Hawkwind.....a brief history (the 1970's)
One of the organisers of the event in Notting Hill Gate was Doug Smith from 'Clearwater Productions'. Suitably impressed by what he saw, he took them on board. Shortly after, the band named themselves 'Hawkwind Zoo', started gigging and recorded a demo tape in order to secure a record contract. This proved a wise move, as in November 1969 they gained a deal with 'Liberty Records' and shortened their name to 'Hawkwind'.
Hawkwind's first major recordings came about in the Spring of 1970, when they entered the studio to record the single 'Hurry On Sundown' and their debut album simply entitled 'Hawkwind' with the assistance of Dick Taylor (formerly with The Pretty Things). But it wasn't until the release of their second album 'X In Search Of Space' in October 1971 that Hawkwind set off on a course for outer and inner space.
By this time the band had earned themselves a huge cult following that travelled around to see them whenever they played. The band's free shows at the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970 had really been the beginning of the grass roots community following, along with hanging out and playing in Notting Hill, which was a happening place at this time.
Hawkwind were gigging almost every day and gaining much publicity, not only from the press, but also the attention of the law enforcement community. It was no secret that the band, or more to the point, their whole show benefitted visually by swallowing certain illegal substances. Needless to say this was noted – fed into a box.
By 1972, the band were without doubt breaking into bigger times. Hawkwind's performance at the 'Greasy Truckers Party', held at the famous Chalk Farm Roundhouse in London was confirmation of this, and in June, 'United Artists' released the single 'Silver Machine', which rose to number 3 in the national charts despite limited radio airplay. The money gained from the sales of the single enabled the band to tour Britain with a truly mind–blowing show that became known as 'The Space Ritual'.
The whole show had been in formation for well over a year and saw the creative talents of Barney Bubbles, Johnathan Smeeton (alias Liquid Len), Robert Calvert, Michael Moorcock and a host of others hit a peak and develop a pure multi–media background for the Hawkwind musicians, who by now were Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Dik Mik, Del Dettmar, Stacia, Lemmy, Bob Calvert and Simon King.
Arriving from UA mid–way through the tour was Hawkwind's third album 'Doremi Fasol Latido' – a collection of heavy, pulsating space rock music.
In May 1973, UA released the double album 'Space Ritual Alive', which came in a fabulous foldout sleeve designed by Barney Bubbles. The album contained almost 90 minutes of ultimate Hawkwind, heard as they should be – live. Acclaimed for being well ahead of their time, it was a slice of vinyl that combined rock music with theatre and to this day is still regarded as one of their most notable recordings.
The band's next single was 'Urban Guerilla', released in July 1973. All the signs pointed to it being more successful than the last. However, a couple of weeks later, the songs lyrics came under scrutiny from the BBC who banned it from the airwaves. At this time in Britain, the IRA were involved with bombings in and around London, and the lyrics "I'm am Urban Guerilla I make bombs in the cellar" were judged in poor taste.
Of course, the song had nothing whatsoever to do with bomb making. Infact, the lyrics had been penned some years before by Bob. Regardless, UA decided to withdraw the single and the song swiftly disappeared from the top forty.
Following the success of the Space Ritual tour, the band hit the road with 'The Ridiculous Roadshow' at the end of 1973. Hawkwind had just returned from a successful debut tour in America and had a batch of new material to use.
The following year, events were to really hot–up for Hawkwind. They returned to North America in March for a huge tour with Welsh rockers 'Man'. It was a huge entourage travelling under the banner of 'The 1999 Party'. It was a big success – Hawkwind were turning America on. Elsewhere, much of 1974 was spent touring outside Britain and by September, returned again to the States for a tour coinciding with the release of their fifth album 'Hall Of The Mountain Grill' and single 'Psychedelic Warlords'.
A week into the tour and the hand of fate dealt a sudden, vicious blow. Hawkwind, their crew and management were arrested after their gig in Hammond, Illinois for apparent tax evasion. A law had recently been passed that enabled the tax men from the IRS to scoop a whopping chunk out of any revenue made by visiting bands. Shaken, the band returned to Britain while it was sorted out.
