UPDATES PAGE

25.11.04 - Well we're off and running. How I'd describe it is that we are no longer "standing on the runway waiting to take off" but that the take off roll has now begun. In the grand scheme of things we're only 24 hours into this campaign and already things are looking promising. We've had an enthusiastic response to our initial plea and a fair few offers to help in various capacities but we still looking for more people to come forward. At the moment the two main areas that we need assistance with are -

1 - We intend to have a visual presence at all the bands upcoming December dates. This is so we can let people know the idea behind the campaign and also to get them to fill out one of our information sheets with their details. From this we can compile a data base of fans and from their we can keep in touch with all the latest information. We still need volunteers at all the forthcoming gigs to help us with this, We do have a few people in place but there are places that need filling. Sorry, we can't actually offer you anything in return other than the fact that you can feel as if you done something really constructive in this project.

2 - Please remember that this is a 100% fan based initiative and so as such have no budget to work with so if any of you can help with any of the following we will be eternally grateful -
a - Once we've got the info form confirmed, still need to clarify a few things, we'll need copies and lots of them, the band stand to play in front of 5000 punters upwards on the Decembers tour and it's Hawk Aid's objective to get as many of those 5000 to sign up, so if you can assist in anyway possible this would be really appreciated, it doesn't matter if it's 10, 100 or a 1000 copies they all help and as long as your not dropping yourself in it then please try and help if you can.
b - Clipboards, if anybody has a couple to spare this would be really useful as it's far easier to write using one of these when you're standing up getting info from other Hawkfans.
c - Pens - self explanatory really but we need ink to get this information down, so if you spare a few ball points that'd be great

Ok thanks for that and before I round up the first update I think one of the first major breakthroughs that we've had is getting a mention on the web based radio station TOTAL ROCK check out there news page, it's under the headline "Vote For Hawkwind". I would call Total Rock a grade 1 priority station when it comes to trying to get more Hawkwind played. I'd urge all those reading this to not only have a listen, they played Silver Machine this afternoon as well as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and MSG amongst others so it's good stuff but also send them off an e-mail asking for some Hawkwind. In this case being a dedicated rock station I'd go against the norm of asking for Silver Machine, instead ask for something more diverse but heavy, Lord Of light, Brainstorm, Psychedelic Warlords etc. The afternoon show entitled "Metal Mayhem" seems to fit the bill perfectly and goes out between 15.00 and 18.00 GMT daily so come on lets give it a go. If you have success then please be sure you let us know the details by -

CLICKING HERE
(where you can also pledge donations that we requested above)

27.11.04 - Before we go any further I guess I need to point out that at this stage in the proceedings I'm pretty much having to put general Museum work "on hold" for the time being. Put simply their simply isn't enough hours in the day. Since getting in from work about and hour and a half ago I've done nothing but make phone calls and send e-mails regarding Hawk Aid. On top of this I have both a full time job and family that by my own admission both take priority over this (well the family certainly does!)

With Newcastle now little over a week away it looks like we'll have at least two people on the floor gathering information and letting punters know of our intentions. In many ways this first gig is very much an experiment from our point of view to see how many people we can get signed up.

Personally, I don't get to catch up with the tour until Cambridge, so our "man on the ground" co-ordinating things will be good friend of the museum, Nick Lee. Hopefully you'll catch up with him or one of our other willing and able volunteers to sign up to the campaign. If however, you can't locate them or there's too much of a queue (I wish / hope!) then it's planned that forms will be available from the merchandise desk as will a post box to deposit completed forms. The reason for it's "planned" status is that I've yet to get final confirmation from Marie who runs the stand. If for any reason there is a change in plan you will of course be made aware. This is also probably a good opportunity to thank both the band and management for allowing us access to the venues and also for being so accommodating with our requests.

