HAWKWIND Co-Founder & Groundbreaking Rock Icon NIK TURNER Rejoins The Stars, Leaves Behind an Extraordinary Musical Legacy

Nik Turner, founding member of Hawkwind who contributed saxophone, flute and vocals to the group’s first seven albums as well as co-writing some of their most beloved songs, passed away in the evening of November 10th.

His family posted this message: We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Nik Turner - The Might Thunder Rider, who passed away peacefully at home on Thursday evening. He has moved onto the next phase of his Cosmic Journey, guided by the love of his family, friends and fans.

Turner was simply one of the most creative minds of his generation. His tenure with Hawkwind was just the beginning of his journey to the outer reaches of the rock music universe as Turner would go on to release an astoundingly adventurous and diverse catalog of solo albums as well. His collaborations with everyone from UK Subs guitarist Nicky Garratt to Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger to Todd Rundgren along with Steve Hillage of Gong, Amon Düül II founder John Weinzierl, Die Krupps leader Jürgen Engler, William Shatner and so many more expanded his creative energy and brought new generations of music fans into his audience. Just this year saw the reissue of Turner’s incredible concert extravaganza, Space Ritual 1994, as both a CD/DVD set as well as a 3LP set, which features guests Helios Creed of Chrome and Psychic TV’s Genesis P-Orridge as well as Hawkwind alumni Del Dettmar and Alan Powell.

The Encyclopædia Hawkwindia The Ultimate Guide to More Than Fifty Years of Hawkwind by Dave Thompson Now Available!

Almost 600 pages of Brain Damage!

The Encyclopædia Hawkwindia is the ultimate guide to more than fifty years of Hawkwind, from the first show in August,1969, to the next scheduled gig in February, 2021.

Arranged alphabetically, the encyclopædia contains over 1,750 entries, from “Abducted” to ZZZ, and includes every song… every single… every album… every band member… dancers… festivals… spin-offs… side projects… solo albums… live shows… support bands… cover versions… venues… characters… crew… record labels… managers… reissues… compilations… tributes… culture… friends and relations…. and more.

More than seventy interviews, many undertaken specifically for the encyclopædia, include recollections, anecdotes and personal details from such icons of Hawkwind history as founder members Dave Brock and Nik Turner, classic line-up mainstays Lemmy, Robert Calvert, Stacia and Del Dettmar, and a host of names from throughout the band’s long history - Alan Davey, Paul Rudolph, Adrian Shaw, Huw Lloyd Langton, Bridget Wishart, Mr Dibs, Simon House and more.

There are entries for members’ pre- and post-Hawkwind projects - Magic Muscle and Krel, Smartpils and Spirits Burning.

For like-minded travellers through space rock and beyond - Michael Moorcock and Motörhead, the Pink Fairies and Gong.

For the Bath Festival and the Battle of the Beanfield, Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

200 illustrations include vintage press cuttings, memorabilia, art and rare photographs from musicians’ personal collections.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Dave Thompson is author of over 150 books, mostly on music, but other themes besides.

He is co-author of autobiographies by Nik Turner, photographer Bob Gruen, Motown legends Eddie and Brian Holland, New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain, Heartbreaker Walter Lure, The Yardbirds’ Jim McCarty, Fairport’s Judy Dyble, folkie Steve Ashley and Nektar’s Roye Albrighton (forthcoming). He also wrote the official tenth anniversary history of Fruits de Mer Records.

Thompson has written at length about Space Rock, Glam Rock, Industrial, Goth, Alternative and Punk, including biographies of David Bowie, the Sweet, Sparks, Genesis, Jeff Beck, Robert Plant, Deep Purple, Rozz Williams (forthcoming) and Cream.

Thompson’s journalism and music writing has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Goldmine, Record Collector, Mojo, Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, Spin, Melody Maker, Zig Zag, huH, Seattle Times, Music Week and others.

To purchase: https://hawkwindencyclopaedia.wordpress.com

ALAN DAVEY Forms The First HAWKWIND Supergroup HAWKESTREL, Releases New Album THE FUTURE IS US Featuring 9 HAWKWIND Alumni Plus Special Guest WILLIAM SHATNER!