Undettered, Hawkwind returned a few weeks later to carry on where they left off.
By the end of the year, the band were preparing for another lengthy jaunt around Britain that would take in more than forty towns and cities. The band at this stage was Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Stacia, Lemmy, Simon King, Simon House and Alan Powell. The lightshow had also changed considerably. By now, Liquid Len and his team 'The Lensmen', had constructed a barrage of new projections, liquids and visual delights for the Hawkwind experience, including more slides from David Hardy. The famous 'Tree – Town – City' sequence, and the message it contained, had by now found a firm footing in the show and was popular with the audience.
The beginning of 1975 saw Hawkwind in the studio for more recording sessions. The new album (which was to draw heavily from Mike Moorcock's 'Eternal Champion' theme) needed to commence the first stages of construction. With the looming set of live dates ahead of them, the band decided to record the single 'Kings Of Speed', leaving the album until after the tour.
However, the British tour was eventually cut short so that work on the new album could be completed. Another tour of North America had been lined up for late April and they wanted to arrive with something to offer the growing legion of enthusiastic fans, especially on the East Coast.
The album 'Warrior On The Edge Of Time' was released in May on both sides of the Atlantic. The tour was going great, the album was coming in for warm praise and all seemed well. However, on crossing the US – Canadian border, Lemmy was found in possession of what customs thought was Cocaine. He was arrested and slung into jail. Elsewhere, Hawkwind needed a replacement bass player and fast. Luckily, they acquired the services of Canadian–born Paul Rudolph, who completed the remaining dates.
Lemmy, meanwhile, was sacked from the band, even though he was caught with some of that other white powder and not cocaine. Hawkwind had made a decision, enough was enough. The remainder of the year was again mostly spent abroad, though Hawkwind did headline the 'Reading Festival' in August. The night after, four of the band jammed at the 'Watchfield Festival' for free, playing without the hassles that major tours bring and having a whale of a time.
At Reading, Bob Calvert made a guest appearance, (having spent the last couple of years concentrating on solo projects) and shortly after rejoined the band. The same gig was also the last for dancer Stacia and light supremo Liquid Len. It was a time of change, rounded off at the end of the year with a split from UA and manager Doug Smith.
Back at the ranch, Hawkwind were to completely reshape their direction and style. They signed with 'Charisma Records' in Spring 1976, and Bob Calvert became lead vocalist, fronting the band onstage using props, costumes and his hyper–imaginative mind to captivate the audience and play–out various roles. He became well known for adopting a selection of guises onstage and off. Not to be outdone, UA released a compilation album 'Roadhawks' in April, which contained a selection of Hawkwind tracks remixed by Dave Brock.
Prior to another major UK tour, the single 'Kerb Crawler' and Hawkwind's eighth album 'Astounding Sounds Amazing Music' were released by Charisma. Both records signalled the fact the band's sound had indeed changed. There were no referances to space and time, only a clearer, tighter, more precise and cleverly constructed sound.
The 'Astounding Sounds Tour' kicked off during September 1976 and became one of the band's famous outings. The backdrop was the impressive 'Atomhenge', a looming, pulsating stucture based on Stonehenge and the Atom that had been designed by Larry Smart and Jonathan Smeeton, who had by now returned to the lighting panel. Throughout the show, thousands of light bulbs within the glass–fibre structure sprang to life, giving an eerie, almost menacing atmosphere onstage.
By the end of the year, tensions within Hawkwind were spilling over. In the studio recording their next single, ranks were formed and Nik Turner opted to stay out. However, by the beginning of 1977, Hawkwind had lost Nik Turner, Alan Powell and Paul Rudolph following a period of the band's history later regarded as wishy washy. This left Dave Brock and Bob Calvert at the nucleus and for the first time were able to take complete control on Hawkwind's direction.
The single 'Back On The Streets' was released during January, while the new album and single appeared mid–Summer, both titled 'Quark Strangeness And Charm' and firmly announcing Hawkwind were well back on course. It was a great album and even secured favourable reviews from the music press. More importantly, however, the audiences lapped it up and this fed back to the band who pulled out all the stops on a year full of British and European tours with Bob Calvert reaching an onstage peak.
