Question: Hawkwind

[blenheim]

Mike I understand that you used to jam sometimes with this excellent band. My question is do you still like to the play the guitar and what guitar do you own ?

[Michael Moorcock]

Well, I performed with Hawkwind on stage a fair bit. I first performed with Hawkwind 'under the motorway' when I did SONIC ATTACK for the first time. I don't play fretted instruments any more because my severe neuropathy has rather buggered up my hands. I'm composing mostly on the harmonica, these days! You can hear me playing on my own records, of course, and also on Calvert's Lucky Leif and Hype albums. My main instrument for studio work was a Rickenbacker 12. It was one of the few possessions I had ready to save when we had the big fires around here in 2011. I used an Ovation on stage as wello as a Gibson 1959 ES335 which I lent to someone a few years ago and have yet to get back!

[blenheim]

Awesome Mike. I watched the Hawkwind documentary on the Beeb and it looked like chaos at times. I particularly enjoyed the tale of Lemmy on the US tour having to hitch across Michigan as he missed the tour bus.
I really like the Deep Fix stuff too. Been listening to 'Dodgem Dude', which sounds pretty punky to my ears :
http://youtu.be/02tXo_ETbVs

Many thank you's for. replying to my post. I've enjoyed all your work over the years and really enjoyed reading Mother London recently in all its fascinating detail. Hope you get your 1959 ES335 back that must be a beauty!

[postodave]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

Well, I performed with Hawkwind on stage a fair bit. I first performed with Hawkwind 'under the motorway' when I did SONIC ATTACK for the first time. I don't play fretted instruments any more because my severe neuropathy has rather buggered up my hands. I'm composing mostly on the harmonica, these days! You can hear me playing on my own records, of course, and also on Calvert's Lucky Leif and Hype albums. My main instrument for studio work was a Rickenbacker 12. It was one of the few possessions I had ready to save when we had the big fires around here in 2011. I used an Ovation on stage as wello as a Gibson 1959 ES335 which I lent to someone a few years ago and have yet to get back!

Do any recordings of you doing Sonic Attack survive? The version on Space Ritual is probably definitive by now and Bob Calvert sounds like he does when he reads his own stuff but was he imitating your style? Did you ever tour or appear with Hawkwind after Warrior on the Edge of Time was released? I saw them round that time and I'm sure they did some of those spoken pieces. (not sure if this will be news to people but Warrior is finally getting a CD release this month. It will be the first CD version taken from the original masters) Also didn't realise until very recently that Kings of Speed was full of references to Cornelius characters. I could never hear the words.

[Michael Moorcock]

I did SA quite a lot so I'd guess there are recordings. Nik did it mostly and whether Robert did it in my style or the style we all adopted naturally for that kind of declamatory piece I'm not sure. I had an idea that there was a performance by me knocking about, maybe on one of the 'Live' bootlegs.