Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music

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Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
Studio album by Hawkwind
Released	August 1976
Recorded	February-March 1976
Genre	Space Rock
Length	47:33
Label	Charisma Records
Producer	Hawkwind, recorded by Mark Dearnley.[1]
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Prog Archives link (17 ratings)
Hawkwind chronology
Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975) Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music (1976) Quark, Strangeness and Charm (1977)

Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music is a 1976 studio album by the british rock band Hawkwind. It reached #33 on the UK album charts.

[edit] Overview

The title makes references to old science fiction magazines, the concept being that each piece of music (and its title) would be interpreted as an individual science fiction story. The record cover is a parody of the cover of these magazines, while the inner sleeve carried small ads, with each band member having their own product (e.g. Dr Brock's cure for piles, Paul Rudolph's Manly Strapon, and Simon King's Pleasure Primer).

This album marked the start of a new era for Hawkwind, having left the management of Doug Smith for Tony Howard and changed record companies from United Artists Records to Charisma Records. Musically, the dirty heavy metal lead bass guitar playing of Lemmy was replaced by the cleaner, formally trained bass playing of Paul Rudolph. All members of the band were now contributing to the writing and arrangement of the music leading to more width in style, and the recording and production is better defined than previous albums.^[1]

The greatest change is in the return of Robert Calvert, this time as a permanent vocalist rather than the peripheral poet role he occupied on Space Ritual. Not only did he bring crafted lyrics to the band, but he was intent on turning live shows into a piece of music theatre with specific characters for him to act out - "We're writing numbers now with visual ideas in mind, rather than trying to think of things to impose on numbers we've already got. We're trying to get the visual side of the band focussed on individuals rather than on screen projections. Nik, Dave and myself are, in some parts of the show, playing the parts of actors... All in all, it works up to quite a nice piece of theatre, spontaneous theatre that is." Bob Calvert, Oct 1976.

"Kerb Crawler" was released as a single backed by "Honky Dorky" which is the band jamming on "Reefer Madness". There are reportedly two versions of the a-side, the original and a remix by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour - it is the latter that appeared on the album.

[edit] Track listing

Side 1

1. "Reefer Madness" (Calvert/Brock) 6:03
2. "Steppenwolf" (Calvert/Brock) 9:46
3. "City of Lagoons" (Powell) 5:09

Side 2

1. "The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon" (Rudolph) 3:03
2. "Kerb Crawler" (Calvert/Brock) 3:45
3. "Kadu Flyer" (Turner/House) 5:07
4. "Chronoglide Skyway" (House) 5:04

Bonus tracks on Griffin CD

1. "Honky Dorky" (Hawkwind) 3:16
2. "Back on the Streets" (Calvert/Rudolph) 2:56
3. "Dream of Isis" (Brock/House/King) 2:52

[edit] Personnel

• Robert Calvert - vocals
• Dave Brock - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Nik Turner - saxophone, flute, vocals
• Paul Rudolph - bass guitar, guitar
• Simon House - violin, keyboards
• Simon King - drums
• Alan Powell - drums

[edit] Credits

• Recorded at Roundhouse Studios, Feb-1976 to Mar-1976.
• Produced by Hawkwind, recorded by Mark Dearnley.
• Kerb Crawler remixed by Dave Gilmour.
• Cover by Tony Hyde and Barney Bubbles.

[edit] Notes

• "Reefer Madness" lyrics are inspired by the 1936 anti-Marijuana propaganda film.
• "Steppenwolf" lyrics are based on the book by Herman Hesse. Calvert had previously used them on Adrian Wagner's Distances Between Us album.
• "City Of Lagoons" and "Chronoglide Skyway" writer credits were transposed on the album release.
• "The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon" title references Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band (led by Norman Greenbaum) 1967 hit single "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago".
• "Kadu Flyer" lyrics were written by Turner, who credited them to Jamie Mandelkau for legal reasons (Turner was still under contract either to UA or Doug Smith). Calvert is also given a writers credit on some releases. Kadu is an abbreviation of Kathmandu.

[edit] Release History

• Aug-1976: Charisma, CDS4004, UK vinyl - some copies were printed with the front and back cover reversed. Original copies contained an inner sleeve.
• Mar-1983: Charisma, CHC14, UK vinyl
• Apr-1989: Virgin, CDSCD 4004, UK CD
• Aug-1995: Griffin, GCD483-2, USA CD; GCD345-0, USA CD with the Michael Butterwoth The Time of the Hawklords book.
• 2005: Sunrise Records, LC12774, USA CD

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jon's Attic - NME review, 6 November 1976
• Collectable Records - Original cover and inner sleeve