During June 1977, Hawkwind stopped off at the free festival at 'Stonehenge'. They lugged all their gear down, together with the 'Atomhenge' structure and set up for a five hour performance through the night.
At the end of the year, Hawkwind opted not to stage their customary pre–Christmas tour. Instead, Dave Brock and Bob Calvert teamed up with a West Country band called 'Ark' for a one–off performance under the name 'The Sonic Assassins' in Barnstaple.
Meanwhile, Hawkwind had been lined up for another tour of America, the first under Charisma, and the first playing support to another band. The tour suffered midway through with the planned departure of Simon House, who began rehearsals for David Bowie's world tour.
By the closing shows in California more problems arose – this time within the band. Tensions finally led to Hawkwind breaking up following the last San Francisco show. Dave Brock came off–stage, sold his guitar and flew back to England disenchanted with the whole thing, while the rest of the band headed various directions. Luckily, Dave met up with Doug Smith on the flight home and managed to persuade him to reform the band.
And so the 'Hawklords' were formed, and with the name change came new musicians in Harvey Banbridge and Martin Griffin, both from Ark, along with keyboard player Steve Swindells. They rehearsed and recorded throughout the Summer of 1978 in Devon, all leading up to a massive British tour scheduled for the Autumn, when the band's new album '25 Years On' and single 'Psi Power' were released.
The tour was fairly successful and the Hawkwind sound had gained a more heavy tinge with a definite raw punk edge. Bob Calvert entered arguably his most creative period during this tour – real on the edge stuff. Following the tour, the whole ship grinded to a halt. Nothing seemed to follow on from what was regarded as an impressive show rolling in and out of every corner of the country, selling out venues and gaining a following from the blooming Punk generation.
Perhaps sensing the halt in proceedings, Bob Calvert, Steve Swindells and Martin Griffin left the band in early 1979, leaving just Dave Brock and Harvey Bainbridge, who for a few months were the band. Elsewhere, Charisma released the shelved 'PXR 5' album and '25 Years' single.
By the Summer, drastic action was needed. The band reverted back to Hawkwind and Simon King returned. Next, they acquired the services of early Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton, along with ex–Gong and Crystal Machine synth wizard Tim Blake, all just days before their first gig of the year at the world's first Sci–Fi Festival 'Futurama' in Leeds.
The end of the decade witnessed Hawkwind take to the road on a self–promoted and financed tour of Britain, following the break with Charisma earlier in the year. The tour took in most major ports of call, with all but four nights selling out and saw the inclusion of a tremendous laser display each night operated by Tim's companion Patrice Warener.
The lasers became a source of concern to council officials, who turned up numerous nights convinced they were lethal death rays and refused to let the band use them. In good Hawkwind fashion, this interferance was soon overcome.
The tour itself was a major achievement. Not many bands had ever opted to commence a major tour without record company backing, and ultimately, it was a decision that saved the band from disintergrating.
Hawkwind.....a brief history (the 1980's)
The new decade started off pretty slow for Hawkwind and they were still without a record contract. Certain members of the band resorted to part time jobs in order to keep above board, but luckily, they had acquired the services of a mobile to record a number of shows from the last tour and used these to eventually secure a deal with 'Bronze Records' in Spring 1980.
The Summer saw the debut releases from the new label, with the live single and album 'Shot Down In The Night' and 'Live 79' a few weeks later, both signalling a new era of Hawkwind.
Meanwhile, the band were busy in the studio recording their new album using digital equipment, instead of tried and tested analogue. It proved a shrewd move, being one of the first albums to be digitally recorded and hit the shelves with the title 'Levitation' as Hawkwind set off on another major tour of Britain during October. It was a great album, fantastic with headphones and collected many live favourites with the audience for years to come.
Infact, the year was full of new and archive releases. Charisma cashed in with the compilation album 'Repeat Performance' during September; Bronze released a second single 'Who's Gonna Win The War' in November, and the first of the tapes from 'Weird Records' appeared early in the year.
