The band was formed in 1969 by visionary Dave Brock and although it has been subject to numerous line-up changes it is still led by him. The early line-up featured Dave Brock on vocals and rhythm guitar, Huw Lloyd-Langton on lead guitar, Terry Ollis on drums, Thomas Crimble on bass, Nik Turner on Saxophone and Dik Mik on synthesizer.
The band became established as a space-rock underground band with their renowned concert at the Glastonbury Rock Festival 1970 when they set up in an alternative field and played a free concert, pulling crowds away from the main event. Their debut album, the self titled ‘HAWKWIND’, was released by EMI and to this day still sells steadily. In 1970 they appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival where Jimi Hendrix was spotted in the audience. He was asked to get up and join the band and he replied ‘No I don’t want to spoil it!’ Huw Lloyd-Langton remained with them until late 1971. The band shot to fame in 1972 with their hit record ‘Silver Machine’ featuring Lemmy (now of Motörhead fame) on vocals. (This record featured in the soundtrack of a recent TV Mazda advert in the UK). In 1973 Simon House (Electric Violin) joined, and throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, the renowned World famous Sci-fi author, Michael Moorcock often recorded and appeared with them.
Lemmy was sacked from the band in 1975 after a drugs bust in USA, and went on to form ‘MOTORHEAD’, named after the last track he wrote for the band, a slang term for speed freak. Huw Lloyd-Langton joined Leo Sayer in 1974 and then in 1975 went on to form supergroup ‘WIDOWMAKER’ WITH Steve Ellis (Love Affair), Luther Grosvenor (Mott The Hoople), Paul Nicholls (Lindisfarne) and Bob Daisley (Ozzy Osborne). In 1977, Simon House joined David Bowie. Dave Brock and poet Bob Calvert tour as ‘HAWKLORDS’, performing the stage show ‘METROPOLIS’. Throughout the 70's, Hawkwind released a series of classic albums; ‘IN SEARCH OF SPACE’, ‘DOREMI FASOL LATIDO’, ‘SPACE RITUAL’,
‘HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL’, ‘WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME’, ‘ASTOUNDING SOUNDS, AMAZING MUSIC’, ‘QUARK STRANGENESS & CHARM’ and ‘PXR 5’. In 1979, Dave formed another nucleus with Huw Lloyd-Langton on lead guitar, Simon King on drums, Harvey Bainbridge (from Hawklords) on bass and Tim Blake from ‘Gong’ on keyboards.
Their live album ‘LIVE 79’ went straight into the national top ten charts chart. In 1980 Ginger Baker replaced Simon King on drums and they recorded their classic album ‘LEVITATION’. Once again, the release went straight into national top ten album chart. Tim Blake and Ginger Baker remaied with the band until after the Christmas Tour 1980. From 1979 to 1985 the band’s singles and albums were never out of the national, independent and heavy metal charts, with albums such as ‘SONIC ATTACK, ‘CHURCH OF HAWKWIND', 'CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD, 'LIVE CHRONICLES' AND 'XENON CODEX'. Nik Turner who left the band in 1975 briefly rejoined the band 1982-1983 for the ‘CHOOSE YOUR MASQUES’ tour. In 1984 Alan Davey replaces Harvey Bainbridge on bass and Harvey moved over to keyboards and synths. In 1985 the band tour with the spectacular ‘CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK SWORD’, a stageshow portraying music and images based on Michael Moorcock’s epic saga, ‘ELRIC’. During this period the band reached a new audience with the emergence of ambient acts such as The Orb openly acknowledging Hawkwind’s influence.
