Peter Hammill on Hawkwind

[Michael S. Habiby]

Hammil pretentious??   Is the London Bridge in Arizona?

Mike

John McIntyre wrote:

> forwarded without permission from the Peter Hammill list
> VDGG is Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill was their lead singer, guitarist,
> and principal songwriter
> ************************************************************************
>
> 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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>
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