View source for Archive:Hawklords

{{Short description|English music group}}
{{About|the 1978 incarnation of Hawkwind|the band formed in 2000s|Hawklords (2000s band)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=February 2012}}
{{Overly detailed|date=December 2025}}
}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

'''Hawklords''' were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from [[Hawkwind]], who were inactive during that period, ([[Robert Calvert]] – vocals, [[Dave Brock]] – guitar and [[Simon King (musician)|Simon King]] – drums) and a local [[Devon]] group named Ark ([[Harvey Bainbridge]] – bass and Martin Griffin – drums) with the addition of former [[Pilot (Scottish band)|Pilot]] keyboardist [[Steve Swindells]].

In 1978, the band released their first full studio album ''[[25 Years On]]''.

In 2008, a [[Hawklords (2008)|new Hawklords]] formed around bass player Harvey Bainbridge and ex-Hawkwind vocalist [[Ron Tree]].

==Live==
{{Infobox album
| italic_title = no
| name       = Live
| type       = live
| artist     = The Hawklords
| cover      = Live - The Hawklords.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = May 1992
| recorded   = 24 November 1978
| venue      = [[Brunel University]], Uxbridge
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Space rock]]
| length     =
| label      = [[Griffin Music]]– GN03921-2 <br />[[Dojo Records]] – DOJOCD71
| producer   = Hawklords
| prev_title = [[The Friday Rock Show Sessions]]
| prev_year  = 1992
| next_title = [[California Brainstorm]]
| next_year  = 1992
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1score =  {{Rating|2.5|5}} <ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r253086}}</ref>
| noprose   = yes
}}

The release of the album ''[[25 Years On]]'' was promoted with a 41 date UK tour during October and November 1978. The stage show was designed by [[Barney Bubbles]] and was based on a ''[[Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]''/[[Mao Zedong|Mao Tse-tung]] dystopia theme, featuring a projected film based light show, dancers in drab clothing performing mundane tasks, and spotlight towers creating an oppressive internment camp atmosphere. During the course of the tour the show was cut-back due to financial constraints, sufficiently upsetting Bubbles enough for him to refuse to work with Brock again. Some of the musicians felt that this action lightened the atmosphere resulting in the shows becoming more powerful. For the [[Hammersmith Odeon]] gig on 13 October, [[Lemmy]] guested on "[[Silver Machine]]".

The [[Brunel University]], Uxbridge concert (24 November) was professionally filmed by [[Charisma Records]], but to date only snippets have been aired on UK television. The [[Plymouth Polytechnic]] concert (23 November) was professionally recorded, and subsequent archive albums have included portions from it.

A tour programme was sold at this gig detailing the weird science behind the '25 Years' project. It outlined the aims and achievements of Pan Transcendental Industries and its programme for the industrialisation of religion. It described the construction of the first 'Metaphactory' staffed in part by car crash victims whose function was to generate new forms of social behaviour through the transformation of private into public fantasies. The nine million workers who populated this giant factory complex are described in the song 'The Age Of The Micro Man' wherein it is shown that they have no idea what they are working for. In fact the new rulers of this dark industrial age received contact from aliens that they believed were actually angels. These 'angels' said they would provide enlightenment, but at a price. The payment was nonsensical but nevertheless the human race was enslaved.<!--During the Hammersmith Odeon show, stickers were thrown into the crowd bearing the symbol of a flaming hand and the name 'Hawklords'. On the tour programme however, the flaming hand was accompanied by the phrase 'Reality You Can Rely On'. A neat idea considering that the concept of '25 Years' revolves around the notion of mass delusion and that the subscribers for the product (i.e the audience) were not necessarily averse to illegal drug use. Indeed, when the band started playing behind the huge fire curtain that covered the front of the stage, a huge plume of spliff smoke erupted from the stalls. And as the curtain rose, the dry ice, lights and sounds of England's premier acid rock band flooded over the audience evoking a kind of 'metatheatre', a performance without boundary.-->