Just to round this up I'd like to bring to your attention the following web sites and hope you take the time to have a read of them. Basically they have all attempted a similar feat to the one we are trying to pull off so there's going to be a lot of similarities to our campaign. These are the sort of tactics we are going to need to employ for this to work, till the next time - Dave

http://www.abbamail.com/news/agnetha__maximum_impact.htm
http://www.the-nacnud.co.uk/otway/hit/
http://www.marillion.com/news/2004/1507.htm
http://www.marillion.com/news/2004/0704.html

29.11.04 - The big news today is that we've re-branded the campaign, from now on it will be known as  -

SPACESHIP HAWKWIND'S
CHART TREK

In all honesty I had my own reservations concerning the name right from the beginning even though it was my brain child and some folks were concerned that it could be construed that we were cashing in on the whole Band Aid thing which is not the case, so after discussions primarily with my co co-ordinator in this whole venture this is the new name we've come up with.

It now looks as if Newcastle is pretty much sorted as far as helpers goes, for this gig our "man on the ground" Nick Lee is to ably assisted by Mr John Pattison, who is also copying up a load of our information sheet for punters to fill out. However we're still on the look out for helpers for the Telford gig so if you're off to that then please let us know if and what you're up for doing at this show.

I'll sign off here as the re-branding thing has put me a bit behind schedule and I still need to let others know, but stay tuned for more details!

01.12.04 - Well blow me down it's December already, the month of good will to all men for sure but also the month that Hawkwind take to the road for eight pre Christmas dates, but most importantly of all, for me at least this is when I envisage that CHART TREK takes off proper. One thing I think we must remember as internet users and Hawkwind fans is that as much as a brilliant tool that the web is there are still plenty out there who for whatever reason are not connected. Look at it this way, I would estimate that over the eight dates in question the band will play to potentially somewhere in the region of 5 - 7000 people. Now I'm chuffed that on an average day the Museum gets approximately 200 visitors, for the record it was 284 yesterday. The Hawkwind discussion lists of which there are two main ones, Yahoo and BOC-L number approximately 100o members between then and this is world wide! Hopefully from this you can see the huge, as yet untapped market of Hawkfans that are out there to be had, all we need to do is let them know about it. As I write this things are coming together, we've now got quite a few volunteers in place to canvass folks at these gigs but still we need more, so as ever if you can help, do not hesitate to drop us a line. However regardless of whether or not you're up for this the thing is everybody can do  their bit if they're off to any of the upcoming gigs. Please mention the campaign in passing to other fans if you get get talking to them on the night. If you're queuing up before the doors open and get chatting to the person next to you, make them aware of CHART TREK, explain what it's about and tell them to go and seek out one of our helpers, if this is all you do it will be really appreciated.

Talking of such matters the other thing I'm doing putting up a downloadable version of said information form, the reasons for this are numerous but include

a - If at all possible and you're coming to any of the gigs could you do some copies and hand them in to either the merchandise desk or preferably Nick Lee or one of the volunteers on that night. I firmly believe that getting as many people to fill these out is the key to this campaigns success, this means we need lots of them so be it 10, 100 or 1000 than any donation is greatly appreciated.

b - If you're not coming to any of the gigs then please download one and fill it out and return to the address provided. I will point out at this juncture that the band have kindly allowed the use of their PO Box for use in this, with any forms being forwarded on to me at an appropriate time,. Whilst Chart trek is run completely independently from the Hawkwind set up obviously there has been communication between the two parties and my thanks must go to them for being so accommodating.

c - If you are coming to one of the shows, why not "Fast Track" through the system by printing a copy out, filling it in and posting it in the box that will be provided at all gigs

So now I guess what you'll need is the form itself which can be downloaded by

CLICKING HERE

This is something new for me, documents to download ,but basically it should open with your primary word processing program such as MS Works, Office, Star Office etc, however any problems drop me a line and I'll e-mail you over a copy
(It's also added to the Homepage)

Well I think that's about it for now, please bear with me at the moment, I think this is very much the boring part and they'll actually be far more to report once the gigs begin, so just to round off, thanks once more for the tremendous support, keep it up and if you need to get in touch about anything you can by

CLICKING HERE

02.12.04 - As you know we will be canvassing fans at the upcoming gigs but so you can "Fast track" through this and also if you're one of the unlucky ones who aren't going, fear not as I've just added an online version, so by simply

CLICKING HERE

You can submit all your details at the touch of a button. As a regular internet user if you can use this then this frees up more time for our volunteers at the gigs to canvass those less fortunate!

