danced. I really liked the music and still do. The drummer they had then sometimes would be wearing only his underpants, and sometimes not even that. I just lost the inhibitions I had and started taking off my clothes. It's a trip."

Hawkwind's motley composition aside, the organization is self-described as an artistic commune, with all parts being more or less equal. "We are a mixed media outfit," explained manager Doug Smith. "There's the band's music, and we have a poet and dancer. Then we have the light show, perhaps the best in the world. We do the light shows for ail the American bands when they tour here, people like Van Morrison. We travel with our own D.J. who plays his own records. Currently we're considering entering into the print media with a paper."

Although for the most part during their recent American tour Hawkwind performed Space Ritual, they're a bit tired of carting around the "Space Rock" tag which is stamped onto posters everywhere they perform. That label may prove difficult to escape, yet the members are "jamming around" until an alternative presents itself.

-Harold Bronson

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The Ridiculous Roadshow New Musical Express - 26 January 1974

Alias Hawkwind On Tour

WITH JUST an off-hand laugh Dave Brock in Chicago put it like this: "We decided to call our next tour the Ridiculous Roadshow because all our tours are just so silly and disorganised."

Never a truer word was spoken. Hawkwind must win this year's Steve Took Award as the most hapless bunch of individuals ever to set foot on a stage.

They seem to exist in a state of gentle chaos for most of the time, things always seemingly on the edge of falling apart. The fact that in Chicago - probably the band's most important gig ever - the roadies showed up at the hall only around an hour before blast off is fairly standard procedure.

Nobody was too concerned. The band had set up their equipment themselves, so why worry? Yet strangely, all this just adds to Hawkwind's charm. Nik Turner has always said that one reason why people get to Hawkwind gigs is that they like to see a bunch of folks, not necessarily very talented, who've just put some music together and made if work.

It helps to explain why Hawkwind, perhaps more than any other band, represent the gulf that often exists between critics and the public. Musically you could be mistaken for thinking the band have consciously adopted a policy of not improving - remaining a sort of musical dinosaur, that makes a new chord quite an event. Yet this group of one time buskers, roadies, Ladbroke Grove freaks now command a mighty following in Britain - they play an extra date at the Edmonton Sundown this week after the first was sold out - and have created a stir of interest in the States.

As might be expected, America didn't quite know how to react to Hawkwind. They were given horrendously bad reviews - one critic described Stacia as dancing like a stripper with tired blood but

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

as in Britain the grass roots crowd seemed to welcome the arrival of the sonic assassins, especially in Chicago.

Personally I've always felt travelling through space with Hawkwind would be rather like being stranded in the Sahara with a bunch of Eskimoes, but in Chicago they proved that their two-hour cosmic tour de force on stage does have a shattering effect, even if it's hard to tell sometimes whether it's for good or bad.

Even though the light show still does rely at times on vague, unrelated slides flowing across the screens, it's getting stronger, and the addition of effects like a police siren all adds to the confusion.

Hawkwind soldiered along with their customary heavy-handedness, running one number into another, reaching some neat climaxes at times and fouling themselves up at others. Few other bands, one feels, sort themselves out of these situations with such calm and aplomb. Perhaps it's all a matter of what you're used to. Anyway it's the overall effect of their set that counts, not just the music, as the band will readily admit.

"I have been in more musical groups," says drummer Simon King, the only guy in the band to be a professional musician before Hawkwind and who joined them two years ago. "But when I joined Hawkwind and saw the atmosphere we were creating I thought the band had to have something."

"The point is, people go to see a band like Yes for their music and they could just go and sit facing the wall for all they get out of it visually. But with us it's the event that counts, and the more effects we use the better."

So what does the future hold for this particular cosmic oddity? According to Nik Turner, none of them have a very set idea of the way Hawkwind should progress.

"All I can say is we're getting out of the space trip now - not concentrating so much on it - and we hope to diversity into other kinds of imagery. The space ritual project was a one-off idea and we'd like to use it now as a jumping off point for other ideas."

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Timothy Leary Tribute Melody Maker - 16 March 1974

STARSEED, the same folks that gave us the celebration for Comet Kohoutek back in January, will be presenting a tribute to Dr. Timothy Leary, - now imprisoned after being extradited from Afghanistan.