Huw Lloyd-Langton remained with the band throughout the end of the 80s, departing in 1989 followed
shortly after by Harvey Bainbridge. The band continued to perform live throughout the nineties, and had
some noteable album releases such as, 'SPACE BANDITS', 'PALACE SPRINGS', 'ELECTRIC TEPEE',
'IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE FUTURE TO BE DANGEROUS', 'THE BUSINESS TRIP', 'ALIEN 4',
'LOVE IN SPACE' and 'DISTANT HORIZONS'. During their entire existence the band have performed numerous free concerts, notably STONEHENGE and have supported various charities, which include SHELTER, when in 1977 at the Blackheath Concert Halls they raised thousands of pounds for the homeless, and even released a charity single version of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" with Samantha Fox guesting on vocals. N.A.S.A. in the USA have also used sound tracks from the ‘LOVE IN SPACE release. In 1997 they headlined the ‘1ST SPACEROCK FESTIVAL USA’. In 2000, the band staged the highly successful ‘HAWKESTRA’ event at the London Brixton Academy, which saw many past members reunited on stage with a nucleus of Dave Brock, Ron Tree, Jerry Richards, Hugh Lloyd-Langton, Simon House, Richard Chadwick, Alan Davey and Tim Blake. In 2001 they were voted the 8th top progressive band in the country on Channel 4 TV. The band have recently released a double live cd recording of their Xmas 2000 'Yule Ritual' show at the London Astoria, as well as the Arthur Brown helmed 'Out of the Shadows' in 2007.The concept of a Hawkestra, a reunion event featuring appearances from all past and present members, had originally been intended to coincide with the band's 30th anniversary and the release of the career spanning Epocheclipse – 30 Year Anthology set, but logistical problems delayed it until 21 October 2000. It took place at the Brixton Academy with about 20 members taking part in a 3+ hour set which was filmed and recorded. Guests included Samantha Fox who sang Master of the Universe. However, arguments and disputes over financial recompense and musical input resulted in the prospect of the event being restaged unlikely, and any album or DVD release being indefinitely shelved.The Hawkestra had set a template for Brock to assemble a core band of Tree, Brock, Richards, Davey, Chadwick and for the use of former members as guests on live shows and studio recordings. The 2000 Christmas Astoria show was recorded with contributions from House, Blake, Rizz, Moorcock, Jez Huggett and Keith Kniveton and released as Yule Ritual the following year.
In 2001, Davey agreed to rejoin the band permanently, but only afiter the departure of Tree and Richards.
Meanwhile, having rekindled relationships with old friends at the Hawkestra, Turner organised further Hawkestra gigs resulting in the formation of xhawkwind.com, a band consisting mainly of ex-Hawkwind members and playing old Hawkwind songs. An appearance at Guilfest in 2002 led to confusion as to whether this actually was Hawkwind, sufficiently irking Brock into taking legal action to prohibit Turner from trading under the name Hawkwind. Turner lost the case and the band now perform as Space Ritual.
An appearance at the Canterbury Sound Festival in August 2001, resulting in another live album Canterbury Fayre 2001, saw guest appearances from Lloyd-Langton, House, Kniveton with Arthur Brown on "Silver Machine". The band organised the first of their own weekend festivals, named Hawkfest, in Devon in the summer of 2002. Brown joined the band in 2002 for a Winter tour which featured some Kingdom Come songs and saw appearances from Blake and Lloyd-Langton, the Newcastle show being released on DVD as Out of the Shadows and the London show on CD as Spaced Out in London.
In 2005 the long anticipated new album Take Me to Your Leader was released. Recorded by the core band of Brock/Davey/Chadwick, contributors included new keyboardist Jason Stuart, Arthur Brown, tabloid writer and TV personality Matthew Wright, 1970s New Wave singer Lene Lovich, Simon House and Jez Huggett. This was followed in 2006 by the CD/DVD disc Take Me to Your Future.
The band were the subject of an hour-long television documentary entitled Hawkwind: Do Not Panic that aired on BBC Four as part of the Originals series. It was broadcast on 30 March 2007 and repeated on 10 August 2007. Although Brock participated in its making he did not appear in the programme, it is alleged that he requested all footage of himself be removed after he was denied any artistic control over the documentary.. In one of the documentary's opening narratives regarding Brock, it is stated that he declined to be interviewed for the programme because of Nik Turner's involvement, indicating that the two men have still not been reconciled over the xhawkwind.com incident.
June 2007 saw the departure of Alan Davey, who left to perform and record with two new bands: Gunslinger and Thunor. He was replaced by "Mr Dibs", a long-standing member of the road crew and bassist for the bands Spacehead and Krel (who had supported Hawkwind during 1992). The band performed at their annual Hawkfest festival and headlined the US festival NEARfest and played gigs in PA and NY. At the end of 2007, Tim Blake once again joined the band filling the lead role playing keyboards and theremin. The band played 5 Christmas dates, the London show being released as an audio CD and video DVD under the title Knights of Space.
The band's official Website is to be found at www.hawkwind.com
HAWKWIND and solo projects: Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Inner City Unit, Lemmy, Motorhead, Huw Lloyd Langton Group, Robert Calvert, Alan Davey, Bedouin, Michael Moorcock Deep Fix, Harvey Bainbridge, Agents Of Chaos ,Space Ritual, Spiral Realms,ect.A truly prolific act !
Festivals
Hawkwind Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The spirit once lived
In all of our hearts,
A spirit of freedom,
Dance, music and arts.
We gave what we could,
But they wanted more.
We came in peace,
A society infiltrated from the inside,
Government instigators?
Nowhere to hide.
We have allowed it to happen,
It is so very sad,
Everyone is guilty,
Though not everyone is bad.
Those carefree days of summers past
At the time seemed too good to last.