Titled 'Sonic Assassins / Dave Brock', the cassette contained a selection of tracks from the Sonic Assassins gig in 1977, along with some demos from Dave. Over the next few years, a total of eight tapes would be released, each one giving some quality, not to mention rare, glimpses of Hawkwind. The recordings were either live, edits, demos from the studio, or tracks from pre–Hawkwind days. Whatever, it was a fine collection of Hawkwind that would never have been touched by the record companies
The 'Levitation Tour' was a real gem. The album had been recieved more than favorably and on the road, Hawkwind put on a blinding show, again incorporating many new numbers and touring for the first time with the legendary Ginger Baker on the drumstool, following the departure of long–stay drummer Simon King during the Summer.
The tour was continually added to, including dates in Ireland and bar a couple of weeks stretched right through to Christmas. The future looked good for Hawkwind, though perhaps expectantly, scenes in house told a different story. Tim Blake left mid–tour and was replaced by Keith Hale. Then, early in 1981, both Ginger and Keith departed amidst dark clouds and this was shortly followed by a split from Bronze.
This left Hawkwind as a basic three piece and with the approaching festival season, the band urgently needed a drummer. Eventually, Martin Griffin returned and Dave and Harvey took over work on the synths. Hawkwind signed with 'Active Records' (part of RCA) late Spring and made their first live outing by headlining the Stonehenge and Glastonbury Festivals in June. Back on course, the band entered the studio to commence work on their new album.
Elsewhere, 'Flicknife Records', an up and coming independent label run by Frenchy and Gina in London, released some archive Hawkwind recordings with the EP 'Hawkwind Zoo' in May. It featured two tracks from the demo session the band recorded way back in 1969, and was delightfully recieved by the huge numbers of fans that had waited so long for some extra vintage Hawkwind to add to their collections.
The new album 'Sonic Attack' was released during October 1981 and was soon heralded as Hawkwind's best album for many years and some say, an album seeing a return to the psychedelic sound of the early days. It came out midway through another extensive tour of Britain that saw the return of John Perrin on lights with his 'Astral Projections'. Each tour this decade saw the band utilise, merge and expand the lightshow and sound, with the effect of making the visuals and accoustics an equal part of the overall experience. The album was followed shortly after by the single'Angels Of Death'.
Come the Spring of 1982 and Hawkwind set off on their first overseas tour for four years with a string of dates in Germany, Luxemburg and Holland, satisfying the fans on the European mainland after a long–awaited return. The Summer saw a number of festival dates in Britain and the return of Nik Turner who guested at most. The band celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their top–ten single 'Silver Machine' by recording a new version which was then put out by RCA in August.
By the Autumn, Nik was back in the band, had contributed to the new studio album and was to play a major role in the forthcoming British tour.
The album 'Choose Your Masques' was released to coincide with the tour. Nik was back and led the band from the front. The backdrop featured a bank of T.V screens showing clips of Hawkwind in action along with other psychedelic images. This was rounded off by dancers Kris Tait and Jane Issac getting–on–down behind masks at either side of the stage.
The tour continued into 1983, with a short series of dates that had been left off the main part of the tour. By this time, drummer Andy Anderson had been called in to replace the departed Martin Griffin.
This period in Hawkwind's history saw a number of major decisions and personal tradgedies that would shape the course of the band's direction for the rest of the decade.
In January, Dave Brock suffered a personal loss, then later in the year Barney Bubbles, who had been instrumental in shaping Hawkwind's imagery during the seventies took his own life. On top of this, the relationship between Hawkwind and their record company RCA had been, for want of a better word, somewhat strained in recent months and the inevitable split came in the Spring of 1983.
From this moment on, Hawkwind would effectively sign and release their albums through smaller independent labels. Although this move arguably resulted in less financial input, the band would gain more freedom and independance in shaping their future progression.
It was seeking the right balance – weighing up the pros and cons.
