Prog While many believe that space rock pioneers Hawkwind must have taken their name from something intrinsically psychedelic, the reality behind the moniker is a little more down to earth. “I was in a band called Famous Cure at the end of the 60s,” says band mainman Dave Brock. “But then I met a few other guys like , Terry Ollis and Dik Mik, and we started up this new project.
” So swiftly did they come together that they gatecrashed a gig at All Saints Hall in Notting Hill Gate, London, with no name and no songs. “We called ourselves Group X on the spot, just as a one-off, and then jammed on ’ for what seemed like ages and ages.” Despite this inauspicious beginning, the band got a deal with Liberty Records.
Having to take themselves slightly more seriously, they became Hawkwind Zoo. We added in the ‘zoo’ bit because it was the perfect description of our behaviour “It’s a name with three definite parts – none of them particularly edifying,” laughs Brock. “Nik Turner had a habit of spitting snot out of his mouth, and that was commonly known as hawking at the time.
He also farted a lot – so you put ‘hawk’ and ‘wind’ together and you get Hawkwind. “We added in the ‘zoo’ bit because all of us acted like animals, and that was the perfect description of our behaviour. So anyone who thinks it’s a deep and meaningful space rock term – forget it!” Sign up below to get the latest from Prog, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your .