But I thought that it would be destroyed,
From the outside... not from within,
By the closed minded fascists,
Not by our own "Kith and Kin".
The song "Festivals" by Hawkwind is a poignant commentary on the cultural shift that took place in the Western world in the late 20th century. It speaks to the changes and struggles encountered as the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s began to clash with the mainstream society that sought to suppress it. The lyrics express a sentiment of loss and disillusionment, as well as a call to action to reclaim the spirit of freedom, dance, music, and arts that once lived within all of our hearts.
The opening verse sets the stage for the rest of the song, acknowledging the essence of what brought so many people together: a shared belief in the importance of cultural freedom. The second verse then dives into the internal strife that eventually led to the downfall of the counterculture movement. The lines "We gave what we could, but they wanted more / We came in peace, but left in war" describe the tension and conflict that arose when the movement's message of peace and freedom was met with resistance and violence.
The third verse takes a more critical look, acknowledging that the movement was not without its own flaws. The lines "Everyone is guilty, though not everyone is bad / Those carefree days of summers past / At the time seemed too good to last" reflect a sense of creeping disillusionment as the movement's original ideals gave way to in-fighting, corruption, and a lack of direction. The final lines, "Not by our own 'Kith and Kin,'" suggest that the movement was ultimately betrayed by those who were supposed to be on the same side, either by selling out to the mainstream or blindly following a more extreme agenda.
Line by Line Meaning
The spirit once lived
There was a time when there was a spirit of happiness and freedom.
In all of our hearts,
This feeling was shared by everyone.
A spirit of freedom,
It was a feeling of being free from worry and constraint.
Dance, music and arts.
This freedom was expressed through the arts.
We gave what we could,
We did what we could to keep this spirit alive.
But they wanted more.
But some people weren't satisfied with what we were doing.
We came in peace,
We came to enjoy ourselves in a peaceful way.
But left in war.
But things turned ugly and we ended up fighting.
A society infiltrated from the inside,
Our society was attacked from within.
Government instigators?
It's possible that these attackers were working for the government.
Nowhere to hide.
There was no way to escape from this situation.
We have allowed it to happen,
We were partly responsible for what happened.
It is so very sad,
This situation is deeply regrettable.
Everyone is guilty,
We all played a part in what happened.
Though not everyone is bad.
However, not everyone involved was acting maliciously.
Those carefree days of summers past
Those happy, carefree times we enjoyed in the past.
At the time seemed too good to last.
At the time, we didn't realize how quickly those happy times would disappear.
But I thought that it would be destroyed,
I had always thought that the happiness we enjoyed would eventually be taken away.
From the outside... not from within,
However, I thought the destruction would come from a different source, not from within our own community.
By the closed minded fascists,
I thought that narrow-minded, authoritarian people would be responsible for destroying our happiness.
Not by our own "Kith and Kin".
I didn't think our own family and friends would be responsible for the destruction.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVE BROCK, KRIS TAIT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kelly Green
How long is chadwick on the drums?
robgunnAK47
Cannot understand the Keku42 comment re no future,New album,New sounds,New musicians,New material.Hawkwind does have a proud past as do a lot of bands,but it certainly has a future not to be missed.I grew up with them & for me now i find them as fresh as ever.
safeashouses211
Hi kelly, RC joined in 1988. Nearly 25 years!
9hawklord
Ron Tree is the main vocalist in the 21st Century Hawklords and he was the main vocalist in the era this track comes from. Hawkwind have been pleasantly surprising me since Silver Machine one of the first adult singles I bought. I immediately liked 7 by 7 much much more and boy was I in for a treat when SRA came out the version on there is like a million times better than that old b side
Morgan Sterne
True, but this song is 100% Brock.
OrpheusIsThe1
Sorry but I am with Keku42 on this one. I can't stand what they are doing now. I love all the early stuff though. Yjis is just too machine led and controlled. Compare this with anything off Text of Festival (the vinyl NOT the CD) and you will see what a lack of energy they have now. Personally I prefer Hawklords. They carry the original ethos of what Hawkwind were about. I grew up with them as well and was into them when before Lemmy was there. IMHO Hawkwind the first official album is better.
OrpheusIsThe1
I am off to see Hawlords next month who are a far better band, are ALL ex HW members still retain the ethos of early Hawkwind, they remember why they are there and who put them there and that they are playing for an audience not themselves and no one else. Nick Turner is also a far superior human being than Dave Brock any day.
Kelly Green
Hi ...211,know it now,nevertheless many thanx
OrpheusIsThe1
Sorry you have it all so so wrong don't you HA HA HA. It is not I that is superior it is HAWKLORDS who are superior to Hawkwind,