[ This file provided courtesy of Paul Mather ] A CONCISE HISTORY OF HAWKWIND In 1969 Dave Brock recruited fellow musicians Mick Slattery, Nik Turner, Terry Ollis, Dik Mik and John Harrison for a one-off jam session in Notting Hill, which they played under the name of Group X. The session attracted the attention of Clearwater Productions and the band made a demo disc, using the name Hawkwind Zoo. The demo earned them a contract and they dropped the word Zoo from their name. 1970 saw Hawkwind playing as many gigs as possible. Including playing 'outside the fence' at the Isle of Wight festival, a protest against the high prices being charged inside. They also released their first single, "Hurry On Sundown" and their first album "Hawkwind", both on Liberty. Also during that year, Mick Slattery left and was replaced by Huw Lloyd Langton. Huw later left and was not replaced. John Harrison left and was replaced by Thomas Crimble. Thomas Crimble left in 1971 and was replaced by Dave Anderson, who was soon replaced by Lemmy. Stacia and Del Dettmar joined the line-up and Bob Calvert became resident poet. In October they released their second album, "In Search of Space". At the start of 1972 Terry Ollis was replaced by Simon King and Bob Calvert joined full-time. The line-up finally stabilised for a while and a positive musical direction had evolved. In February they played at the famous Greasy Truckers Party, a gig which spawned their chart-topping single "Silver Machine" and put the band on an international level. Using money made from "Silver Machine", Hawkwind released their third album "Doremi Fasol Latido" and mounted a massive and complex tour called "The Space Ritual" from which they released a 'live' double album in 1973. 1973 also saw the departures of Dik Mik and Robert Calvert. Michael Moorcock began to make regular appearances with the band through 1973 and 1974, with occasional guest appearances until this day. November 1973 saw Hawkwind on their first USA tour. In 1974 Hawkwind toured America twice and England twice, with a few concerts in Europe. Simon King joined the band, Del Dettmar left and the album "Hall Of The Mountain Grill" was released. In July Simon King broke some ribs and Alan Powell stepped in for him, remaining in the band after Simon returned. "Warrior On The Edge Of Time" was released in 1975 and Hawkwind toured America again. At the Canadian border Lemmy was arrested when customs officers mistook his amphetamine sulphate for coke and the event led to Lemmy's departure from the band. He was replaced by Paul Rudolph. Back in England Hawkwind headlined at the Reading Festival, the last gig for Stacia (who got married the next day). Soon after Bob Calvert re-joined. 1976 was a year of upheaval. The band left Liberty/UA and signed to Charisma. Within the band there was a conflict of musical direction which caused the album "Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music" to have different styles of music thereon. There was a lengthy tour with the impressive "Atomhenge" stage setting, after which Nik Turner, Paul Rudolph and Alan Powell were sacked in an attempt to steer the band back on course. 1977 began with a new, trim line-up of Dave Brock, Bob Calvert, Simon House, Simon King and Adrian Shaw. They toured England in the spring (with Motorhead as support) and in the autumn to coincide with the release of the album "Quark Strangeness and Charm". At Christmas Dave and Bob teamed up with Harvey Bainbridge, Martin Griffin and Paul Hayles for a one-off gig under the name "The Sonic Assassins". During a Spring tour of America in 1978, Simon House left to join David Bowie on tour and Paul Hayles took his place. It was a depressing tour and at the end of it Dave Brock split and sold his guitar. Back in England, he set up a new band which was more or less The Sonic Assassins except that Steve Swindells took the place of Paul Hayles. For legal reasons, contracts etc. they could not use the name Hawkwind so they shelved the already recorded album "P.X.R. 5" and released a new album, "25 Years On" under the name Hawklords, touring to promote the album. The fans did not care for the new name and in early 1979 Bob Calvert left again, shortly after insisting that Martin Griffin was sacked. "P.X.R. 5" was released but otherwise things had ground to a halt. In September 1979 with the contracts expired, Dave Brock was able to set up a new Hawkwind consisting of himself, Harvey Bainbridge, Huw Lloyd Langton, Tim Blake and Simon King, to headline at