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 inbox! The fledgling band released one single under that name.
It featured on the A-side with and on the B-side. However, they quickly dropped the ‘zoo’part to become the more streamlined Hawkwind. “We stopped acting like maniacs, so having any allusions to a zoo would have been inaccurate.
” There are two more possible origins of the name. Firstly, there’s a science fiction story titled by future band collabator . Secondly there’s a wise and ancient Japanese proverb.
“By the latter I assume you mean: ‘I’d rather be a hawk flying over the forest than an eagle flying over the mountains,’” says Brock. “Yes, both have influenced our decision to go with the name ‘Hawkwind’ – but it really is down to Nik Turner’s habits in the end. In a way I wish it wasn’t, because it would be nice if it were more spiritual.
But that’s the truth.” Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for magazine in the late 70s and in the early 80s before joining at its launch in 1981. His first book, , published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year.
Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the song in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. .
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