Hawkwindforum

Pure fate. Had become so disillusioned with "popular" music that I was barely listening to anything. Then a few people at school were talking about Hawkwind and on an impulse I bought In Search of Space. Never looked back. May 5th 1973, £2.38. Will have to go and put it on again now.

I was listening to Floyd Genesis and Sabbath before i came across Hawkwind. This was late 79 early 80's. Then I started knocking around in heavy rock pubs, Ruskin Arms, Green Gate, Bridgehouse etc and a friend was listening to them and Zappa. My friend had the Doremi patch on the back of his combat jacket became and me and my other mates being the riders of the NWOBHM had patches of all thebands we had seen. Budgie, sabbath etc...Anyway cant remember first album bought but first gig was Hammersmith Odeon - Levitation. What a trip! Last time i saw the was at Standon Calling this summer. My Favorite album, though they are all good is ............Sonic Attack! Its Modern!

Love n peace Brothers n Sisters!

Sanityclause (Formerely Loake)

I read a review of one of their gigs (would have been Sounds,NME,IT,or Frendz). It said the band claimed that the use of ring modulators (if I remember correctly..) made people feel high without the use of drugs. I thought this was an interesting concept,worthy of further investigation! I bought the first album and loved it. I was in London with my parents at a market in London (Portobello Road?). On our way there I saw the band playing under an archway. I managed to persuade my parents to let me stay and watch them. Wow! I'd definitely got the bug then! Also persuaded my dad (bless him!)to give me a lift to various Hawkwind gigs. My friends did this too so we had a sort of ring of dad chauffeurs. Got to go to a lot of great gigs.The album that really was a landmark in my life was In Search of Space. It totally blew me away. I played it to death and couldn't get enough of it for about 3 months! In 1974 I went to Windsor Free Festival. Things have never been the same since (I'm glad to report!). Will

My God! What a coincidence! I was taken to London by my dad for a day trip, saw Hawkwind playing under a road arch, near portabellow Rd? Was I there with you? I was blown away, i could think of nothing else for days, No body else was playing this sort of music, even the German experimenters, it had so much energy. My mate Steph Howard got me a bootleg tape. Played it to death, gave up guitar lessons, almost gave up school, Hawkwind was the only music for me. My mind set was permanantly altered.
Then came Silver Machine and Space Ritual. It had such an effect I almost went insane.
My kids love Hawkwind but even they think I am obsessed, well they are write.

Well, that`s easy! Bought the first Hawkwind lp on Blue Liberty in 1970 and that was it! Was getting into acid big time and this music suited me perfectly!! Then came A Search for Space, Space Ritual etc etc. Saw them live in -73 - what a mindblower! and then again in Porchester Hall this year. What a trip! Been away from the holy entheogenes for a long time, but that gig brought it all back. Infinite starry skies, floating away high on pure acid, ever beyond.... then and now (and now was in this rather straight hall in the middle of London!!). Nice one! Here goes again.......... (bye bye, cruel world!).

Well i used to live in Windsor and was lucky enough to see them play at the Windsor Free Festival. I suppose if i'm honest as a 15 yr old it was Stacia who first caught my eye I then got into the music and have never looked back since. They were great days.Can't wait till we see the band in London in December

listening to silver machine on the radio like a lot of people, first album i bought was PXR5, which was 1979 i think about the same time i got into The Damned

I knew of Silver Machine as my brother had the single but probably really took notice with the Live 79 & Levitation albums which he got.
Got some stuff on CD down the years but it was only when i recently got Take me To Your Leader that i found this place.
I also remember seeing them on Marc Bolan's tv show..(Playing Quark..?)

I had heard Hawkwind several times,but never really made a connection to it.
Then one night at a VERY wild private party ina local pub upstairs..
It was like a miniature Babylon LOL...
I remember there was a couple of piles of coats humping in the corner,one or two people had tried to "Fly" out the windows because they thought they were birds,and all the usual was being played VERY loudly by the DJ there.

When all of a sudden what I though was cowbells started ringing,and then this gipsy violin started and then pow in came the wall of sound.
In my er,altered state I staggered across to the dj and said "What the f!"£$ is this!!"
He looked at me like I must have been living under a rock on Mars and said:
"Hawkwind,Hassen I sahba"

I was hooked,later they played "Spirit of the age"
Next day I spent a small fortune on buying up the back catalogue.

Job done

Later we started playing Hawkwind numbers for fun in band rehearsals (Gunslinger),and the rest is history.

So many very happy memeories tied to the music.

Nigel

Was a big fan of Michael Moorcock's books and bought an LP of Space Ritual and was hooked. Saw them live at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 1979.

25 years ago, someone played me Quark, Strangeness & Charm... I was hooked!

Easy to remember,this one.........
There was a guy who I spent most of my time with when I was 15/16.A bassist who I played music with(I was,then,a very 'Animal-from-the-Muppets' type drummer).He had long straight hair which was parted in the middle,VERY recognisable moustache/beard combo and mirrored,aviator shades.Called(honestly!)Lemmy.Now,OBVIOUSLY we're not talking about the man himself,but at that age,my knowledge of the Motorhead frontman didn't extend to knowing about his place in Hawkwind's history or,in fact,anything other than what 'Ace of Spades' sounded like-All I knew was that MY Lemmy worshipped the guy and that MY Lemmy had a great record collection............
It was 'Master of the Universe' that did it.
There was a slight chance(erm........)that I may've been having an early smoking experience too,but sitting in my friend's flat in Bradford,listening to the crackling,scratching,bass-heavy sound of the needle dropping onto the record's run-in groove,then the song building and filling my ears,is a memory that is SO embedded in my mind when it comes to musical experiences,that,in some respects,it feels CRUCIAL to my decision to want to play music for the rest of my life.
The song that sealed it,however,was 'Psycadelic Warlords'.I still find myself playing that riff whenever I'm warming up with a band now(I'm now a guitarist....again-hearing what could be done with a guitar and,also,what FUN it sounded like with Hawkwind forced me out of the drummers chair)and I still think it's crazy brilliant.
Tell you what tho;it's a great question.Brought back lovely memories writing the answer to it.

What's the name of your band Crispian?

Nigel

When I was a teenager in the eighties, my Dad lost his job and to help get some money in we started travelling round selling records at record fairs in the midlands. It didn't do too well to be honest becuase he's a classical music fan and there wasn't much of a market for that at record fairs. Anyway, when anyone gave him a load of records to sell, he'd let me and my brother go through them (especially if they were rock records) and have any we wanted. I picked out a copy of X In Search of Space one time (original in original sleeve), and thought it looked interesting. I'd never heard anything like it before, and it took me a long time to get my head round it, but once I did I was absolutely hooked. Then in sixth form at school, when we had to make ou choices of potential universities, I saw in Sounds that Hawkwind were playing at Keele University that Autumn, and thought "That's the place for me!" More by luck than judgment I got a place there, went to see them, and it all fell into place and the serious record buying then started!!!

1984...do not panic,i missed it...1985,henge,got arrested and have been hooked eversince...i love hawkwind so much that i have h/w days on a regular basis...the wife wears ear plugs ...so there you go ,25 yrs and still the ULTIMATE EXRERIENCE!!!