HAWKWIND – ASTOUNDING SOUNDS, AMAZING MUSIC LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK  PSYCH

Hawkwind – Astounding Sound, Amazing Music
(Charisma Records  1976  CDS4004)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
Plain White Inner Sleeve

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures.

Formed in November 1969 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Brock, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and styles of music. Critic Jim Green describes their trademark sound as characterised by “that gargantuan and impenetrable pre-metal/hardcore drone, those great riffs, that inexorable drive to destinations unknown.” In the early 1990s, the word “blanga” was coined by Inner City Unit and Robert Calvert guitarist Steve Pond (who currently plays in Krankshaft with 2012 touring keyboardist Dead Fred) and music critic J. Eric Smith via the Hawkwind Blanga Guide to summarise this sound, and the word has become a common descriptive term for the music created by Hawkwind and the bands they have inspired. Dozens of musicians have worked with the group; fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock was an occasional collaborator.

Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music is the sixth studio album by the British rock band Hawkwind, released in 1976. It reached No. 33 on the UK album charts.

The title makes references to old science fiction magazines (Astounding and Amazing Stories), the concept being that each piece of music (and its title) would be interpreted as an individual science fiction story. The record cover is a parody of the cover of these magazines, while the inner sleeve carried small ads, with each band member having their own product (e.g. Dr Brock’s cure for piles, Paul Rudolph’s Manly Strapon, and Simon King’s Pleasure Primer).

This album marked the start of a new era for Hawkwind, having left the management of Douglas Smith for Tony Howard and changed record companies from United Artists Records to Charisma Records. Musically, the dirty heavy metal lead bass guitar playing of Lemmy was replaced by the cleaner, formally trained bass playing of Paul Rudolph. All members of the band were now contributing to the writing and arrangement of the music leading to more width in style, and the recording and production is better defined than previous albums.

The greatest change is in the return of Robert Calvert, this time as a permanent vocalist rather than the peripheral poet role he occupied on Space Ritual. Not only did he bring crafted lyrics to the band, but he was intent on turning live shows into a piece of music theatre with specific characters for him to act out, Calvert explaining in a 1976 interview that “We’re writing numbers now with visual ideas in mind, rather than trying to think of things to impose on numbers we’ve already got. We’re trying to get the visual side of the band focussed on individuals rather than on screen projections. Nik, Dave and myself are, in some parts of the show, playing the parts of actors… All in all, it works up to quite a nice piece of theatre, spontaneous theatre that is.”

Track listing

Side 1

1. “Reefer Madness” (Calvert, Brock) – 6:03
2. “Steppenwolf” (Calvert, Brock) – 9:46
3. “City of Lagoons” (Powell) – 5:09

Side 2

4. “The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon” (Rudolph) – 3:37
5. “Kerb Crawler” (Calvert, Brock) – 3:45
6. “Kadu Flyer” (Turner, House) – 5:07
7. “Chronoglide Skyway” (House) – 5:04

Personnel

• Robert Calvert – vocals
• Dave Brock – electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Nik Turner – saxophone, flute, vocals (on “Kadu Flyer”)
• Paul Rudolph – bass guitar, electric guitar
• Simon House – violin, keyboards, sitar (on “Kadu Flyer”)
• Simon King – drums
• Alan Powell – drums

Credits

• Recorded at Roundhouse Studios, February 1976 to March 1976.
• Produced by Hawkwind, recorded by Mark Dearnley.
• “Kerb Crawler” remixed by David Gilmour (as Dave Gilmour).
• Cover by Tony Hyde and Barney Bubbles.