Meanwhile, the approaching festival season saw Hawkwind headline the 10th Anniversary 'Motorcycle Action Group' celebrations at a festival in Somerset. This was to be Andy Anderson's last gig with the band (as he went off to join 'The Cure') but it was a show that would fondly be remembered by all the band as one of the most enjoyable for many moons. Following this, Hawkwind went down to Stonehenge for a sunrise performance on the morning of the Summer Solstice. Again playing for well over two hours and for free, all set against a background of the looming Stones casting long shadows in the morning sun on Salisbury Plain.
The rest of the year was pretty low key, though Flicknife released an album of live and studio tracks called 'Zones' plus the single 'Motorway City' at the end of October. Then in December, the band teamed up with Lemmy for a recording session in London.
The results were later to be found on the single 'Night Of The Hawks' and EP 'The Earth Ritual Preview', released by Flicknife to coincide with a massive tour of Britain that began in February 1984.
The 'Earth Ritual Preview Tour' spanned more than five weeks of live shows, and became an event full of fun, lunacy and chaotic scenes that Hawkwind as a band and unit thrive on. It was a tour full of guest appearances by ex–members and friends, including Dave Anderson, Lemmy, Mike Moorcock plus plenty of ex (and future) Hawkwind musicians lurking amidst frolicsome scenes backstage.
With the tour over, Hawkwind went on to play a number of one–off gigs, including another 'Sonic Assassins' show in Brighton. Bob Calvert made it along and appeared with the band on vocals.
During June, people began to gather in Wiltshire for the annual Stonehenge Free Festival. Hawkwind arrived and played out the actual 'Earth Ritual' over two performances. The first was at night featuring the seven 'vestal virgins', while the second picked up the following moring at dawn on the Summer Solstice. A day later, some of the band teamed up with Jenny Chapman and friends for another performance, this time as 'Snorkwind'. Needless to say, a fine time was had by all, though sadly, as events would show, this was to be the last free festival held at the Henge.
The first official video of Hawkwind appeared from 'Jettisounds' in July entitled 'Night Of The Hawks' from the Spring tour earlier in the year. The Summer saw Hawkwind play a few shows in Amsterdam, including a large squat party. By the Autumn, another UK tour had been set and coinciding with this was the release of the album – EP set 'Stonehenge This Is Hawkwind Do Not Panic' on Flicknife.
The tour itself carried on in a similar vein to the lunacy experienced earlier in the year, with Nik Turner utilising coffins and roller skates to the onstage theatrics. For Alan Davey, a young bass player who had been tried out at Stonehenge, this was his first tour with the band, leaving Harvey Bainbridge to concentrate on synths.
The first 'Hawkwind Convention' took place in February 1985 in Manchester. Long–time fan Trevor Hughes organised the event and managed an impressive re–union of ex–Hawkwind musicians, including Mick Slattery, Thomas Crimble and Dave Anderson.
The affair culminated in an impromptu jam with most musicians taking to the stage for a set of old and new numbers.
Meanwhile, the band began the serious work on their next studio album, stage show and tour, adapted from the series of 'Elric' books by Mike Moorcock. Inbetween, Hawkwind made a rare T.V appearance and recorded their first BBC Session since 1972
The band also played a short series of dates in England, together with playing the alternative Stonehenge free festival at Westbury. This followed chaotic scenes at Parkhouse, near Stonehenge on 1st June, when over 1000 police went crazy with batons, shields and pure violence on the convoy, who were making their way to take the site for the annual free festival Solstice celebrations.
This 'ambush, capture and violence' technique deployed by the police, resulted in the biggest mass arrest in British legal history at the time, with over 500 people arrested and processed, not to mention severe damage being afflicted to human beings, animals and peoples live–in vehicles and property.
By the Autumn, Hawkwind had completed their new album 'Chronicle Of The Black Sword' and single 'Needle Gun', both released on Flicknife and heralded the start of a huge tour of Britain. The stage set was awesome, reminiscent of the Atomhenge set in 1976. The show featured Tony Crerar playing Elric, complete with the sword Stormbringer and Kris Tait as Zarozinia, together with a handful of dancers and maidens.
