HW: how long, how many, and why

[DRider]

Warning: I don't post very often and this is LONG......

 *Hawkwind fan:

since 1980 - seems like I have told the story before....

By the age of 10, I was already collecting records (that I still own today)
and into what would be considered hard-rock I guess. By age 11,
I was going to concerts.....

In 1977 (age 12), during the Summer I traveled w/ my (older) brother
to St. Louis, MO to paint a friend's house and was exposed to
marijuana for the first time. There was a killer radio station there called
KSHE that played really good tunes. I was turned onto Judas Priest one night
listening to that station and my hard-rock liking turned to full-blown heavy
metal. A friend bought Motorhead's Ace Of Spades when it came out and my
little group of friends were all thrashing to Lemmy and the boys. We
actually
made a video to Love Me Like a Reptile........But it was not what you may be
thinking.......... LOL!!!
I often traced the roots of bands that I liked and I read somewhere that
Lemmy
was in a band called Hawkwind. I was visiting a friend at college
(BGSU -where I
would later attend) that was also into Motorhead. We went to the music
library and found that they had a vinyl copy of Doremi Fasol Latido. We both
listened to it on the headphones. I can't remember his impression, but I
really liked it ALOT. However, I had not gotten on the bus yet, so to speak.
Even though, I already owned alot of PROG like King Crimson's Red and Larks
Tongues, as well as many early Yes releases, I was yet to have my first
psychedelic experience which probably increased my fondness of the
Hawks......

 *how many CD's:

about 100 official releases, including multiple copies of certain releases
on
different labels and a few Japanese too...

On Summer Tour w/ the Grateful Dead in 1995, I hit many record stores across
the country on a Hawkdisc binge. Man, I scored Space Bandits in the longbox
collecting dust at one shop and both the Warrior Box and The 25 Years Box in
another shop for dirt cheap: $7.99 for Warrior and $15.99 for 25 Years box!!
It's cool to order stuff etc. but there's nothing like scoring something you
have been wanting for a long time in a record store. Mike Coleman helped
fill-in a few gaps w/ my collection in the early-mid 1990's.......
Mainly getting the newer releases on disc and on vinyl...

 *vinyl albums:

about 70 or so, also including multiple copies of certain releases on
different labels or from different countries and always looking for
more.....

Hawkwind is the ONLY band that I collect on vinyl.

 *collects live recordings and other Hawkwind junk:

hell yeah!
although, I have not been as organized in the past couple years as I used to
be, and my burner has been fried for a while, but I am remedying both of
those issues currently... ")
not so much into collecting the other "junk" per se. I have a few tour
programs, some books and I am always into new T-shirts... Thanx Mike Coleman
for the Hawkestra T-shirt!

 *why a Hawkwind fan:

part of the reason, I told above.....
I can't remember exactly when I really went nutz for the Hawks. It was a
progressive thang, I guess...... Smoking marijuana a half-dozen times or so
at age 12 only lasted for that summer and I was back to being a good
kid......
I went to college w/ Paul Resnik. Some of you may know Paul from the
band Nucleon or you may have a tape of his short-lived band Spacecore,
that actually opened for Hawkwind at the Empire in Cleveland, OH.
Paul was a fellow Geology major in college we were into the same
types of music and we became best friends. This coincided w/ smoking
marijuana
on a semi-regular basis and probably getting more and more into Hawkwind.
I did sound for many of Paul's different bands, played roadie
for him and jammed sporadically w/ him in a group we called Eclectic
Vagabond. Eclectic Vagabond was essentially improvisational electronic space
jams w/ Paul on keyboards and me on guitar. I already owned a few Hawkdiscs
by then, but it was probably when Paul loaned me his copy of Hall of The
Mountain Grill, that I really fell in love w/ the Hawks. I continued to
collect more of there releases through the 1980's and it was only
appropriate
that the first time that I saw Hawkwind was at the Phantasy Theater in
October of 1989 w/ Paul on one side and my brother on the other side and all
3 of us shroomin our brains out  ")

Oh, I was rambling on there wasn't I...?

There are so many reasons that I love Hawkwind. With each release there are
different reasons and different discoveries made. It wasn't until after my
first show that I found their first release on vinyl. I already had Xenon
Codex, as I bought it when it came out - the first CD of theirs that I
bought
in fact. The first release was quite intriguing to me and I dubbed it to
cassette immediately w/ the first NEKTAR (a band my brother turned me onto
the day Recycled was released) on the other side. The first release is very
primitive and somewhat simplistic, but very engaging. There's quite a
progression from there to each subsequent release and the addition of Lemmy
made them a band that was like no other.

Hawkwind's sound is ever changing and ever evolving. One could say that Hall
of the Mountain Grill and Warrior on The Edge of Time are PROG, while Doremi
Fasol Latido is more like In Search of Space on speed.

Hawkwind even thrashed in their very own unique blanga style as early as
1972. Both versions of Master of The Universe found on Space Ritual and
Space
Ritual Vol. II totally shred!!

While Dave Brock is no John McLaughlin or Robert Fripp, his guitar style has
always been quite inventive and the definitive factor in Hawkwind's sound.

Both Robert Calvert and Nik Turner made Hawkwind even more unique. Robert's
lyrics were always on the edge (like the man himself) and thought provoking
and Nik's stage presence always contributed to the wild lightshow.

Hawkwind are THE psychedelic warlords!

I have always been into swords and sorcery and science fiction. Hawkwind
blended both of these topics better than any other band and the
collaboration
between the band and Michael Moorcock was the true pinnacle for me. The
Warrior On The Edge of Time became embodied in Elric which was a stroke of
pure genius. For some fans the period of the mid-1980's was not one of their
favorite times, but this time period was a time that made Hawkwind legendary
to me.