03.12.04 - I must admit that since taking on this project I've felt a number of emotions regarding it, these range from the very positive to the downright "what the bl**dy hell have I got myself involved in here!". The thing that keeps me more up than down though is peoples reaction which has been 100% positive, at least once they've grasped what we're trying to achieve here. It might not sound a lot but I'm receiving on average 6 to 10 e-mails a day on the subject, often from new people who are interested in helping the project in some way or other, and it's for this reason that I firmly believe we can make this a success.

My mood was further improved when I happen to chance upon a copy of "The Sun" newspaper at work, it was page 3 that caught my attention, but not for the usual reasons (for those outside the UK page 3 famously features topless models everyday!), no, instead what got my heart racing was the story concerning this years Big Brother winner, Portuguese Trans sexual, Nadia. Seems the "Portugeezer" (not my words but the papers!) is doing what all good Z-list celebs do and launch a pop career. Well it seems that it's going to be a flop (all together now ahhhh). Now the word flop is in my mind relative to the situation. I personally would be well chuffed if Chart Trek managed to get Hawkwind into the top 20 but for the slimy record company exec (I'm not saying it is Simon Cowell but then again I'm not) who signed Nadia they were probably thinking top 5 was the lowest expectation.

So why am I telling you this, well what the article did provide was some sales figures that made for interesting reading. It seems in the first two days, said Nadia single sold 800 copies which gave it a provisional chart entry of number 32, however on the third day (Wednesday) it did much better shifting 1000 copies and the revised forecast was 22. Now I don't know the exact nuances of the chart calculations but I don't think they can be too far from the following theoretical model -

Single sells 800 copies in two days, so copies divided by days = 400
Multiply that by days of week (7) = 2800
This I'm assuming is the approximate number required to sell to get to number 32

Bringing in day 3's sales we come up with

Single sells 1800 copies in three days, using above formula daily sales average = 600
Multiply that by days of the week = 4200
This on these figures equates to a ten place jump to 22

I think it's fair to say that somewhere in the region of 4500 sales would get us into the top 20, before you al go "no chance" (don't be so defeatist, anyway!) listen on. As far as I am aware the Hawkwind single will be multi-formatted, i.e different versions and each one sold counts as one sale, you buy version one and you're 4499 sales away from the top 20, buy version 2 which will have alternative takes of the track and you're 4498 sales away from the same chart placing, so with 2 formats we need 2800 folks to buy the single in both versions, so already it's looking far more feasible. You are however allowed 3 formats in total and I've nothing to indicate that a third version will not be released so now you need 1500 who buy all three formats and you have what I would call real success. The final part of this, hypothetical jigsaw is that as many people as possible buy the single in the first three days, if we could generate 4000 sales in that period of time we could have a potential mid week chart placing of top 10, maybe higher, it's at this point I'm convinced we could get national media support or coverage, one of the daily papers or perhaps even the TV!, then who knows. The fact is that in the early 70's Hawkwind were one of the countries biggest live draws out there - they had a lot of fans, as we are only too aware many have fallen by the wayside over the years but I'm convinced at least some of them could be motivated if they opened their copy of the Daily Mirror, Telegraph, Mail, Express etc and saw a headline "AGEING ROCK BAND SET TO STORM CHARTS" in amongst all the usual rubbish of which soap star is bouncing which footballer. Then we would have the chance of some serious history making! (I'm not condoning said Headline, we all know that the Hawks are very young at heart!)

Of course I can't guarantee any of this and would be foolish to do so. But we need to believe this is achievable and I for one think it is, I can't enforce enough the fact that as an internet community we still make up a small part of the Hawkwind fan base, but now it's our job to go and tell the rest of them what we can do if we work together as one unit. So if you're at any of the upcoming gigs make sure as many people as possible aware of the campaign, encourage other to sign up, we can make a difference! Thanks for listening - Dave
And lastly, if you haven't done so already click below to fill out our inline info sheet, thanks

06.12.04 - So on Saturday night Hawkwind played their first date of their December tour in Newcastle. Obviously a big night for Hawk fans but especially those in the north east, and especially for the Chart Trek campaign. Details at present are sketchy but it appears overall we had a good night. Before go any further I must thank a Mr John Pattison, who also goes under the nick - name "Hawklord of shields" for not only getting a load of the information sheets printed up for distribution at the gig, he also managed, in his estimate to hand out about 700 and to top it all and with the assistance of both Nick Lee and Hawks sound man Fleece managed to announce the scheme to the audience via microphone, whether he actually got up on stage I don't yet know but I'm sure you'll all join me in thanking John for his efforts that go far and beyond the normal call of duty, good work fell!, Oh and lets not forget Nick, if it wasn't for him don't think we could get this thing off the ground.