===Set-list===
The following set-list is that from the Hammersmith Odeon, 13 October 1978 performance.<ref>Hawkfan 3, Author: Brian Tawn; February 1979; Self-published</ref> The set-list would slightly change during the course of the tour, significantly "Flying Doctor" being dropped halfway through.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!align="center"|Track
!align="center"|''[[The Weird Tapes#Volume 4: Hawklords Live 1978|Weird Tape 4]]''
!align="center"|''Hawklords Live''
!align="center"|''Live '78''
!align="center"|''[[Hawkwind, Friends and Relations|Friends and Relations]]''
|-
|"Automoton" [introduction tape] ([[Robert Calvert]], [[Dave Brock]])
|
|align="center"|1.1
|align="center"|1. (1:37)
|
|-
|"[[25 Years (Hawkwind song)|25 Years]]" (Brock)
|
|align="center"|1.2. (7:24)
|align="center"|2. (6:38)
|
|-
|"High Rise" (Calvert, [[Simon House]])
|
|align="center"|2. (5:00)
|align="center"|3. (5:00)
|
|-
|"Death Trap" (Calvert, Brock)
|align="center"|1. (6:21)
|align="center"|3. (8:46)
|align="center"|4. (5:37)
|
|-
|"The Age of the Micro Man" (Calvert, Brock)
|align="center"|2. (3:40)
|
|align="center"|5. (3:51)
|
|-
|"[[Spirit of the Age (song)|Spirit of the Age]]" (Calvert, Brock)
|align="center"|3. (9:20)
|align="center"|4.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} (6:48)
|align="center"|6. (9:20)
|
|-
|"[[Urban Guerrilla]]" (Calvert, Brock)
|align="center"|4. (5:18)
|
|align="center"|7. (6:12)
|
|-
|"Sonic Attack" ([[Michael Moorcock]])
|
|align="center"|5. (6:23)
|align="center"|8. (7:09)
|
|-
|"Flying Doctor" (Calvert, Brock)
|
|
|
|align="center"|Volume 3
|-
|"Steppenwolf" (Calvert, Brock)
|align="center"|5. (9:07)
|
|
|
|-
|"Psi Power" (Calvert, Brock)
|
|
|align="center"|9. (6:08)
|
|-
|"Brainstorm" ([[Nik Turner]])
|
|
|align="center"|10. (8:20)
|
|-
|"Freefall"  (Calvert, [[Harvey Bainbridge]])
|align="center"|6. (5:28)
|
|
|
|-
|"Uncle Sam's On Mars" (Hawkwind)
|align="center"|7.1. (6:28)
|
|
|
|-
|"The Iron Dream" (Hawkwind)
|align="center"|7.2. (2:05)
|
|
|
|-
|"Master Of The Universe" (Turner, Brock)
|
|
|
|
|-
|"Robot" (Calvert, Brock)
|
|
|
|
|-
|"[[Silver Machine]]" (Calvert, Brock)
|
|
|
|
|-
|}

===Releases===
*''[[The Weird Tapes#Volume 4: Hawklords Live 1978|Weird Tape 4]]''
**Recorded at Plymouth Polytechnic, 23 November 1978
**June 1981, Weird Tapes, WEIRD104, UK cassette
**September 2000, [[Voiceprint Records]], HAWKVP9CD, UK CD
*''Hawklords Live''
**Recorded at Brunel University, Uxbridge, 24 November 1978. Also includes the additional track "Over The Top" from the [[Sonic Assassins]] concert
**1981, Flicknife Records, FLEP101
**1992, Dojo Records, DOJOCD7, UK CD
**May 1992, Griffin Records, GN03921-2, USA CD
*''Live '78''
**Recorded at Brunel University, Uxbridge, 24 November 1978
**29 June 2009, Atomhenge ([[Cherry Red Records|Cherry Red]]) Records, ATOMCD1014, UK CD

===Tour dates===
The band undertook a 42 date UK tour in October and November 1978,<ref>{{cite web |author=Youles, Steve| title=Gig and Set Lists 1978| website=Starfarer.net| url=http://www.starfarer.net/gigs1978.html|access-date=20 May 2009}}</ref> with support from [[Patrik Fitzgerald]] and The Softies.
*6 October – Oxford, New Theatre
*7 October – Manchester, Apollo
*8 October – Liverpool, Empire
*9 October – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
*10 October – Newcastle, City Hall
*11 October – Middlesbrough, Town Hall
*13 October – London, Hammersmith Odeon – guest appearance from [[Lemmy]]
*14 October – Milton Keynes, Leisure Centre
*15 October – Croydon, Fairfield Halls
*16 October – Portsmouth, Guild Hall
*17 October – Birmingham, Odeon
*18 October – Dunstable, Queensway Hall
*19 October – Blackburn, King George Hall
*20 October – Bristol, Colston Hall
*21 October – St. Albans, City Hall
*22 October – Ipswich, Gaumont
*23 October – Leicester, De Montfort Hall
*24 October – Sheffield, City Hall
*25 October – Bradford, St. Georges Hall
*26 October – Leeds, Queens Hall
*27 October – Stoke-on-Trent, Victoria Hall
*28 October – Paignton, Festival Theatre
*29 October – Poole, Wessex Hall
*2 November – Malvern, Winter Gardens
*3 November – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
*4 November – Ilford, Gants Hill Odeon
*5 November – Reading, Hexagon
*6 November – Cardiff, University
*8 November – Gloucester, Leisure Centre
*9 November – Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
*10 November – Derby, Assembly Rooms
*11 November – Nottingham, Heart of the Midlands (Rock City)
*13 November – Hemel, Pavilion
*15 November – Glasgow, Apollo
*16 November – Carlisle, Market Hall
*17 November – Lancaster, University
*18 November – Oldham, Queen Elizabeth Hall
*19 November – Blackburn, King George Hall
*22 November – Wolverhampton, Civic Hall
*23 November – Plymouth, Polytechnic – professionally recorded
*24 November – Uxbridge, Brunel University – professionally filmed
*25 November – Hastings, Pier Pavilion