DO NOT PANIC, Hawkwind fans! Alan Davey, the former bass player of that legendary UK rock band, has put together an incredible project involving no less than 9 members of the Hawkwind family including co-founder Nik Turner, original bassist Lemmy Kilmister, drummer Ginger Baker, violinist Simon House, original guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton, Paul Rudolph, Mick Slattery, and Bridget Wishart. It’s an epic undertaking worthy of the band that united these accomplished musicians, and continues to gain new followers with every new generation of music lovers.

The album is called The Future Is Us and it features brand new compositions alongside several re-workings of Alan Davey’s solo songs plus a very special new version of the spoken-word Hawkwind classic “Sonic Attack” with the Captain himself, William Shatner!

Davey shares his thoughts on the project, saying “It has been so much fun making this album with my ex-Hawkwind friends. This is what the fans have wanted from us ex-Hawks for some time and now it’s here! Cleopatra suggested the idea and then gave me free reign to contact everyone, write the songs, mix and produce the whole project. The ex-Hawks and William Shatner all did exceptional performances for the album as they always did. It’s been a real honour for me to work with them all again and end up with a great, historically important album which has reminded me what great musicians we all are! Bravo everyone and huge thanx to all at Cleopatra!!”

The Future Is Us will be available everywhere August 9 on both CD in an attractive digipak as well as on a special limited edition BLUE vinyl 2LP set in a gatefold jacket.

Buy the CD here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-cd/
Buy the vinyl here: https://cleorecs.com/store/shop/hawkestrel-the-future-is-us-limited-edition-blue-vinyl/
Buy the digital here: https://orcd.co/hawkestrelthefutureisus 

The Future Is Us

International Rock Collective Sontaag Release Hawkwind Cover “Silver Machine” feat. Nik Turner!

International rock collective Sontaag, whose conceptually ambitious, eponymous debut album (a sonically cinematic, cross-generic space opera) arrived into the progressive firmament to critical acclaim in 2014, are finally set to re-establish contact with our much-troubled earthly realm.

On March 15th, 2019, Sontaag return with a fiercely contemporary interpretation of Hawkwind's iconic 1972 hit, “Silver Machine.” The Sontaag crew on this particular mission finds core creatives Richard Sontaag (guitars, keyboards, producer) and Ian Fortnam (vocals and guitar) joined by Killing Joke's Youth on bass, Dave Barbarossa (Adam And The Ants/Bow Wow Wow) on drums and ex-Hawkwind legend Nik Turner on sax.

“Silver Machine” is mixed by Youth.

Design and photo montage by Julie Cunnah. Thanks to Kevin Nixon.

“Silver Machine” is available through Cleopatra Records via all digital platforms and also comes in radically remixed form courtesy of Sontaag's fellow travellers in outer and inner psychedelic space, The Orb.

Ian Fortnam: “Hawkwind were punk-proof. Even in '77, Richard and I would jam on 'Silver Machine.' Hawkwind were the UK's counter-cultural underground incarnate. I discovered them in that narrow space between Bolan and Bowie, simultaneous to Alice, in the summer of '72. Astral explorers. Eyes aflame with psychedelic visions. The people your parents dreaded you becoming. The coolest band alive. 'Silver Machine' was Hawkwind's magnum opus, a spiralling maelstrom of riff-driven brilliance. Who wouldn't want to cover it? Four years ago I found myself spirited to Nik Turner's place in Wales, where we spoke of the Great Pyramid, orgone accumulators, space rituals, hallucinogenics, sonic generators, woodwind and Hawkwind. Before we parted, I gave him a copy of the first Sontaag album and the seeds of the 'Silver Machine' project were sown. Obviously, the very best material deserves the very best band, so calls were made to maestro Youth and Dave Barbarossa (the dream rhythm section) and here we are. And what a rare privilege to work with The Orb whose 'Imaginarium Translucent JellyFish Dub' remix is a work of art in and of itself.”

 Richard Sontaag: Ian's been pestering me to do a Hawkwind cover since way back when -- the coolest kid in our school, he was often seen walking around with the Doremi Faso Latido LP under his arm between classes. But our Silver Machine came about in an unexpected way. I was alone in the studio late one night, and noticed that the guys had strung up a microphone from the ceiling. I put all the amps in a circle around it -- which is really bad technique - and went round each one, blasting out Silver Machine on different instruments. That was the most fun I have ever had in a studio -- and some of it even made it on to the final track.

For more information: https://twitter.com/Sontaag