I will of course fill you in with more details from Newcastle as and when I get them but I can't stress enough that we still need more of you to help out the cause, hopefully as things are getting up a head of steam it will encourage more of you out to lend a hand, we still need more forms to be copied so even if you don't fancy being "out front" you can still "do your bit" and as ever I'll add in a simple e-mail link at this point so you can contact me as you read this by -

CLICKING HERE

See it's that easy! | must also mention that as well as a very positive response from the UK the overseas interest has been phenomenal, we've had interest from Holland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Canada as well as all over the USA. It's my aim to make all Hawk Fans part of this scheme and in doing so you all have the potential to make a little bit of history. Now it does appear that in this day and age most online retailers such as Amazon do actually help make up the chart figures, but from what I can gather it will only count as a sale eligible for chart inclusion if your e-mail ends in a .UK prefix, which obviously creates a problem for our friends overseas. To counteract this I intend bringing in what I call a buddy scheme. Put simply we're going to need UK fans who would be prepared to buy the single on behalf of those unable to purchase it themselves. Now we need to work out the vest way to achieve this, with probably the most important issue being how we sort out finances. In these days of Payola and the likes I'm sure we can sort something out and as long as we get the release date long enough in advance then both cash and money orders will also be an option. I will say here and now that I cannot take responsibility for non delivery of products or for that matter any monies that are lost in any way but what I need are volunteers who would be willing to get involved in the scheme and then I can start putting people in touch with each other. I also intend to devise nearer the time a "Letter Of Authorisation". One of my main priorities is that however well we do, or not as the case maybe I want to have a clear conscience that we did it properly. Plenty of the Tosho that makes up the top 40 is put there by frankly underhand means and is often refereed to as "Chart Rigging" and this is something we do not want to be associated with. However if this buddy scheme takes off there are going to be some people who will be buying multiple copies of the single and it's my intention that we can account for pretty much everyone! So if you'd be interested then please drop us a line by

CLICKING HERE

I think that just about rounds it up for now, so I'll sign off but keep up the support and expect more shortly, all the best - Dave

13.12.04 - Well a bit of a break from Chart Trek news in the last few days but just thought I'd post a small message to let you know the campaign is still very much on-going.

The band played a couple more dates at the end of last week at Telford and Swindon but I've yet to hear what presence and feed back that Chart Trek received over those couple of days. As I've already mentioned my first chance to actually gauge fans thoughts first hand comes this Friday when I go and see them at Cambridge, if you see me please come and say hi!

Please, please please if you haven't done so already the could you sign up to the scheme using the online form that can be found by

CLICKING HERE

And in what seems to be coming my mantra for this whole project, if there's anyway you can help then as always please drop us a line by

CLICKING HERE

15.12.04 - Firstly, a big thank you to all of you who have signed up to the scheme via the online form. We are gaining numbers by the day and together with the data being collected at the gigs you are safe in the knowledge that are part of an ever increasing collective that if things keep going the way that they do we do have the potential to achieve what we set out to do.

I feel that it's now time to bring the campaign more into the public domain and not just limit it to the hardcore Hawkfan. Those of you who have signed up online will have (hopefully) already received an e-mail detailing my ideas but for the rest of you -

The simple fact of the matter is that starting this Friday, the 17th the band play five dates back to back starting in Cambridge, continuing through Exeter, London, Manchester and finishing in Birkenhead next Tuesday, the 21st. Now I've had a check of the BBC local radio stations that cover these areas and none of them seem to be mentioning that Hawkwind are playing in the next week. This needs to be changed! At the bottom of this post you'll find direct links to the corresponding stations, I suggest that staring straight away people e-mail them with a message something along the lines of -

Please feel free to re-write or adjust the message as you see fit, just try and keep the basic info in there.