In the 1990's, Hawkwind remained true pioneers w/ their release of Electric
Tepee. While stripped down to a 3-piece unit, they made one of the best
recordings of the entire decade. There are so many layers and so may styles
interwoven in the tapestry of sound in Electric Tepee and Dave's lyrics on
many of the songs are among some of his best. Plus, the opening track, LSD
has
the driving guitar that Hawkwind pioneered.

By the Mid-1990's they released another strong effort w/ Alien 4. This time
they had Ron Tree filling the void of the frontman that had been missing for
many years. The live performances on the 1995 Tour w/ Ron brought back the
spirit evoked by Robert Calvert and Nik Turner. Many of the songs on Alien 4
have excellently penned lyrics, all filling the concept of being abducted by
Aliens. Something we were all waiting for Hawkwind to bring us. The truth IS
out there!

The 1990's also brought about bands paying tribute in the form of remixes of
some Hawk-favorites, such as Uncle Sam's on Mars......

It became evident more and more through the 1990's just how much influence
Hawkwind has had on MANY contemporary bands and styles of music. They
continue to be pioneers in the style of music they invented known simply as
SPACEROCK.

 *First album you picked up:

In Search of Space
(bought right after hearing Doremi Fasol Latido for the first time ")

*Seen live how many times:

6 - All in Cleveland, Ohio
Oops... I forgot.... Atlanta, Georgia in 1995

Some day I would love to fly across the pond and go on tour w/ Hawkwind. I
only hope that I have enough money to do it before it's too late.........

 *Nik or Dave:

There have been some great responses to this one w/ Doug Pearson's probably
summing it up best.

I DO think there are an inordinate amount of fans that appear to "suck-up"
to
Dave. The key word being "appear". Maybe, that is not their intention and
maybe they don't mean to come off that way....

There has also been an inordinate amount of Nik bashing, which can ONLY be
seen as petty and vindictive.

In fact, Nik is not the only Hawk that has been the brunt of bashing. Huw
Lloyd-Langton has also gotten his share. The "suck-up" concept I mentioned
above "appears" to reinforced by the fact that people stopped bashing Huw
Lloyd-Langton when Dave made him an official member of the band again.

I have never understood how someone can say that they love Hawkwind and that
Hawkwind is their favorite band in one breath and then bash one of it's key
members in the next. Current member or former member - it makes NO
difference.
(except for Dave Anderson, of course)

Dave has kept the mothership going and been quite deliberate on his course
for better or for worse. Only he knows his true motives for some of the
steps
that he has taken in what has appeared to be protecting his financial and
artistic interests. There is absolutely no doubt that Dave IS Hawkwind. That
was clear LONG LONG before he started taking deliberate action to PROVE this
to any current or former band members, managers, booking agents and the
world
in general. Most of us understand Dave's actions, having kept up w/ the
Hawkwind SAGA. And many of these actions are probably very justified.
However, re-releasing old songs on new records with different
titles and only a slight variation (if any) in lyrics and/or music and
taking
all the credit seems a bit underhanded.

I would never choose between these 2 fellows!

I am Grateful for both of them in numerous ways. This entire post is a
deadication to Hawkwind, past present and future. I only hope that Nik and
Dave can come to some type of understanding and be friends. I would never
want them to become like David Gilmour and Roger Waters.

I have never gotten to hang out w/ Dave. I have met him a couple times and
while he was always cordial, he seemed a bit removed and standoffish. I have
hung out w/ Nik a few times and had some great conversations with him. He
has
a very kind spirit, a great sense of humor and he's always just one of the
guys. Without Nik Turner I would never have met Tommy Grenas or been exposed
to Farflung.

I am just a Hawkfan. I have read numerous accounts of previous conflicts and
more
recent conflicts, but I take them w/ a grain of salt. Any conflict among any
band
members, past or present are between those folks. Sure I have an opinion. I
have
expressed a few here. But a person's opinion can only be based on what he or
she knows. Those so-called facts may be true or false. Therefore, that
person's
opinion may be justified and based on fact or that person's opinion may be
bullshit and based on fiction. Most often fans are a bit removed to know
the entire truth. They may know part of it, but not all of it. Choosing
sides
based on a situation that one does not truly have full knowledge of is where
I get off. Any conflict between Dave and Nik is between them.

I have been reading everyone's response to this thread and felt compelled to
post. This is the best thread that has appeared on this list for quite some
time. As Hawkfans we all have our own opinions, favorite time periods,
favorite releases and favorite band members. It's always fun to find out how
people from all over the world came to like the same band. We don't have to
agree on many things, because we all know that we agree on at least one
thing: Hawkwind

I originally found out about this list when I met Doug Bates and Chuck
Johnson back at the 1995 Hawkwind show in Atlanta. I have been a member off
and on ever since. I appreciate all the friends that I have made through
this
list, all because of Hawkwind. There are so many of you that I hope to meet
someday. I consider all of you friends, even though many of us have never
met.

Jill has to be the coolest Hawkfan on the face of the earth and Bernhard one
of the most knowledgeable archivists. I have great respect for you both and
all your contributions over the years.

The last 2 times that I went to see Hawkwind, I flew on a plane by myself to
see them and went to the shows by myself. Don't ever let that stop you from
going. There will be plenty of cool people there ready to hang w/ another
Hawkfan such as yourself. In the case of members of this list,
it will just be putting faces w/ names and that's always fun ")

I hope you all enjoy the upcoming tour!

Peace,

D-Rider