HAWKWIND Hawkwind 1970 LibertyBlueLabel UK1st Pr. LP NM

	£		175
	$		232

ARTIST:  HAWKWIND

TITLE:  HAWKWIND

LABLE + YEAR:    Liberty blue & turquoise LBS 83348; 1970 UK 1st Press

CONDITION VINYL:  Near Mint

CONDITION SLEEVE:   Excellent this just shows very slight edge wear; Gatefold with nice psyched-out picture of the band;

DESCRIPTION:  Track listing:

Side 1: Hurry On Sundown; The Reason Is?; Be Yourself; Paranoia - Part 1.

Side 2: Paranoia - Part 2; Seeing It As You really are; Mirror of Illusion.

This is the first album by this fantastic band.  This is the original first UK release in a gatefold sleeve. The original U.K release had blue labels which were later changed to black.

Formed in the summer of 1969 as Hawkwind Zoo, they were offered a record deal by Liberty Records in November of that year and immediately shortened the band name to Hawkwind. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Brock has been the only consistent band member through multiple personnel changes. Their music began as hard-driving blues rock, but quickly added doses of psychedelic rock, with prominent use of special effects and synthesizers.

Their elaborate live performances (somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra's) quickly gathered them a cult following, partly because they were seen as a 'community' Of the People - For the People group. Their second album In Search of Space was very successful.

Hawkwind were, along with the Pink Fairies, key 'community bands' in Ladbroke Grove, home of the Mountain Grill cafe. During the early 1970s Hawkwind played a number of benefit gigs along with other 'community' bands/artists including Pink Fairies and Steve Took who, as a key member of the UK Underground went on to work with a number of Hawkwind members.

Hawkwind achieved chart status with the release of the single "Silver Machine" in 1972, with vocals by Lemmy Kilmister, written by Dave Brock and Robert Calvert, allegedly about Calvert's bicycle. Their follow up single "Urban Guerrilla" was banned by the BBC and withdrawn after increased terrorist activity by the Provisional IRA.

Hawkwind have had a long-standing connection with many free festivals including the Stonehenge Free Festival that ran from 1973 until banned in 1985. The spirit of these festivals has been reawakened by their last two "Hawkfest" weekends.

On October 21, 2000 the Hawkestra, a band formed by about half of the former members of Hawkwind, played a sold-out gig at the Brixton Academy.

The science fiction writer Michael Moorcock has a long association with the band. One of Hawkwind's albums Chronicle of the Black Sword was based largely on Moorcock's Elric book series. The cover for this album was designed by John Coulthart. Michael Moorcock wrote a piece called "MESSAGES" which appeared on the 1983 album Zones as "Running Through the Backbrain" with Moorcock on vocals. The 1976 novel The Time of the Hawklords credited to Michael Moorcock (although he had little to do with it) and Michael Butterworth, features the band in a science fiction adventure. Butterworth later wrote a sequel, Queens of Deliria.

The band Motörhead was started after Lemmy was sacked from Hawkwind, following his arrest during a Hawkwind North American tour. Lemmy was arrested at customs with suspected cocaine, although analysis revealed it was amphetamines. He was ultimately released because he had been charged with the wrong crime, not because amphetamines were legal in Canada, as some have maintained.

Hawkwind founder member Nik Turner formed the relatively successful Punk oriented Inner City Unit with former Steve Took's Horns members Judge Trev Thoms and Dino Ferari. In 2001, he launched a tribute band called XHawkwind.com, playing old '70s Hawkwind favorites, and featuring (unusually for a tribute band) ex-Hawkwind members. Dave Brock launched a court case over the band's name, which was successful in 2002. Nik Turner's band continues to perform, but is now SpaceRitual.net.