The show will take place at the University of California's acoustically perfect Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley and will star those heroes of the Cosmos, Hawkwind and Man. Also, there will be the film At Folsom Prison with Dr. Timothy Leary, and Joanna Leary will speak.

According to Joanna, both she and Dr. Leary consider Hawkwind to be the most highly evolved band on the planet. Hawkwind has done two other benefits for Leary in England and still more in the States.

United Artists, Hawkwind's label, concedes that the reviews for Hawkwind on this tour have been abominable but that the fans are constantly screaming in the aisles and demanding encores. ------

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Capt. Lockheed Blasting Off NME - 20 April 1974

Robert Calvert, former Hawkwind lead singer and co-writer of the band's million-selling 'Silver Machine', launches his long-awaited 'Captain Lockheed And The Starfighter' project next month - with the release of the album of that title by united Artists on may 10. And with backing from the record company, the work has been adapted into a stage show which undertakes a 16-venue concert tour during the may-June period.

The album and show tell, in words and music, the facts about the purchasing of the Lockheed Starfighter jets by Germany in the early 1960s - and the manner in which they crashed so frequently, thereby earning the plane the nicknames of 'The Flying Coffin' and 'The Widow Maker'.

The stage show opens on May 16, but the first confirmed venue is London Chelsea King's Road Theatre - where 'The Rocky horror Show' is now playing - on Sunday, May 19. Other finalised dates are Birmingham Town Hall (20), Guildford Civic Hall (30), Liverpool Stadium (June 1), Chelmsford Chancellor Hall (2) and Portsmouth Guildhall (13). The show will feature elaborate stage and projection lighting, co-ordinated by Mike Hart, who was partly responsible for hawksin'd 'Space Ritual'.

Musicians featured on the album are all of Hawkwind, Brian Eno, Blackie [Paul Rudolph] (from the Pink fairies), Arthur Brown, Viv Stanshall and Jim Capaldi. Those who will be going out on the road with Calvert include John Weinzierl from Amon Duul II, Blackie, Adrian Wagner and possibly Russell Hunter.

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Hawks Expand NME - 20 April 1974

Hawkwind have added a new member to their line-up. He is violinist and synthesiser player Simon House, who was formerly with High Tide and the Third Ear Band. He officially joined the group last weekend on their return from America. Although House was not a member of the band during their US visit, he did accompany them on tour and jammed on some occasions.

House will appear on the new Hawkwind album, which is already half recorded - the band are already at work on the second half. With House in the group, Del Dettmar will no longer appear on stage, and instead will ad synthesiser effects from the lighting control panel at the back of the hall. As a result, House will be concentrating on mellotron and violin in the group.

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Calvert Cancels Lockheed Dates NME - 4 May 1974

Robert Calvert has pulled out of his projected Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters tour, and the May-June dates announced for the project two weeks ago have been cancelled. The concerts had been intended to complement Calvert's album of the same name, which united Artists release on May 10, and were to have been co-financed by the artist's management and the record company.

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

A spokesman told the NME 'There are two separate reasons for cancelling the tour. The first is that Calvert is now under new management, who consider that the cost of the proposed tour would be prohibitive. After all, it was to have been an elaborate show, complete with sets, and a one-nighter itinerary on this basis would have presented many problems.

Then again, Calvert himself is not keen on the idea of touring. In fact, he is seriously considering giving up his musical career altogether, to concentrate on being a poet. But he realises that the album ought to be promoted and - with this in view - there will probably be a major London date for the Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters show some time in the summer, possibly followed by one or two other major dates'.

------Hawks in Free Gig NME – 27 July 1974

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Fed-up Hawkwind Return Home for Rest - Group seized in US Record Mirror - 5 October 1975

After numerous hassles, including getting arrested for income tax evasion, Hawkwind have decided to break their American tour and return to England. But they will probably go back in a couple of weeks to help promote their latest album, Hall of the Mountain Grill, which has entered the American charts at 130 with a bullet.

A spokesman for the band said that with their morale sinking lower and lower they felt they could not continue touring for the moment.