the first Futurama Festival. Afterwards they undertook a huge UK tour although they had no record label and no album to promote. They did, however, record a 'live' album during the tour "Live 79" and this was released in 1980, having secured them a deal with Bronze. Simon King was replaced by Ginger Baker and they recorded the album "Levitation" and mounted an Autumn tour to promote it. The two Bronze albums put the band back into the top twenty album charts. Tim Blake left and was replaced by Keith Hale, but early in 1981 Ginger left in order to set up his own band and took Keith with him. Keith was not replaced at once but Martin Griffin returned to take Ginger's place. They split from Bronze. A new record deal with RCA Active was signed and a new album "Sonic Attack" released. The tour to promote the album featured the smallest ever Hawkwind line-up of Dave Brock, Harvey Bainbridge, Huw Lloyd Langton and Martin Griffin and saw them returning to the psychedelic lightshows they used in the early seventies. In 1982 they toured Europe and released the album "Church Of Hawkwind". Nik Turner began guesting at the one-off gigs during the summer. In the Autumn, with Nik now a regular member, they toured the UK to promote the album "Choose Your Masques", shortly after which they split from RCA Active. Martin left the band. Andy Anderson took his place for a few gigs in February 1983. In 1983 Hawkwind headlined at various festivals and signed a one-off album deal with Flicknife Records, who had been issuing compilation albums of collectors' items of Hawkwind and associated material. Flicknife issued the live album "Zones" in the Autumn but Hawkwind, anxious to break the routine of album and tour did no gigs. Instead they toured during the Spring of 1984, released a 12" EP called "The Earth Ritual Preview". Also to coincide with the tour, the Hawkwind biography "This is Hawkwind---Do Not Panic" was published. They continued to headline Summer festivals and played three gigs in Holland. In the Autumn the video, "Night Of The Hawks" was released, as was the album "This Is Hawkwind---Do Not Panic" and Hawkwind toured the UK continuing their practice of playing in many small venues as well as the big ones. The "Stonehenge" video was released at Christmas and included Hawkwind as one of the three acts thereon. February 1985 saw the band attending Hawkon, the first ever Hawkwind convention, held at the Manchester Exhibition Centre, the convention drew well over a thousand fans and featured rare live videos and film footage along with other Hawkwind rarities such as rare albums, posters, photographs and stage props dating back to the band's earliest tours. The whole event culminated in a huge jam featuring the current line up along with a handful of ex-band members guesting on various numbers. Following the success of the Hawkon the band set out on a mini tour during June to start working in new material for a new album, based on Michael Moorcock's "Elric" stories. A sudden upturn in media interest resulted in them being asked to record a new session for BBC's Friday Rock Show and appearing live on Channel 4's Heavy Metal TV show, ECT. Hawkwind (now comprising: Dave Brock; guitar and vocals, Harvey Bainbridge; keyboards, Alan Davey; Bass, Huw Lloyd Langton; Guitar and vocals and new boy Danny Thompson on drums) locked themselves away in Rockfield studios to record "The Chronicle Of The Black Sword" for Flicknife Records. To coincide with the album, they took on tour a huge "Elric" production, with stage sets, slide shows, costumes and mime artists. A video of the "Chronicle" tour filmed at Hammersmith Odeon in 1986 was released on Jettisoundz. They followed up with a double "Live Chronicles" album on GWR Records in 1987, then in May 1988 released a new studio album "The Xenon Codex" on the same label. Their live appeal continued to grow, headlining in London and elsewhere huge open-air concerts, as well as benefits for Robert Calvert's family following his untimely death. In late 1988 a double-album "The Travellers Aid Trust" featuring Hawkwind together with various other like-minded bands was released on Flicknife. Hawkwind continue to be faithful to both their music and fans resulting in a loyalty from audiences which looks set to continue for at least another twenty years. Source: thanks to K. Needs/F. Gloder/M. Banks. (Material reproduced from the sleeve notes of the album "Ridicule", on Obsession Records; UK: OBSESS LP 1, Germany: EFA 75191 04 LP, France: NEW ROSE NR 315)