Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock. They are regarded as an influential proto-punk band. Their lyrics often cover themes of urban life and science fiction.
Many musicians, dancers and writers have worked with the band since their inception. Key members of Hawkwind have included Nik Turner, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Del Dettmar, Lemmy, Simon King, Robert Calvert, Michael Moorcock, Simon House and Ginger Baker, but the band are most closely associated with their singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Brock, who is the only remaining original member.
Hawkwind are best known for the song "Silver Machine", which became a number-three UK hit single in 1972, and they had further chart singles with "Urban Guerrilla" (another top 40 hit) and "Shot Down in the Night". The band had a run of twenty-two of their albums charting in the UK from 1971 to 1993, and another nine between 2012 and 2024.
History 1969: Formation
Dave Brock and guitarist Mick Slattery had been in the London-based psychedelic band Famous Cure, and a meeting with bassist John Harrison revealed a mutual interest in electronic music, which led the trio to embark upon a new musical venture together. Seventeen-year-old drummer Terry Ollis replied to an advert in a music weekly; Nik Turner and Michael "Dik Mik" Davies, old acquaintances of Brock, offered help with transport and gear, but were soon pulled into the band.
Slattery and Ollis were flatting in Talbot Road near All Saints Notting Hill, where bands performed in the church hall on Friday nights. On 29 August 1969 Slattery called in as the stage was being set up and asked someone if they could play a couple of numbers later. The band did not have a name yet and the best they could come up with on the night was Group X. They were given a 10 or 15 minute spot and played a 15 or 20 minute improvisation based on (by differing accounts) either the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" or John Coltrane's "India". BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel was in the audience, and was impressed enough to tell event organiser Douglas Smith to keep an eye on them. Smith signed them up and got them a deal with Liberty Records on the back of a deal he was setting up for Cochise.
A recording session took place at Abbey Road Studios late in the year to record demos of "Hurry on Sundown" and other tracks (which were eventually included on the remastered version of the group's debut album Hawkwind). Slattery left the band after the session, and they auditioned guitarists to replace him. One of the candidates was Huw Lloyd-Langton, who had earlier worked at the Ivor Mairants Musicentre and knew Brock, who used bought guitar strings at the Musicentre. Another candidate was a guitarist from Switzerland who happened to know Lloyd-Langton's girlfriend. The job went to Lloyd-Langton.
1970–1975: United Artists era By 1970, the band was called Hawkwind Zoo. "Hawkwind" started as Turner's nickname, as he had habits of noisy throat-clearing and spitting ("hawking") and flatulence ("wind"). According to Brock, they added "Zoo" to the name because "all of us acted like animals". The name was soon shortened to "Hawkwind".
The Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor was brought in to produce the 1970 debut album Hawkwind. Although it was not a commercial success, it did bring them to the attention of the UK underground scene, which found them playing free concerts, benefit gigs, and festivals. Playing free outside the Bath Festival, they encountered another Ladbroke Grove–based band, the Pink Fairies, who shared similar interests in music and drugs; a friendship developed which led to the two bands becoming running partners and performing as "Pinkwind". Their use of drugs, however, led to the departure of Harrison, who did not voluntarily partake, but had someone spike his drink with mescaline, to be replaced briefly by Thomas Crimble (about July 1970 – March 1971). Crimble played on a few BBC sessions (which were eventually collected on the album The Text of Festival) before leaving to help organise the Glastonbury Free Festival 1971; he sat in during the band's performance there. Lloyd-Langton also quit, after someone spiked his drink with LSD at the Isle of Wight Festival and he had a bad trip, followed by a nervous breakdown a while later.
Their follow-up album, 1971's In Search of Space, brought greater commercial success, reaching number 18 on the UK album charts. This album offered a refinement of the band's image and philosophy courtesy of graphic artist Barney Bubbles and underground press writer Robert Calvert, as depicted in the accompanying Hawklog booklet, which would be further developed into the Space Ritual stage show. Science fiction author Michael Moorcock and dancer Stacia also started contributing to the band. Dik Mik had left the band, replaced by sound engineer Del Dettmar, but chose to return for this album, thus giving the band two electronics players. Bass player Dave Anderson, who had been in the German band Amon Düül II, had also joined and played on the album, but departed before its release because of personal tensions with some other members of the band. Anderson and Lloyd-Langton then formed the short-lived band Amon Din. Meanwhile, Ollis quit, unhappy with the commercial direction in which the band were heading.Carol Clerk, The Saga of Hawkwind, p. 95.