The great thing is that not surprisingly all these stations have a "listen online" facility so you don't even need to live nearby to listen or participate for that matter. I personally don't know that person X from Scotland once lived in Exeter and still listens to BBC radio Devon via the net, do I? Please let us know of any success you have and if you are doubtful this can work them be aware that only this morning I received a message from another campaign member who has managed to get the band played twice on local radio stations in the North East in the last week, this form of action can work. The links you require are below, so to the site and look for the "CONTACT US" link on the page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiocambridgeshire/   17th Dec

On a similar note may I also suggest  that starting tomorrow after midday GMT that folks drop Matthew Rights show "THE WRIGHT STUFF" an e-mail with some Hawkwind references in it, something along the lies of "are you appearing with the band on the upcoming dates?" Looking at the schedules it appears that Friday is the last show before the Xmas break so not only does that make Matthews appearance on the tour a distinct possibility but also I would presume that the show will have more of and "end of term party" feel to it so hence more time for less serious stuff than what is usually covered, the address you need to contact the show is -
wrightstuff@five.tv

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

18.12.04 - Firstly, take a pat on the back. Assuming that it wasn't a freak we must have had some success with the radio promotion that I posted above. Shortly after I added the links, the visitor figures for the museum (which, incidentally now exceed 80,000!) jumped significantly, getting over 110 hits in three hours, that's half my average day in such a short time. Taking that into account I'd suggest that we make further requests to these stations on the days of the gigs, i.e BBC Devon tonight, 94.9 London tomorrow etc, this time I would suggest a message along the lines of -

"Can you say hi to all the Hawkwind fans going to the gig at _______ tonight, if possible could you also mention the web site www.hawkwindmuseum.co.uk who are mounting a campaign to get HAWKWIND'S next single into the charts"

Again feel free to put your own slant on it but do try and mention those details.

Well last night was my first chance to catch up with the band when I went to see them at Cambridge. Obviously I'll review the show elsewhere but in many ways this was more than just going to a gig for me as I was also canvassing for Chart Trek. I'm pleased to report back that there is a lot of interest for the scheme and plenty of people signed up last night. However I also feel that when you've got between 800 - 1000 punters in the hall there's no way a couple of you as was the case last night are going to get around anywhere near that number. I've also realised that all we really need as far as contact details goes is a valid e-mail address, so if any of you are off to any of the forthcoming gigs and fancy lending a hand can I suggest two things.

1 - Talk to people, the band have very kindly allowed us to have the information sheets on the merchandise desk and if last night is anything to go buy punters are taking an interest, if you're by the stall encourage others to sign up, if you've got a pen in your pocket offer to lend it to them, if they've got an e-mail address that will do, as long as it's clearly written this will suffice, we can keep people informed of developments and release dates.

2 - Take it one step further, get a cheap notepad that can fit in your pocket and a couple of pens, again if you see people taking an interest, try and catch there attention, explain the scheme along the lines of -

"It's a scheme run independently of the band, the idea using fan power is to get the single SOOT into the UK chart, sign up and you'll get periodic e-mails as things develop and release details once they are confirmed, we'll also suggest to you which shops it's best to buy from"

Something along those lines will be fine, assuming they agree get an e-mail and at the end of the night either return it to the merchandise desk and ask if they'll put it with the rest of the forms, alternatively e-mail the details direct to me and I can add them to the database. Even another five unique e-mail addresses helps us towards our goal.

Finally, I've made a decision that once the current set of dates are concluded on Tuesday and I've let you know how we did I'm going to take an Xmas break from Chart Trek. I feel that I for one certainly need to re-charge the batteries on this front  and the fact is that I feel very little will be achieved over the festive period, but rest assured it will return in 2005, which hopefully will be remembered as the year that Hawkwind once more graced the UK singles charts - THANKS TO YOU!

