Hawkwind - Do Not Panic

Hawkwind - Do Not Panic
Originally uploaded by jovike.

Friday - BBC Four.

Only 38 years after the legendary 'Sonic Assassins', aka the 'Psychedelic Warlords' better known as Hawkwind formed, the BBC finally get them in their viewfinders, well, most of them. I think they filmed this documentary a couple of years ago. My mate Al, who performed with Hawkwind on some London gigs, has postponed his holiday to watch it.

Band-leader Dave Brock is not included in the programme; this article by film-maker Tim Cumming explains why: They're Still Feeling Mean (and They're Still Feeling Mean) even after all these years.

Hm, I see all the pages on the Hawkwind website have disappeared. Perhaps I ought to rejoin the BOC-L mailing list to find out what's happening... what people thought of the doco... or shall I just just put some music on and have a sandwich. Yes.

Michael Moorcock and his friends discuss the programme on his Miscellany site, and the programme itself is on YouTube: Do Not Panic.

Hawkwind: Do Not Panic
Told for the first time, the inside story of Hawkwind, one of Britain's wildest acid rock bands. They emerged from the Ladbroke Grove underground at the end of the 1960s, trailing the radicalism of the counter-culture in their wake, and have been a direct influence on punk, metal, dance and rave - as well as pioneering multimedia rock shows with their legendary Space Ritual tour, and leading the free festival scene from its birth to its apogee at the last Stonehenge in 1984.

Unruly, anarchic, and often at war with themselves, Hawkwind are one of the last great outsider bands. Although the testimony of guitarist and founder member Dave Brock isn't present, the film includes interviews with some of the band's enduring legends, including bassist Lemmy, writer Michael Moorcock, founder members Terry Ollis, Nik Turner and Mick Slattery, former managers Doug Smith and Jeff Dexter, leading rock critic Nick Kent and broadcaster and super-fan Matthew Wright. Strong language.