It was pure magic and the tour recieved high critical acclaim from audiences and press alike.
The 'Black Sword' tour was recorded at both Hammersmith Odeon concerts and early 1986 saw the band sifting through the tapes and mixing began for a double live album release. The show had also been filmed and a video and single were also planned to compliment the live album, so as to give a complete set of pure Hawkwind multi–media.
The 'Zarozinia' single was the first to appear in April on Flicknife, coming with two live tracks from the tour on the flip–side. It gave a taste of what was to come as at the end of July, a one–hour video 'The Chronicle Of The Black Sword' was released on 'Jettisoundz'.
The Summer saw a number of one–off shows, including a headline spot at the annual 'Reading Rock Festival', which was recorded and aired on Radio One later in the Autumn.
With the serious, well planned tour of 1985, the next British Hawkwind tour reverted to a loose, fun–filled and lunacy approach. Called the 'Chaos Tour', it more than lived up to it's name and was another big tour around the countries concert halls.
The live album from 1985 'Live Chronicles' was released midway through the tour on Doug Smith's 'GWR' label, though sadly, due to a dispute with Mike Moorcock, all of Mike's poems were missing from the final cut, as was the deluxe gatefold presentation the band had wanted.
However, the music was top–notch and together with the video, gave a decent visual and audio reminder of a truly memorable Hawkwind tour.
Hawkwind's next album was released in April 1987 on Flicknife. 'Out And Intake' was a mixture of studio and live tracks culled from 1982 and 1986. The following month, Hawkwind embarked on their first European tour for five years, with a series of gigs in Austria and Germany.
Meanwhile, the Summer saw Dave and Harvey living on the road, taking time out to relax and attend a number of free festivals as Hawkwind's tour schedule had only a few one–off gigs arranged.
However, the band had secured the headlining spot at two relatively high–profile events. The first was the 'Acid Daze' extravaganza during August in a supertent on Finsbury Park in North London and saw an awesome laser lightshow that was backed up by the multi–coloured costume dancers 'Screech Rock'. Shortly after the '45th World Sci–Fi Convention' in Brighton took place with the band re–playing the 'Chronicle Of The Black Sword' set complete with stage show and dancers.
The year closed with another short series of concerts, incorporating 'Acid Daze 2' in Leeds and like the London event, had a decent set of supporting bands on the bill, including Bob Calvert's 'Starfighters'.
1988 was a year to remember in many ways. The 'Mad Professors Laboratory Tour' in the Spring was accompanied by the new album on GWR titled 'The Xenon Codex'. Shortly after, a fundraiser to save the Black Rhinos was held in London's Kentish Town and featured a guest spot from Lemmy.
The Summer was a hectic time with events at Stonehenge again turning ugly as ten thousand were stopped at Dawn on the Summer Solstice. With Hawkwind off the road for a while, the 'Agents Of Chaos' were formed, primarily a band consisting of 'Tubilah Dog', featuring Jerry Richards and Dave Brock. Festivals were in abundance and 'Hawkdog' could be found at many. Meanwhile, Alan Davey toured with 'Dumpy's Rusty Nuts' and Huw toured with 'The Lloyd Langton Group'.
August 1988 saw the untimely death of Robert Calvert from a heart attack that shocked all who knew him and those who only knew him through the wit and energy of live shows and recordings. Sadly, he had just began working closely with Hawkwind again on a major project that was based around the 'Hawklords' trilogy of books.
More dates for Hawkwind early in the Autumn were followed by another major tour at the end of the year with a mind–blowing stage show and a double album featuring many festival bands from Flicknife titled 'Travellers Aid Trust'.
The first week of March 1989 saw an all–dayer at London's Brixton Academy in tribute of Bob Calvert. An impressive bill, with many ex–Hawks coming on stage, together with an impressive bill – including the unexpected arrival of Amon Duul II.
It was a packed house, full of sadness and emotion. Bob's widow Jill entered stage towards the end of Hawkwind's set truly overwhelmed by the event.