Oh, and if you need to drop me a line you can do so by - CLICKING HERE

22.12.04 - A FEW CHART TREK THOUGHTS CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE

24.12.04 - Well the tours over, haven't heard how Birkenhead went from a Chart Trek point of view but according to our volunteer at Manchester the previous evening, Michael Daniel's, some 300 information sheets were handed out at this gig, lets just hope most of them find there way back to me. I've now got the (UN) enviable job of collating all the collected information. One thing I have noticed is that some of the writing is a bit hard to decipher, that's not a criticism, you should see mine! and also I realise that sometimes your e-mail address is not the easiest thing to remember when you're away from your PC, so even if you did fill out an information sheet, or you've returned one by post, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE just drop me a simple e-mail, even if you just put"Chart Trek" in the subject line this will suffice and I know I've got your correct details, you can do this simply by -

CLICKING HERE

And that my friends pretty much wraps it up for now, as I previously explained I'm taking a bit of time off from the project, at least out front, so may I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous 2005, especially where Hawkwind and singles are concerned!

O6.01.05 - If I’m honest I din’t realise quite how much the whole chart trek project had taken out of me leading up to the Christmas holidays. Whilst I realised that there was still a lot of work to do, the fact that not only was the enthusiasm clear for all to see if you were lucky enough to see the band on their December tour but also the London gig being such a corker I fully expected the adrenaline to carry me through. The reality however was somewhat different and instead I pretty much went into shut down mode. I was hoping to get "back on the case" a little earlier but as luck would have it I then got struck down with a particularly bad cold which had me laid low for a couple more days, hence the delay. However please rest assured that this is still a very much ongoing project and from here on in things should start to hot up.

I’m pleased to report that we are still getting people signing up for the scheme, but for now my big job is to collate all the information that was collected on the UK tour, I’ver got a day off tomorrow so with any luck I’LL begin that task then!

As\I write this I’m no more wiser than those of you reading this as to a firm release date for the single, but this is something I’m hoping to rectify over the next couple of days, or at the very least find out what the currant "state of play is" and as soon as I know more I will of course let you know, for now though please be patient and as Jon Bon Jove might say (although I wish he would’t!) "keep the faith".

10.07.05 - And I certainly didn't expect for there to be a lay off of this proportion, long and to be honest pretty boring story as to the lack of action on my part so won't bore you with it here but now is the time to get things moving once more, hopefully in nine or so weeks time from now we will all be celebrating Hawkwind once more being in the UK singles chart, however for that to happen a lot of hard work is required from everybody, and that primarily means YOU.

I'll be updating you more as things progress but just to say at this point, the new image that you clicked on to get here is in fact the artwork for one version of the single, what's more the other ones just below!

I cannot stress enough the importance of just letting anybody and everybody know that this single is coming out, for one there are just so many people out there who simply do not realise that Hawkwind still exist, yes it might seem implausible to you but true. Also I'm sure if you just mention it and the fact that it's a fan based thing you'll get a few people who've never even heard of the band also be prepared to lend a hand, emphasise that we can all be part of what can be quite a momentous occasion!

Well that's it for now, short and sweet, I hope to be able to confirm track listings for both versions of the single in the next couple of days and will of course pass this information on to you as soon as I get it.

13.07.05 - Here's a suggestion for you - from personal experience I can conform that the covers for the new single also make great wallpaper for your PC,s and Laptops, so not only will your computer look both unique and very cool to boot, but also you're doing your bit in further promoting it especially if your machine is seen by others. Anyway I'm including the full size versions for you so you can have the highest possible definition, all you need to do is -

1 - Click on the thumbnail below to down load the desired image.

2 - When the full image appears right click on your mouse and select "Set as wallpaper"

And hey presto that's that.

One boring bit, I cannot accept any responsibility for any problems caused by your PC or Laptop not being compatible for any reason, that said I would not envisage any problems on this front.

Then please spread the word, I feel it's a striking enough image that it should be the cause for conversation in some quarters, good luck!

18.07.05 - The best laid plans! not bad news as such but I'm sorry to inform you that what I thought were going to be the single images now turn out to not be the case! Apparently there has been a change of heart somewhere behind the scenes and another design has now been commissioned, I'm hoping to "acquire" these in the next couple of days and will of course post them at the earliest opportunity.

Anyway on to more positive things, with only six weeks to go I feel that we really need to pick things up a notch from here on in. Whilst I'm more than happy to do the legwork It would also be helpful that if people have any ingenious ideas as to how we can further promote the single that they get in touch at the earliest convenience.