All eighteen members of Hawkwind, including dancer Stacia, the entire road crew and manager Doug Smith were arrested in Hammond, Indiana.

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

The group were touring the USA for the third time when agents of the Inland Revenue Service seized them at the end of their show in Hammond, for the alleged non-payment of an eight-thousand dollar revenue bill dating from their last USA tour in January this year.

The group were seized by a number of plain clothed agents, pushed into their dressing rooms, interrogated, and each member was handed an individual tax claim for 1055 dollars.

They were taken back to their hotel where they were held until their thirty thousand pounds worth of equipment was picked up and then impounded by the revenue service agents.

Manager Dog Smith said: 'We were staggered by the whole thing. Our legal advisors in New York who had been consulting with the I.R.S. for the past four weeks assured us that we were not eligible for tax payment on our last tour, as we only broke even.

'They gave us forty-eight hours to come up with the money otherwise they would have sold the equipment they were keeping under armed guard. They did not give us a receipt for the equipment impounded, either!'

Their next British tour starts mid-December.

------Spock it to Me! Let It Rock - December 1974

Dave Downing traces the weird outlines of S.F. rock...

Back in the dim past, before gimmickry became too obvious to see, one of rock'n'roll's recurrent gimmicks was to set its dance-hall adventures in outer space. After all, why not? Buicks could be starships, space was as real as the wild west, and just as convenient a place to make stories without any new ideas. The environment was enough.

Most of the people encountered out there, like the Martians of 'Martian Hop', were extremely amiable, allies in the anti-parental war, as willing to boogie as the next kid. Billy Lee Riley did the 'Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll', so did Buchanan and Goldman, knocking on the door of a rocket ship to hear snatches of our music from the aliens inside. "Keep a knockin' but you can't come in".

Eventually space got closer to home. The Russians got there first, as Dylan observed in another context, and Sputnik was followed into the heavens by numerous other pieces of metal. Telstar was one of them, and the song of that name was something of a breakthrough. It didn't use space as an added effect, space was the effect. No words, just a musical tribute to technology...

..."I find your questions all but meaningless. I say that without wishing to insult..." Hawkmoon rubbed his chin. "I find them meaningless, you see". Michael Moorcock, The Jewel in the Skull

Bowie has been mistakenly seen as a reversion to the past by those who confuse his image with his manipulation of it. But with Hawkwind, SF Rock has truly completed another circle with all the power of a 159 bus hitting Streatham Garage.

I say that without wishing to insult, because, despite numerous references to a 'terminal case of

www.plasticfragment.com – The Hawkwind Collector’s Resource

Hawkwind', I have grown rather fond of them. But what 'Telstar' was to the early sixties, 'Psychedelic Warlords' is to the seventies. They both sound great without containing any real musicianship. 'Telstar' has no words, 'Warlords' has the 1974 equivalent:-

Sick of politicians, harassment and laws; All we do is get screwed up by other people's flaws

That the two records have the same relation to their time makes them a good measure of the decade's changes. 'Telstar' is a packaged three-minute non-ideological single. 'Warlords' is a seven- minute anti-authoritarian diatribe album track. With improvisation. All they musically share is the creation of excitement through an evocation of space set to rhythm. And here Hawkwind win hands down. Sounding, as ever, like early Floyd on less mellow drugs, they pound away with a disregard for melody that is absolutely addictive. The bass and drums reduce your brain to jelly, the guitar-drill breaks it up for the synthesised wind to scatter the pieces all the way from here to Andromeda. You never need a second copy 'cos you wear out before the first one.

The Pink Floyd have always been synonymous with space rock in the public's imagination - at least until the onslaught of Hawkwind. But Hawkwind, like early Floyd, have a solid popular constituency. They neatly slot the ideas of the last decade into the older SF context. Timothy Leary writes Flash Gordon. As Greg Shaw wrote, Hawkwind have created a "strong, imagination-sparking image; a return to the level of teenage appeal space-rock had in the 50s". Space Ritual is a story full of ideas and it's fun and the lights flash and everyone's zonked and Stacia looks great. The revolutionary ideas of early musicnauts may sound corny five years on, but you've still got to hold on to them. That's progress.

------Back to Leeds Melody Maker - 18 January 1975

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