Wednesday 14 August 2013

25 years

Twenty five years ago today Robert Calvert, singer, poet, musician and playwright died. Best known for being in Hawkwind at various times it's no coincidence that these times were when some of their greatest albums were produced.


The one and only time I saw him perform live was six days previously with The Starfighters (named after his best known solo album) at the 100 Club. It was a cracking gig as he rattled through the best tracks from his time in Hawkwind and his solo albums. Though the sound quality isn't great you can get some feeling of what the gig was like from this recording made in 1986.

What with me being in post-GBBF recovery I may not be raising a glass to the great man tonight, but the Bob-athon started on my stereo on Sunday and will be continuing for some time.




2 comments:

  1. Ed, presumably you saw the BBC documentary about Hawkwind that was screened a year or so ago. The story about Bob Calvert that stuck in my mind was when he started waving a gun around, at breakfast, in a Paris hotel. The rest of the band had to literally run for cover!

    On a more positive note, somewhere at home I've still got my vinyl copy of "In Search of Space", with the pull-out book containing lots of Bob's writings and lyrics about space etc. I must try and find it. I'm at GBBF today, and will raise a glass to Bob.

    Great video btw, with clips of the legendary Stacia as well.

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  2. I remember a documentary from a few years back which Dave Brock ended up boycotting. I used to work with a guy that did Hawkwind's lights back in the day so I got it on DVD before it was broadcast and don't know what channel/s it end up on. He was firmly of the opinion that Bob Calvert was bonkers too!

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