Steve Swindells

Steve Swindells (born 21 November 1952) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboardist, party organiser, club promoter and journalist.

Swindells grew up in the Bath and Bristol area, dropping out of art college to play keyboards with the rock band Squidd. Relocating to London in 1973 and living in squats, he recorded his debut solo album, Messages for RCA in 1974. Produced by his manager Mark Edwards, Swindells felt the production quality to be poor, despite the presence of quality musicians.^{[citation needed][1]} A follow up album Swindells' Swallow was recorded, mastered and test pressings manufactured, but the deal fell through.

Departed from his manager, Swindells joined Pilot, recording the 1977 album Two's A Crowd. In 1978 he joined a reformed Hawkwind, renamed as Hawklords, for the 25 Years On album and tour. In 1980 he recorded another solo album, Fresh Blood, released by ATCO, but was dropped when it failed to hit sufficient sales,^{[citation needed] [2]} despite reaching #3 in the US airplay charts.^{[citation needed]} Swindells would go on to write for Roger Daltrey on "Martyrs and Madmen" and "Treachery", before temporarily turning his attention away from the music business. In 1983, Swindells switched careers to club promoting and party organizing. In the early 1990s, he decided to re-invent himself as a journalist, writing the internet column for Time Out under the name Spyder for many years, as well as a gadget/lifestyle colourmn for Attitude, before becoming the editor of the magazine's website. Throughout his career changes, Swindells continued to compose and perform music, as evidenced by New Crescent Yard'', a double album of home demos from 1983 through 2008. In 2003, Swindells played keyboards and sang lead vocals in the band Danmingo together with Jerry Richards, Jon Moss and Winston Blissett. Steve wrote all of the songs, apart from two band collaborations. As of Dec 10, 2013, Steve has been number 1 on the Reverb Nation Singer-songwriter Chart For London for several days.

In 2009, Swindells was instrumental in the formation (or reformation) of the Hawklords, a musical collective of ex-Hawkwind members, playing a special show in memory of artist Barney Bubbles. In 2010, Hawklords performed a mini tour of the UK. In 2011, the group were active in several appearances across the UK, and a touring lineup underwent a full national tour in October 2011. In 2012, they announced they were working on an album, titled 'We Are One'. In May 2012, via the band's Facebook page, it was announced that, due to health reasons, Swindells would not be participating in the planned 2012 tour and he subsequently terminated his involvement with the band.

Swindells re-discovered two 'lost' albums from 1980:{http://www.flicknife.n.nu/new} The Invisible Man, and Treachery. The Lost Albums were released on Flicknife Records (http://www.flicknoferecords.co.uk) on 27.2.2012. His 1980 album Fresh Blood was released on CD for the first time with the label Atomhenge/Cherry Red in August 2009.^[3] His 1974 album Messages, along with a bonus CD of the hitherto unreleased Swindells' Swallow, was re-released by Esoteric Recordings/Atomhenge on November 26, 2009.^[4]

Early in 2012 Steve pur together an ad-hoc, all star jamming band called The Plastic Sturgeons. Special guest musicians have included Guy Pratt and Dale Davis There have only been two gigs to date, but these were recorded extremely ably by Roy Weard. As of Dec 10, 2013, The Plastic Sturgeons have been number 1 in The Reverb Nation London Jam Chart for several weeks.

Steve's Christmas single 'Shining Star (A Time Of Love)' is now available to download on iTunes and various online stores and available to stream on Spotify and Deezer.^[5]

Steve currently (Dec 10th, 2013) has 685 Facebook fans.

Discography

As solo artist

• Messages (1974)
• Fresh Blood (1980)

The Lost Albums (released 27.2.2012 on Flicknife Records).

New Crescent Yard (2011). Download only: http://steveswindells.bandcamp.com

More downloads available here: http://www.reverbnation.com/steveswindells

With Pilot

• Two's a Crowd (1977)

With Hawklords

• 25 Years On (1978)
• Weird Tape 1 (1980)
• Weird Tape 2 (1980)
• Weird Tape 4 (1981)
• Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 1 (1982)
• Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 3 (1985)
• Hawkwind Anthology Volume 1 (1985)
• Hawkwind Anthology Volume 2 (1986)
• Hawklords Live (1992)
• Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 6 (1996)
• Levitation 2009 re-master (first 5 bonus tracks on disc 1) (2009)
• Live '78 (2009)

With The Hawklords

• Robert Calvert Memorial Concert, Kings Hall, Herne Bay 28 Sept 2008 (2009)
• Sonic Rock Solstice 2010 (various artists) (2010)
• Barney Bubbles Memorial Concert (2011)
• We Are One (2012)

Other album appearances

• Capdevielle Les Enfants Des Ténèbres Et Les Anges De La Rue (1979)
• Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart Earth Born (2008)
• Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart Bloodlines (2009)

References

External links