A brief spell in the studio and a short series of dates occupied the band during the Summer, including appearances in the travellers field at the Glastonbury Festival and at Cornwall's Treworgey Tree Fayre. This was followed by another extravaganza at Brixton Academy to celebrate the bands 20th anniversary.
Late September saw Hawkwind return to North America for the first time in ten years with a string of dates and a truly sensational sound. The end of the decade saw another lengthy tour of Britain with one of the best lightshows for years courtesy of Pogle Stowell and company.
Hawkwind.....a brief history (the 1990's)
The 1990's began with Hawkwind making a rare live recording for a T.V appearance on the 'Bedrock' show that would be broadcast by I.T.V during the early hours of 10th May.
Late Spring saw the band record their first album of the decade, while a compilation album from EMI titled 'Stasis (The UA Years 1971 – 1975)' appeared in April.
The Summer saw a few gigs, again in the travellers field at the Glastonbury Festival, along with a memorable show in Bournemouth where the light show and especially the lasers were truly mind–blowing. Another festival on the Telscombe Cliffs near Brighton was less memorable. September saw GWR records release Hawkwind's new slice titled 'Space Bandits'
The album, for once, was released a couple of weeks prior to a large U.K tour followed shortly after by a return visit to North America where the word had spread.
Probably the best video to date was released during December titled 'Live Legends' from Castle Communications. Essentially, this was a hours worth of highlights from the Bedrock show earlier in the year – giving a clear view of the band onstage.
March 1991 saw Hawkwind embark on a tour of Europe, although Dave Brock opted to stay at home to mix some live Hawklords material. Steve Bemand, a friend of Richard's from the band 'Smart Pils' stepped in on guitar for the 25 date tour taking in seven countries. Upon their return, (and prior to another visit to North America), the band were reduced to a three–piece with the departure of Harvey Bainbridge and Bridgett Wishart.
June saw a new album on GWR titled 'Palace Springs' culling material from the studio and a show in Los Angeles during 1989. Summer dates in Britain, another jaunt through Europe and a Christmas U.K tour ended a year full of live performances.
1992, in contrast, saw just one major U.K tour and a few pre–Christmas dates. However, this was compensated by a number of recordings including the new album on Castle titled 'Electric Tepee' in May, together with live archive material in the 'Friday Rock Show Sessions (Live At Reading '86)' 'Hawklords Live' from 1978 and a recent recording from America titled 'California Brainstorm' from 1990.
The annual Hawkwind extravaganza, an all–nighter at the Brixton Academy in August ran with the title '12 Hours of Psychedelic Madness' and believe me it was just that.
Another visual delight appeared in November with the release of the Taste video titled 'Brixton 5.8.92' from the psychedelic space chase that Summer.
A small tour of Britain and Europe took place in Spring 1993 but the start of the year saw Hawkwind record the Rolling Stones number 'Gimme Shelter' with Sam Fox as part of a national campaign for the homeless.
A few one–off gigs in the Summer preceeded the release of the album titled 'It Is The Business Of The Future To Be Dangerous' from Castle, and (apart from an all Hawkwind version of Gimme Shelter), was a wholly instrumental album.
A lengthy U.K and European tour followed before the band entered the studio again for more recording.
To celebrate Hawkwind's 25th anniversary, 1994 saw a frenzy of recording sessions, live shows and releases. This was supported on both sides of the Atlantic by the formation of the 'Emergency Broadcast System' label in Britain and 'Griffin Records' in North America.
An EP titled 'Quark' was followed by a live offering from the previous years tour. Titled 'The Business Trip Live' it arrived in foldout vinyl packaging reminiscent of the UA albums of the 1970's. Both appeared on the E.B.S label.
Meanwhile, Griffin released a deluxe 4 CD box set titled '25 Years On', also housing a booklet 'Further Extracts From The Hawkwind Log' and a graphic novel of the final volume of the Hawklords trilogy 'The Ledge Of Darkness'.
More recording followed and the outcome of this was released on the E.B.S during February 1995. Titled 'White Zone', it was recorded using the name 'Psychedelic Warriors' and again was an all instrumental affair with a clear ambient–techno edge.
Source: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk
