25 Years On

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Hawklords - 25 Years On

Studio album by Hawkwind
Released	1978
Recorded	1978
Genre	Space Rock
Label	Charisma
Producer(s)	Dave Brock and Robert Calvert
All Music Guide link Prog Archives link (9 ratings)
Hawkwind chronology
Quark, Strangeness and Charm (1977)	Hawklords - 25 Years On (1978)	PXR5 (1979)

Hawklords is a 1978 studio by Hawkwind released under the name Hawklords for legal reasons as there was a dispute over ownership of the name "Hawkwind". It reached #48 on the UK album charts. It was originally titled 25 Years On and the first 25000 were pressed as this until the band decided to simply call it Hawklords. Subsequent re-releases have reverted the name "25 Years On" and the band also now use this name on their web site.

Hawkwind had self imploded on a USA tour earlier in the year leaving only Robert Calvert, Dave Brock and Simon King to embark on this project. They were joined by Harvey Bainbridge who had played bass in Devon group Ark who in turn had performed with Calvert and Brock as the Sonic Assassins, and by keyboardist Steve Swindells who had been in Pilot (band). During the Devon recording session King returned home to London and was replaced by Martin Griffin (also from Ark), but King subsequently returned giving the band two drummers. Simon House had left the earlier band to join David Bowie but contributed violin to the sessions, as did noted British jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther. Road manager Les McClure also sneaked a performance in.

The music is perhaps as far removed from the generic Space Rock the band would ever get, these tracks being tightly arranged pieces more in tune with New Wave of the time rather than the band's history. Lyrically this is Calvert's most diverse dealing with themes such as telepathy ("Psi Power"), sky diving ("Free Fall"), Australian drug misuse ("Flying Doctor"), heroic bravery ("The Only Ones") and espionage ("The Dead Dreams Of The Cold War Kid"). There's a light hearted playfulness to these tracks, only the lyrics of "The Age Of The Micro Man" hinted at the bleak cold futuristic factory workers concept that Calvert and Barney Bubbles put together for the stage show of the album (see tour programme).

"Psi Power" and "25 Years" were released as singles but are slightly different versions to those that appeared on the album.

1 Track listing
2 Personnel
3 Credits
4 Notes
5 Release History
6 External links

[edit] Track listing

"Psi Power" (Calvert/Brock) 6:06
"Free Fall" (Calvert/Bainbridge) 5:13
"Automoton" (Calvert/Brock) 1:13
"25 Years" (Brock) 4:31
"Flying Doctor" (Calvert/Brock) 5:38
"The Only Ones" (Calvert/Brock) 4:14
"(Only) The Dead Dreams Of The Cold War Kid" (Calvert) 3:55
"The Age Of The Micro Man" (Calvert/Brock) 3:31

[edit] Personnel

Robert Calvert - vocals
Dave Brock - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Harvey Bainbridge - bass guitar, vocals
Steve Swindells - keyboards
Simon King - drums (tracks 4,7,8), Congas (track 6)
Martin Griffin - drums (tracks 1,2,5,6)

with

Simon House - violin (tracks 6,7,8)
Henry Lowther - trumpet (track 1)
Les McClure - whisper voice (track 4)

[edit] Credits

Recorded: Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio at Langley Farm, Devon.
Produced: Robert Calvert and Dave Brock. Engineered by Dennis Smith, Neil Fawcus and Neil Mount.
Mixed at Wessex Studios, London. Engineered by Tim Friese-Greene and Mike Shipley.
Sleeve by Barney Bubbles and Brian Griffith.

[edit] Notes

"Free Fall" was originally performed by the Sonic Assassins.

[edit] Release History

October 1978: Charisma, CDS4014, UK vinyl. Initial copies came with an inner sleeve.
August 1982: Charisma, CHC10, UK vinyl
April 1989: Virgin, CDSCD4014, UK CD