HW:Another HW Book?

[Paul Mather]

On Sat, Sep 27, 2003 at 07:06:14PM +0100, Ian Abrahams wrote:

=> I'm quite chuffed that Omnibus are publishing a Hawkwind book. Its good news
=> that such a big publishing company think there is marketability in the band.
=> I hope its going to be a great book - I also hope that come September mine
=> will already be around (whether through a smaller publishing house or
=> through my own financial commitment to the project) and I can put them side
=> by side and say "hey, I didn't do so bad"... My fear is that the Omnibus
=> book will be "Ladbroke Grove, Lots of Drugs, Silver Machine, Space Ritual,
=> Lemmy gets sacked, and oh, the band is still going today" - but thats an
=> unfair pre-judgement really. But I've a hunch that if you want that, the
=> Omnibus is the one to get, if you want Ron Tree's honest and touching
=> appraisal of why he's not in Hawkwind today, then mine is the version to go
=> for. But we'll all buy both,surely!

I think perhaps that the title of the Omnibus book ("The Saga of
Hawkwind") kind of smells a bit of muckraking to me.  If anyone is
familiar with the Allman Brothers Band and the biography "Midnight
Riders" then you'll know what I mean.  "Midnight Riders" is not too
popular amongst diehard ABB fans because, deep down, it dwells on the
"stormy saga" side of the ABB's history, not the music.  (Plus, there
are allegations of glaring factual inaccuracies with the book.)  The
upshot is that it makes a ripping yarn, and hence appeals to the
broader readership outside the ABB fan base.  Scandal sells...

Hopefully, the Omnibus book doesn't tread this path and focus only on
the "acid daze" glory years of the band.  Not only would that omit a
significant portion of the band's history, but it would be a
significant retread as well as a disservice to the band.

Good luck with the book, Ian!

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa