Hawkwind Troubles

[John Majka]

>    Tours seem to be poorly planned.  An example is the 1995 US tour.

Though I must add that of all US Hawkwind tours, the 1995 one was the best
planned of the lot.  Griffin did a lot for the band, and this tour proved
it.  They played in large places for large audiences and the gigs were in
general fairly well advertised.

> Now lets
>think about this, they made a trip to the US, paid to travel to the west
>coast, and did one show in SF.  Never mind that they have a very good fan
>base in LA and San Diego and had a venue booked in LA.  DUHH!

Yes, I could never understand that about Hawkwind in the US!  It costs a lot
in "initial costs" to haul themselves and their equipment over here, but
then when they get here, they do a minimal number of shows, which makes no
sense.  With more shows, the profits increase obviously.  The initial costs
are the main expenses involved, so after those are made up for, each
additional show can only add to the profits.  With this most recent tour of
4 shows with bad turnouts, what's that all about?  I expect they must have
lost a lot of money on this tour, unless most the $40.00 ticket price at
Strange Daze went to the Hawks, in which case they would have lost money at
three shows and made a small profit at one.  The obvious solution is to STAY
IN THE US LONGER AND DO MORE SHOWS PER TOUR.  Seems pretty obvious.  The way
to get shows of course is to have a promo package to send out.  This means
sending CD's and a brief biography/ 8x10 glossy to prospective
clubs/promoters, just like every other band on earth.  Generally speaking
people don't know who Hawkwind is, but Hawkwind could cure that problem by
promoting themselves a little more than zero.  In 1989 they did have a press
kit for the US tour, and I think it helped because Hawkwind interest in this
country was at a nadir, considering they hadn't played here in the 11
previous years.  Come on guys, get with it!  Press kits!  Radio spots!
Promo CDs!


>     As for management and promotion over here, I think Chris and Mary
>Bruce do more harm than good for the band.  I have sent money to subscribe
>to the Kadu Flyer and received just one issue in return.  I took them up on
>a promotional offer for a LP available from Griffin through them, paid for
>two, and received nothing in return but a canceled check with Chris Bruce's
>name on it.  Phone calls to them resulted in excuses and false promises to
>make things right.  After becoming so fed up with trying to get my LPs, I
>called Griffin and talked to the person in charge of the HW account.  He
>informed me that he could not help me obtain my LP's, that it was between
>me and them, basically I was SOL.  Then he informed me that I was not the
>only person who had trouble with them, that it was well know around
>Griffin how hard it was to deal with the Bruce's, that Griffin was pissed
>that they had advanced the Bruce's money for HW promotion and advertising
>and had seen nothing as as result, and that basically Griffin could not
>believe why HW put up with them.  I have stopped trying to deal with them,
>feeling that it is just better to cut my losses, although I wouldn't mind
>meeting up with Chris sometime so I could take out my $40. he ripped me off
>for.  God knows how ,many other people they have ripped off. Yes, I'm
>flaming them, but you make your bed and you have to lie in
>it.

I'm slightly inclined to agree with you about the Bruces.  They're nice to
chat with on the phone, but in terms of getting things done, they just don't
seem to!  I sent them $20.00 and like fifty stamps some years back as a
token effort to help out the network, and all I can say is that I have only
the first two issues of the Kadu Flyer.  Who knows how many were ever
produced?  No one ever receives anything from these people so we'll never
know.  Even after they repeatedly talked to me on the phone about it and
promised to send me the issues, they never did.  Ditto with other
merchandise.  I had even made some arrangements with them for some tape
trades, and after I sent them my tapes, they never mailed anything back to
me!  I'm not sure about those kids!  Plus Chris seems pretty out of it as
music goes, just judging by the bands he supports other than Hawkwind.
Cheese rock at its worst (and I'm not referring to cheese of the Camembert
Electrique variety)!  I've often thought that Hawkwind would benefit from a
different sound guy who isn't such a cheese rocker.  I guess I'm just
venting as well, but hearing somebody else rant about the Bruces got me
going too!


>     The bottom line is that HW, as much as I love the band, appears to
>surround themselves with mediocre support, which has doomed them to
>relative obscurity and cult status. They are a kick ass band,  with better
>support they might have been really big, at the very least more well known.

Couldn't agree more.
John Majka
flossbac at wcic.org