I don’t do much proselytizing these later years. I found Electric Tepee  was easily appreciated by a wide variety of non-initiates. For me, its balance of the more modern davey-spacey synth stuff and reworked guitar power-chords of old Hawkwind classics made it very approachable. But hey,  that was ten years ago.

If I have a sci-fi geek or literati in the house I hit them with the 1-2 punch of Astounding Sounds and Quark. Who can resist
Spirit of the Age? or Steppenwolf? But is that representative Hawkwind?

As I approach the 30th anniversary of my first hawkwind show (11/26/73) I have found that to fulfil my needs for fresh space rock I have had to turn to the younger 3rd gen artists. If you were to hang at my place now-a-days, you’d be hearing much more of Anubian Lights, Farflung, and Starfield; and I’d mix in In Search of Space here and there, pointing Hawkwind out as the progenitors."

Thanks to BOC-L member Dr Technical for that great piece!

"Seeing as the group seems to have been a bit quiet in the last few days (either that or me e-mails up the creak!)here's a question for people - what album would you recommend or for that matter lend or buy for someone  who has never heard hawkwind, if you like the ideal introduction to the band, to get the ball rolling and after much deliberation I would go with LEVITATION, with the EPOCH 3 CD set a close second."

It seemed an easy enough question when I posted it to the BOC-L list a few weeks ago. I'm always interested to see what fellow hawkfans opinions are and theses lists are an ideal way to pose a question and see what reaction is forthcoming. I have to say on this occasion I was surprised with the replies in as much as no real pattern  emerged. Anyway here's what you said and I can safely say I'm glad that I'm not being introduced to the band by you lot, I don't think I could digest all the material. Thanks for all those who took part!

Steve a.ka - starfarer

I think we had this thread a while back but it's a topic that could be debated endlessly...my surprise choice would be Palace Springs.

Why? Because it has some classic 70's material as well as more contemporary late 80's stuff; the sound quality is possibly the best of any live HW album IMHO; it's got 'Treadmill' on it, which for me is the best song they've written in the last 23 years. Oh, and you can't introduce anyone to Hawkwind without having Simon House involved in the proceedings!

Myself ? well I like the early stuff - my favourites are the "Space Ritual" double album and "Stasis - the UA years"

First Equal with The Business Trip. - Agreeing with Starfarer Steve on the merits of Palace Springs

Pierluigi Fumi

a month ago I used Live Chronicles to initiate a friend for the
Hawkwind-mania. I used that because he likes power metal and LC seems to have a good power-metal sound. But this is only a case; if I would convert a friend that loves hard rock, then I probably will use "Live79" or "This is Hawkwind-do not panic". Personally, I was converted by the more psychedelic albums, in  order Space Ritual, X-InSearchOS, WarriorOTEOT and the first one

I would go for the one that got me into them in the first place - DoReMi.All that throbbing sound and general weirdness did it for me.
On a more modern note, I really like Distant Horizons (well most of it) which is new to me just recently. It gives them a bit of a fresher sound.

Tim

I've used Sonic Boom Killers a number of times as a good overview of classic Hawkwind.

Mick Crook

RoadHawks - not available on CD, but a good compilation and it was the one the that got me hooked.

Chris Purdon

Roadhawks was my first album, and it remains their best compilation to this day. Read the inside, all those Diks, Miks and Niks, thought it was great, and only enhanced by the druggy photo with all sorts of pyrotechnics going on, the free poster and sticker.

In 1975 I had heard Jeff Brown on Newcastle's Metro Radio (anyone on here from up there at the time remember him?) play Assault and Battery most Sunday nights after WOTEOT came out, but being only 13 then I couldn't afford albums! Had to wait for my paper round the following year and Roadhawks.

Whilst not directly related to this topic,
David Blair

(I assume no relation to Tony!), did recount this amusing anecdote regarding the radio show mentioned above

Oh god yes - the "hot and heavy" show. I'm still not sure what planet he was on - one night he introduced "a great track from a great album by a great band, this is Uriah Heep and Gypsy". He then played the Beach Boys "Surfin USA", and didn't notice the error...
(sound like he was trained by Tommy Vance, that's the sort of stunt the countries self appointed "voice of rock" would pull!)

And whilst on the subject of DJ's
Capt. Black aka Keith Kniveton
Recounted Annie Nightingale's comments regarding the hawks

When Warrior came out, I remember Anne Nightingale playing Opa Loka ("They go on and on, don't they?") and Demented Man ("I wonder if they're getting the wrong production because there's a seagull in there, every Hawkwind track I've heard has a seagull in it").
(shame on you Ms Nightingale, coz you patently haven't heard enough Hawkwind!)

Eddie Jobson

QS&C would be my choice, again like other people because it was the first album I bought (with my paper round money). Good points made on Roadhawks though, had forgotten it wasn't released on CD and all those other dodgy compilations that have been? Also Live '79 will always be my favourite real line up, probably because it was my first gig. A fantasy one would be Lemmy replacing Harvey and Calvert on vocals.

For most fans of heavier style rock, it has to be Hall of the Mountain Grill, but if it was for someone who prefers it a bit light, you can't go past Quark, Strangeness & Charm.

If I was going to introduce someone to Hawkwind I don't think I would throw them into any of the live albums - I tend to think of some of the live stuff as an acquired taste (just let me say here that I personally love most of their live stuff - absolutely no dissing Hawkwind) whereas the studio albums have a cleaner sound that most people can get into a bit easier.

C Warburton

I think that's a real "horses for courses" question.

"Palace Springs was a major part of reviving my interest in HW and bridges the old & new quite well; thus, probably a good choice for either lapsed veterans or others who have a more "vintage" aesthetic. However the number that made my 16yo daughter prick her ears up was the title track of QS&C.

It boils down to a question of "Who are you trying to impress?": Get their attention with whatever seems most appropriate and then fan out from that point, so maybe Epoch is the best place to start since it covers the widest span of material.

John Rennie

There are lots of good compilations, but that's a cop out :-) For early Hawkwind Doremi Fasol Latido is the best album, and for the Calvert era PXR5. I'm not sure I'd recommend any of the later albums to someone who wasn't already a die hard fan! Distant Horizons is pretty good though.

And their you have it!, quite a selection, covering all aspects of the bands appeal as well material culled from throughout the bands 30+ year history.I guess that's one of the reasons why being a hawkwind fan is such fun, although we all love the same band we obviously see things very differently!

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