==Rockfield Studios, 1979==
After the tour, the band were to tour North America, but Calvert, wishing for the return of King, dismissed Griffin who then concentrated on his studio business and playing for [[Richard Strange]] before returning to Hawkwind for the 1981 ''[[Sonic Attack (album)|Sonic Attack]]'' album. Swindells recalls the five members spending time at Rockfield "where we rehearsed and jammed and wrote... Calvert was suffering definite mental problems when we were there. I think he was going through a divorce from his novelist wife, Pamela, and he was very unstable."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Saga of Hawkwind|page=204|author=Carol Clerk|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=2nd Revised|date=9 January 2006|isbn=978-1844498321}}</ref> Calvert left the band going on to write the novel ''Hype'' and recording an accompanying album, and he never appeared on any of the recordings released from these sessions.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Track
!Length
!Commentary
!Available On
|-
|Who's Gonna Win the War? (Brock)
|5:55
|One of the few titles that was worked into a complete track for ''[[Levitation (Hawkwind album)|Levitation]]'', this was released as "live". It may well have been recorded without overdubs, but it wasn't recorded in front of an audience.
|''[[The Weird Tapes#Volume 1: Sonic Assassins / Dave Brock|Weird Tape 1]]''; ''[[Hawkwind, Friends and Relations|Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 1]]''; 7" (FLS209) A-side; ''[[Levitation (Hawkwind album)|Levitation]]'' 2009 re-master.
|-
|Valium 10 (Brock / Bainbridge / Swindells / Smith)
|7:51
|Drums on this track were played by Mick Smith of The Softees, who were the support for the Hawklords tour.
|''[[The Weird Tapes#Volume 2: Hawkwind Live / Hawklords Studio|Weird Tape 2]]''; ''[[Hawkwind, Friends and Relations|Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 1]]''; 7"&12" (FLS205) B-side; ''Levitation'' 2009 re-master.
|-
|Douglas in the Jungle (Ode to a Manager) (Brock / Bainbridge / Swindells / King)
|6:53
|This track is a tribute to their manager Douglas Smith.
|''Weird Tape 2''; ''[[Hawkwind Anthology]]''; ''Levitation'' 2009 re-master.
|-
|Time of the Hawklords (Brock / Bainbridge / Swindells / King)
|4:07
|This track is named after the title of the [[Michael Butterworth (author)|Michael Butterworth]] novel, although often abbreviated to "Time of...", and sometimes erroneously titled "Time Off".
|''Weird Tape 2''; 7" (FLS209) B-side; ''Levitation'' 2009 re-master.
|-
|British Tribal Music (Brock / Bainbridge / Swindells / King)
|3:57
|
|''[[Hawkwind Anthology]]''; ''Levitation'' 2009 re-master.
|-
|Motorway City (Brock)
|7:24
|
|''Hawkwind Family Tree''
|}

==Return to Hawkwind==
Swindells wrote "[[Shot Down in the Night]]" at these sessions, and the band considered it ideal for single release, but with the band having no record contract Swindells departed when offered a solo deal, resulting in the album ''[[Fresh Blood (album)|Fresh Blood]]''. The remaining three members were joined by [[Huw Lloyd-Langton]] (lead guitar) and [[Tim Blake]] (synthesizers), choosing to revert to the name of Hawkwind and embarking upon a UK Winter 1979 tour resulting in the album ''[[Live Seventy Nine]]''. Swindells' studio version and Hawkwind's live version of "Shot Down in the Night" were released as singles simultaneously in 1980, both featuring Lloyd-Langton and King.

==The new Hawklords==
{{Main|Hawklords (2000s band)}}

In 2008 a new [[Hawklords (2008)|Hawklords]] formed around Harvey Bainbridge, with drummer Dave Pearce (ex-[[Bevis Frond]]), guitarist Jerry Richards, vocalist [[Ron Tree]] (ex-Hawkwind singer)  and bassist Tom Ashurst. The band's critically acclaimed 2015 album release, ''R:Evolution'' reached number 15 on the Official UK Top 30 Progressive Rock Chart and was in the top 75 for over two months. A “Full-blown sonic slab of classic British space-rock”, it has been nominated for best rock album of 2015 by One World Music Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/hawklords-1|title=Hawklords|website=Ents24.com|access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>

In 2016, the same line up, augmented by guest vocalist [[List of Girlschool band members#Kim McAuliffe|Kim McAuliffe]], released the album ''Fusion'' (LORDS1016)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100604235625/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/atomhenge/product.php?display=ATOMCD1014 Atomhenge Records]
* {{Discogs artist|Hawklords}}

{{Hawkwind}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hawkwind]]
[[Category:English space rock musical groups]]