One such idea came from a good mate of mine who's been mentioned elsewhere on the site - Hi Tony, he's designed his own flyer to display at work in the hope that he can convince a few of his workmates to also buy the single. I think this is a great idea and one I'd like to actively encourage, so gone on why not have a go yourself, my only suggestions would be -

1 - Keep it plain and simple - bold, clear fonts
2 - Make sure you mention the band (Hawkwind), the title (Spirit Of The Age) and the release date (30th August)
3 - Make it clear that the best places to purchase it from are or Amazon.co.UK, if anyone expresses an interest but does not have access to the internet (and there's still plenty who don't) offer to purchase it on their behalf.

Other than that feel free to let your imagination run wild, also please send any ideas that you come up with to me here at the museum so I can display them in a gallery and so that others without the inclination may download your designs for their own use, as ever and for this or anything else for that matter you can get in contact by -

E-MAILING HERE

19.07.05 - Well here they are, apparently these are now the covers to be used on the forthcoming Spirit Of The Age single, as above why not make them your wallpapers on your P.C or Laptop (instructions above) and for the record the single edit was designed by Irk Richardson and Melvyn Vincent whilst honours for the full album version go to John Chase and Melvyn Vincent.

15.08.05 - Well a mere 2 weeks away from release day so I guess we're really into the stage that could be called the "last big push".

Things still appear to be going well with the single still (that's after 3 weeks!) languishing near the top of the Amazon pre - order chart and in doing so presumably picking up healthy orders. The only real threat seems to be coming from the upcoming Oasis single which it has to be said is getting a phenomenal amount of airplay whilst Hawkwind are at present getting a big fat "Zilch" but we mustn't rest on our laurels so keep at it, try to convince just one more person to order it.

Also as I'm sure many of you are aware yesterday (Sunday) was the 17th anniversary of the sad demise of Bob Culvert, what a fitting tribute it would be if could get "Spirit" arguably one of Bob's best loved songs into the chart, that alone has to be worth a little extra effort on your behalf!

Finally for now is another cry for help. For this week only the frankly useless Steve Wright is being replaced on Radio 2 by the far more tolerable Richard Allison, who not only is far easier to listen to but he seems more clued up on decent music, take today (Monday) for example he played three tracks from Led Zeppelin 4 and also has a section called the "Long Track", simple criteria, a track of decent length that's rarely played on the radio - Spirit Of The Age fits that bill perfectly ;-)

So lets give it a go and try requesting the song, mention stuff such as "How about playing HAWKWIND'S SOOT, there's a new version coming out featuring Radio 2's Matthew Wright, group of fans trying to get it into the UK charts etc, etc"

the show can be contacted at either -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/wright/contact.shtml

or apparently you can e-mail Richard directly at -

richard@bbc.co.uk

I'd suggest a copy to both

You can also get in touch via text using the number 88291 but I'd advise only using this whilst the show is on air which incidentally is between 14.00 - 17.00 UK time.

Good Luck!

IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!

20.08.05 - The band are now beginning in earnest their promotional campaign for the upcoming single and album with their first confirmed Radio interview (although they did do one on Radio Devon yesterday but we didn't know about that!), anyway it's time for your help in generating interest in the upcoming interview for -

It's due to take place at 11.30am this Monday, 22nd August 2005, the above link will take you directly to the stations site, which it has to be said is pretty "basic" but it does have the essentials, i.e - you can listen online and the other details you need to know are -

e-mail address - studio@bcrfm.co.uk
Telephone - 01278 727701
Studio freephone 0808 078 1074

So come on lets start e-mailing the station now, say how much we're looking forward to the interview, can they play the single before Monday and also mention "Chart Trek" stressing all the time that it is in essence a "fan based initiative" to get Hawkwind into the UK singles chart, at the end of the day it's up to you what you put but try if possible to mention at least on of the above.

I'm not sure who's doing the actual interview as far as band personnel goes or if they are taking questions live on air but I will endeavour to find out the answer to both these points and get back to you ASAP.

Remember that there's almost certainly Hawkwind fans in the Bridgewater area that for some reason or another don't know about the single and albums upcoming release, it's our job to put that right!!

