Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins [Hardcover]

The writing covers a lot of ground, starting with Dave Brock playing banjo in jazz bands in the 50s and finishing with the recording of the new album due out this autumn. Each chapter takes care of a major phase in the saga, often rounded off with great one-liners to put the whole thing in perspective. Many of the 50 or so people who've played in Hawkwind since they started in 1969 get a chance to say their piece, and the articulate and often iconoclastic commentary from people like Adrian Shaw, Harvey Bainbridge, Richard Chadwick etc makes fascinating and sometimes controversial reading.

The analysis of the various other contributors, influences, connections and spin-offs makes reading the book an almost psychedelic experience in itself, you soon realise just what a huge (and often uncredited) influence on contemporary rock music Hawkwind have always been. Rock legends like Bolan and Clapton crop up in the story, and everyone from Jello Biafra to Jarvis Cocker seems to be a big Hawkwind fan! Hawkwind seem to have played a part in every major music scene of the last 40 years, so Abrahams ties Hawkwind into the psychedelic underground of the 60s, the early 70s free festival scene, krautrock, punk, the Spinal Tap-esque horrors of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the dance music scene.

My favourite thing is the way the book doesn't just dwell on the so-called Golden Age of Hawkwind (71 - 77), but gives the later versions of the band just as much credit, from the Langton-Bainbridge era, the Earth Ritual and Black Sword concepts through the "Dave Brock Trio" to the controversial contributions of alien obsessive Ron Tree and on to the Hawkestra re-union, the Hawkfests and the recent recruiting of Arthur Brown (it only took Brock 30 years to get him on board!). On a darker note, there's some good insight into the antagonistic relationship with certain ex-band members, throwing the recent XHawkwind debacle into it's proper perspective, it all makes a lot more sense now.

Abrahams also seems to have found new angles on most of the old Hawkwind myths or just plain debunks them all eg did Hawkwind really fail to appear on Top of the Tops because they didn't want to mime to Silver Machine, did Brock really sell his guitar in disgust when he split the band up on a US tour in 1978, and what was the real deal with Dave Anderson's sports car - it's all in here. I thought I knew everything about Hawkwind til I read all this stuff!

There's a long Appendix delving into the origins and inspirations of all the main Hawkwind album tracks. Although some of them are obvious (loads of Calvert's stuff was inspired by Ballard, Zelazny etc) many are quite surprising, especially Death of War. I've always wondered what the 28948 was in Spiral Galaxy, when I read the explanation I thought "duh!". There's also a list of Hawkwind-related websites, and a good index. And the book is longer than I expected, page count is 288.

Downers? Well the cover's a bit naff, bit too prog rock for me (all that's missing is a unicorn). And the author's a bit harsh on Warrior On The Edge of Time - it's a classic pal, give it another try! But these are small gripes. Overall this is a must for every Hawkfan, and would justify it's place in the music biog collection of any self-respecting follower of innovative rock n roll. Get one before the Gremlin makes em all Disappear in Smoke.

Sonic Assassins tells the story of Hawkwind through the stories and memories of those who were there - not just the expected voice of Dave Brock, Nick Turner, the late Bob Calvert and Lemmy, but also less widely known, but in may ways more interesting, voices like keyboard player Steve Swindles, singer Ron Tree and drummer Richard Chadwick who all add their perceptive and fascinating observations to the mix.

Ian Abrahams's book is lovingly compiled and gorgeous to look at with dozens of previously unpublished photos. This is an absolutel gem of a book to read and is hugely recommended to all fans not only of Hawkwind and it's associated side-projects, but also of hard rock, the British underground scene of the late 60s and early 70s, trance and ambient techno and genuine British musical eccentrics.

Only one question remains unanswered - I was disappointed not to read anything about the background to Hawkwind's alleged contribution of music to a Doctor Who episode in the late 1980s. It was probably just a dodgy rumour but it would have been nice if the author had found any confirmation on whether it actually happened or not.

Still that's a very minor quibble over a genuinely major work.