The addition of bassist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and drummer Simon King propelled the band to greater heights. One of the early gigs the band played was a benefit for the Greasy Truckers at The Roundhouse on 13 February 1972. A live album of the concert, Greasy Truckers Party, was released; from this, a single (with overdubbed vocal), "Silver Machine", was also released, reaching number three in the UK charts. This generated sufficient funds for the subsequent album Doremi Fasol Latido and Space Ritual tour. The show featured costumes, dancers Stacia and Miss Renee – typically performing either topless or wearing only body paint – mime artist Tony Carrera, and a light show by Liquid Len. The songs in the show were connected by electronic and spoken word segues and the show was recorded on the elaborate package Space Ritual. At the height of their success, in 1973, the band released the single "Urban Guerrilla", which coincided with an IRA bombing campaign in London, so the BBC refused to play it and the band's management reluctantly decided to withdraw it fearing accusations of opportunism, despite the disc having already climbed to number 39 in the UK chart.
Dik Mik departed during 1973, and Calvert ended his association with the band to concentrate on solo projects. Dettmar also indicated that he was to leave the band, so Simon House was recruited as keyboardist and violinist playing live shows, a North America tour and recording the 1974 album Hall of the Mountain Grill. Dettmar left after a European tour and emigrated to Canada, whilst Alan Powell deputised for an incapacitated King on that European tour, but remained, giving the band two drummers.
At the beginning of 1975, the band recorded the album Warrior on the Edge of Time in collaboration with Michael Moorcock, loosely based on his Eternal Champion figure. However, during a North American tour in May, Lemmy was caught in possession of amphetamine crossing the border from the US into Canada. The border police mistook the powder for cocaine and he was jailed, forcing the band to cancel some shows. Fed up with his erratic behaviour, the band dismissed the bass player replacing him with their long-standing friend and former Pink Fairies guitarist Paul Rudolph. Lemmy then teamed up with another Pink Fairies guitarist, Larry Wallis, to form Motörhead, named after the last song he had written for Hawkwind.
1976–1978: Charisma era Calvert made a guest appearance with the band for their headline set at the Reading Festival in August 1975, after which he chose to rejoin the band as a full-time lead vocalist. Stacia chose to relinquish her dancing duties and settle down to family life. The band changed record company to Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma Records and, on Stratton-Smith's suggestion, band management from Douglas Smith to Tony Howard.
Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music is the first album of this era. On the eve of recording the follow-up "Back on the Streets" single, Turner was dismissed for his erratic live playingHawkwind Family Tree, Pete Frame, 1979 and Powell was deemed surplus to requirements. After a tour to promote the single and during the recording of the next album, Rudolph was also dismissed, for allegedly trying to steer the band into a musical direction at odds with Calvert and Brock's vision.
Adrian "Ade" Shaw, who, as bass player for Magic Muscle, had supported Hawkwind on the Space Ritual tour, came in for the 1977 album Quark, Strangeness and Charm. The band continued to enjoy moderate commercial success, but Calvert's mental illness often caused problems. A manic phase saw the band abandon a European tour in France,NME, 12 November 1977 – Hawklord in KGB Wedding Affair – Jon's Attic while a depression phase during a 1978 North American tour convinced Brock to disband the group.This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic, Chapter 6 – Kris Tait. In between these two tours, the band had recorded the album PXR5 in January 1978, but its release was delayed until 1979.
On 23 December 1977 in Barnstaple, Brock and Calvert had performed a one-off gig with Devon band Ark as the Sonic Assassins, and looking for a new project in 1978, bassist Harvey Bainbridge and drummer Martin Griffin were recruited from this event. Steve Swindells was recruited as keyboard player. The band was named Hawklords, (probably for legal reasons, the band having recently split from their management), and recording took place on a farm in Devon using a mobile studio, resulting in the album 25 Years On. King had originally been the drummer for the project but quit during recording sessions to return to London, while House, who had temporarily left the band to join a David Bowie tour, elected to remain with Bowie full-time, but nevertheless contributed violin to these sessions. At the end of the band's UK tour, Calvert, wanting King back in the band, dismissed Griffin, then promptly resigned himself, choosing to pursue a career in literature. Swindells left to record a solo album after an offer had been made to him by the record company ATCO.
1979–1986: Bronze, RCA and independents
In late 1979, Hawkwind reformed with Brock, Bainbridge and King being joined by Huw Lloyd-Langton (who had played on the debut album) and Tim Blake (formerly of Gong), debuting at the first Futurama (The World's First Science Fiction Music Festival) on 9 September in Leeds, and then embarking upon a UK tour despite not having a record deal or any product to promote. Some shows were recorded and a deal was made with Bronze Records, resulting in the Live Seventy Nine album, quickly followed by the studio album Levitation. However, during the recording of Levitation King quit and Ginger Baker was drafted in for the sessions, but he chose to stay with the band for the tour, during which Blake left to be replaced by Keith Hale.