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The Saga of "Hawkwind" Paperback – January 1, 2006

by Carol Clerk (Author)

4.6 17 ratings

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Hawkwind emerged in 1969 from Ladbroke Grove, the heartland of London's counterculture, to become a 'people's band'. This updated edition of 'The Saga of Hawkwind' includes an exclusive interview with Hawkwind leader, Dave Brock. It also gives details of their latest album 'Take Me To Your Leader'.

Print length

600 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Omnibus Press
Publication date

January 1, 2006
Dimensions

7.87 x 5.51 x 1.57 inches
ISBN-10

1844498328
ISBN-13

978-1844498321
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Omnibus Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 600 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844498328
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844498321
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.87 x 5.51 x 1.57 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #7,409,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 17 ratings

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zphage

Exhaustive, well written

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2007

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This is an exhaustive account of the band. It covers the beginnings up to almost the current day. It does get a little plodding. The classic period up to Lemmy's departure is the first 200 pages. Everyone is interviewed, so there are various axes being ground. It covers every permutation of the band late 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's. You will find out something you did not know. And you will probably reconsider some of the work of the various eras of the band.

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Jean Bal

The long road to the stars

Reviewed in France on July 12, 2013

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Ce livre est une des meilleures biographies rock que j'aie pu lire.
Et j'en ai lu beaucoup.
Carol Clerk, une pionnière du journalisme rock au féminin, a en effet raconté là, avec brio, l'histoire d'un des groupes anglais les plus atypiques des années 70. Une communauté d'idéalistes marginaux qui a su mélanger les idéaux libertaires hippie avec le heavy rock le plus basique, les prémices de la musique électronique, le space opera, l'heroic fantasy et toutes sortes de philosophies plus ou moins orientalisantes.
Créé en 68 autour d'un musicien de rue, Dave Brock - qui le dirige toujours aujourd'hui - Hawkwind était avant tout une bande de copains chevelus et déjantés, unis par l'envie de changer le monde par la musique et d'explorer leur esprit par tous les moyens possibles. Parmi ces freaks bigarrés, il y eut même un certain Lemmy, bassiste à ses heures, qui devait par la suite connaître le succès en formant Mötörhead.
C'est de cette association informelle, de ce collectif de musiciens tous différents, que va naître le "space rock", tout en donnant à entendre, dès le début des 70s, un avant-goût de ce que serait le punk british qui allait se déchaîner quelques années plus tard.
Carol Clerk a fait un travail magnifique. Avec son écriture élégante et efficace, dans un anglais abordable, elle alterne descriptions factuelles, anecdotes amusantes et précisions historiques. Elle évite pratiquement tous les écueils de ce type de bio, notamment les longueurs inutiles.
En quelques centaines de pages denses et passionnantes, elle nous fait rencontrer des individus peu ordinaires, vivre des grands moments d'amitiés et des trahisons minables, applaudir des faits héroïques et déplorer de grandes lâchetés.
De squats communautaires en concerts gratuits, de problèmes de managements en dépressions nerveuses, d'idées géniales en galères lamentables, on revit ainsi plus de quarante années d'histoire d'un certain rock underground à l'anglaise en compagnie de quelques uns de ses meilleurs représentants. Un courant musical qui eut une grande influence sur les années qui suivirent.
Si vous avez un jour aimé Hawkwind, ou si vous avez gardé une affection pour les rêves de la jeunesse de la fin des sixties, n'hésitez pas à vous offrir cet excellent bouquin aux relents de patchouli et de bois de santal.
Vous y apprendrez des tas de choses qui vous donneront surement envie de (re)découvrir la discographie complète du Vent du Faucon. Particulièrement au temps de son "âge d'or" des années 70, auquel près d'un tiers des pages du livre est consacré.
Et au final, peut-être aurez-vous, comme moi, le sentiment rassurant que certaines grandes utopies humanistes ne pourront jamais mourir complètement, tant qu'il y aura quelques fous pour les défendre de toute leur âme...

2 people found this helpful

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Joolz

A Saga indeed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2006

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Well, first of all, this is a Very Good Book. It is well written in a friendly style whereby the author lets the characters largely speak for themselves: much of the action comes from the mouths of band members and hangers-on, with the author unobtrusively piecing it all together with an easy flowing narrative. It's focus is not the music, but concentrates rather on the human aspects, the characters, inter-relationships and shifting undercurrents of the many people who have 'belonged' at one time or another. Inevitably, it deals with conflict, as it becomes clear very early on that a band which outwardly symbolised 'peace and love, man' was apparently rife with disharmony and acrimony.
Of course, all the key events in the band's history are here recounted, all the highs and lows, in detail, by the people who were there, though human memory is fallible as is proven time and again by differing opinions as to what actually happened on many occasions. And some of the anecdotes are priceless. Here, there is no holding back or hiding behind sweeping generalisations: indeed, they all seem to speak quite freely of their opinions of each other, and most of the juicy anecdotes and comments are quoted directly.
Two important threads emerge as you progress through the book: one is the dominance of 2 strong characters (Dave Brock and Nik Turner) and their opposing views on the purpose and direction of the band, differences which finally blew up into a bitter court case 4 years ago. It could be argued that the author 'sits on the fence' by not taking sides, but by giving both sides an even opportunity to air their views she enables the reader to make a far more balanced judgement.
The other thread which permeates through most of the book is - money, and this is my only serious criticism. There is so much bickering over money, and much of it is relatively small amounts. It tends to give the impression that they are/were a bunch of money-grubbing moaners but I suspect this has been blown out of proportion in the fall-out from the divisive court case as a lot of old grievances have risen to the surface.
If you thought of Hawkwind as a bunch of drug-addled zombies then this book will hopefully enlighten you. Similarly, you should not expect a 'Hammer Of The Gods' style of sex-orgy exposé (notwithstanding the nude dancer and nude drummer!) But, if you are at all interested in the band, and in delving into the characters behind the music, then you will find this an entertaining and essential read.

23 people found this helpful

Plod

Did it meet my expectations - YOU BET

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 16, 2013

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Hats off to Carol - she has blown me away .Hippies ,peace ,love - well yeah there's some of that , the in-fighting bitching and legal actions ,interlaced with creativity ,longevity and tragedy (R.I.P HLL) - a truly absorbing tale spanning 30 odd years and to my mind , a band that have never quite reached their true position in the scheme of things .

Interestingly ,the point made by Nik Turner to the author at the start of her research abut asking 3 people about the same event will give three entirely different accounts is so true almost to the point where you wonder if they were really there.

As a child of the sixties and seventies I was still in shorts when these guys kicked off - they can into my sphere when I was lucky enough to see them on their 1979 tour and have followed them ever since - this book is dynamite - If you like Hawkwind ,buy it and read the 'saga' complete with good guys and bad guys - Excellent

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

RAW AND REVEALING

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2017

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It is a darn good read and extremely revealing regarding the private lives of the band members. At times very sad but can also be very funny in places. An eye opener in terms of the cutthroat business of the music industry, and the many different characters among the vast number of band members through the years keeps on adding interest making you want to read more. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

Shane H.

Very enjoyable read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

Sadly Carol is no longer with us, or some of the participants, & I did not review when I read it, so I will say now how much I enjoyed it. Few popular bands have had a never ending cast of members, & fans who bitch over who was best & who they think ruined the band, more so than Hawkwind. I think we should just be glad their mainstay is still making music with others & agree Brock has earned the right to hold the name. There is certainly another book worth of material out there from where this one ended. Not sure the author will be as even handed as Carol in the telling though.

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