Peter Hammill on Hawkwind

[John McIntyre]

forwarded without permission from the Peter Hammill list
VDGG is Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill was their lead singer, guitarist,
and principal songwriter
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Whilst we're on the subject of Hawkwind, perhaps people might be interested
in what Peter Hammill himself said about Hawkwind's (at one time)
vocalist/lyric-writer Robert Calvert according to :
http://www.thing.de/projekte/future/calon.htm

PH : "He was a good man. And like a lot of good men he was troubled. BUT he
made       a lot of good work out of his troubles..."

     "He told me once that it was actually 'Killers", one of my earliest
songs,      that brought him into music."

     "The thing I remember, the images that are most vivid are the goggles
and       the megaphone - and the flying scarf. The Hawkwind of the
mid-seventies       shows were very theatrical, but they weren't slick. And
I don't think they       were after putting up a slick show - or after
perfection. To me it was       more a theatre in an Agit-Prop way. VDGG
played with Hawkwind numerous       times throughout the 70s - from the
early days on, when Calvert wasn't a       member - or only a loose one up
until the mid/late 70's when he became the       band's lead-singer &
frontman."

      "Van der Graaf and Hawkwind were obviously very different bands in
style -       where Hawkwind had this one riff that went on and on and on -
eventually       evolving into a kind of soundscape, VDGG had one riff, and
another and       another - this complex musical structure (and we didn't
had a "Stacia"       either....) . "

     "But in terms of the noise, the rawness and energy level during their
live      performances they weren't that far away. The anarchic element and
the sonic      quality and rawness of punk was there, both in the
performances and sounds      of HW and VDGG."

So, according to the author, PH actually said that VDGG played WITH
Hawkwind, although the interviewer does mention that he wrote the quotations
from memory, so he might be making that part of it up.

For me it was interesting to take note of the number and variety of people
paying tribute to Robert Calvert, that former member of the so-called
"crummy space prog-rock group". I personally think that some of their music
is just as good as Hammill's, and although Calvert's lyrics covered
different ground, some of them are just as good as his. I know this could be
treading on dangerous ground, but why not open this up for debate : Don't
SOME of you out there think SOME of Hammill's lyrics are just too
pretentious? I mean, I would like to think  PH7 could be an forum for
intelligent debate, and not simply club for avid-Hammillspotters...




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