22.08.05 - Right sorry about this but there was a bit of a mix up regarding this interview, it did indeed take place today but is for future broadcasting, have spoken to the DJ in question and he's going to let us know the precise details and I will of course forward those on to you as and when I get them, I think it will be in the next day or so! thanks for your patience.

26.08.05 - Right there is a VERY important announcement coming soon (honest) but for now here's a list of confirmed Radio interviews that the band will be undertaking in the next week or so, where possible there's direct links to both the station sites and their E-mail addresses, most can be listened to via the WWW so although they are local stations you should be able to hear most of them, so what's stopping you, get in touch and ask for some Hawkwind!

28.08.05 - A couple more radio shows added, there the ones in red, todays BBC show seems to be a big one, from what I can make out it's syndicated across all the local BBC stations in the East of England so I think we should do our best to target this one, please phone in during the day and ask about the upcoming Hawkwind interview, try to get a vibe going and enquire as to whether they will be taking questions on air and if so please report back to me by clicking here thanks

29.08.05 - Another radio interview added, in red, and also a request -

I've been asked by someone "very close" to the band that we might do a shall we say "surgical strike" on tonight's Janice Long show, asking for Spirit Of The Age be played on her show!

All you need to do is click on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/long/   and then "contact the show"

Mark Radcliffe is not back till Mon or Tues but apparently is "very interested" in this release so suggest a few tentative mails to him would not go amiss either and then we'll hit him good and proper once he's back in the chair, his page is http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffe/ and his e-mail is mark.radcliffe@bbc.co.uk

believe me we are making a difference here, people who need to - are taking notice and as the old saying goes - from small acorns do large oak trees grow (well something like that!)/

02.09.05 - We're so close now and this really is the last push, it's basically all hands to the deck, every sale is needed and whilst not being biased I think the best place to buy now has to be Amazon.co.uk as they seem to have the best supply and are still claiming to be able to despatch within 24 hours so if you get your skates on you can still make your sales count!

The track is also getting picked up by various radio stations around the country (as well as a few who are being a bit hostile!) so we need to bombard these with e-mails asking for the song to be played. So starting with the ones above get writing, why not just make up a quick note and then just cut and paste it to all the stations, the extra ones that need your attention are listed below. There are a few more to follow but frankly I'm just running out of time and whilst theses stations, do to my knowledge have the single in their possession there's nothing to stop you getting in touch with any other station just to enquire as to whether they would play it, as ever - Good Luck!

12.09.05 - Well the single wasn't the success we all hoped that it'd be but don't despair there is still a lot of interest out there, amd today i've been contacted by Steve Osborne who's co-ordinating the push on radio stations and he's asked that the following details be passed on so you "the fans" can start hounding these stations for more plays of new Hawkwind material. As far as I know these broadcasters all have copies of SOTA and, or TMTYL, so get requesting and create more of a buzz!

And on a similar note there are at least two more interviews upcoming, one featuring Richard, will confirm these when i get the full details, so the new stations are -

OK, a few notes on the above as far as broadcast times go and hence the best time to get in touch, if nothing is mentined then I would suggest anytime you have a spare moment!

1 - Two shows we're interested in here, the Rock Show that goes out on Wednesday morning at 01.00 and also the LockUp which goes out at the slightly more humane time of 21.00 on a Tuesday evening. Mentin that as we speak Hawkwind are in at No12 in the rock charts, lets hear some!

2 - Same again, two shows, this time it's old favourite Mark Radcliffe who goes out 22.30 - 00.00 Monday through Thursday and Janice Long, god love her who's diverse show can be heard on Sunday night to Thursday night from Midnight till 03.00.

3 - It's the morning show presented by Radio 1 old guard member Mike Read that we're targeting so betwen 09.00 and mid-day should do just fine.

4 - Sue Marchent who did a great interview with Dave the other week is who we have in our sites here, she does a show on a Sunday evening across the East Anglia region between 18.00 - 21.00.

5 - Bit schetchy this one, all I know at the mo is that it's Jim Hawkwins rock show that goes out on a Sunday between 18.00 - 20.00.

So there you go, get requesting, a bit obvious I know but why not knock up a standard message and simply cut and paste it into an e-mail to each station and as ever thanks for your time and effort in this matter, it is appreciated by everyone connected with this.

THE HOMEPAGE