Tuesday 19 December 2017

Space Is Deep



My mind was well and truly blown last week when I read the article about Oumuamua, the first observed object known to be from beyond our solar system that came, saw and then buggered off at 98.000 miles an hour, fuck sake! The rock is estimated to be up to quarter of a mile long and 130 feet wide and kind of cigar shaped. But not up here no, in Scotland it has been called the intergalactic jobby! We really can't help ourselves, first we had Hurricane Bawbag and now this.

Image result for rock from outside the solar system


Pondering the stars inevitably got me thinking of some Space Rock and this tune got lodged in my brain. It was originally on Hawkwind's third album Doremi  Fasol Latido from 1972 but this version is taken from the following year's live masterpiece Space Ritual. I am by no means an expert on this bunch of madmen and eccentrics but I had a few bits and pieces and a couple of years back an 11 disc box set of their albums and singles from 1970 - 74, This Is Your Captain Speaking . . . Your Captain Is Dead was released and was at that point pretty cheap, so I took a punt and from then on every now and again I get lost in some mad, mental prog rock which I have to say I thoroughly enjoy.

Hawkwind - Space Is Deep

8 comments:

The Swede said...

I too grappled with the concept of this lump of space stuff the other day, as I listened to experts discussing it on the radio - I'm none the wiser. My brain just isn't big enough.
Envious of your Hawkwind purchase, one I've had my eye on for a long while.

Unknown said...

Dearie me - Hawkwind. Now there's a blast from my past. My fave album of theirs was "In Search Of Space", mainly for the magnificent metal music of "Master Of The Universe" and the brilliant "You Shouldn't Do That". I got to interview some members of the band (but mostly Nik Turner) on 3 occasions and once, I spoke with their mentor/occasional lyricist Michael Moorcock (one of my all time favourite authors) and shared a Jazz Woodbine said writer and Mr Turner backstage at the Cowdray Hall - the venue for their 1st gig in Aberdeen. Ah, happy daze.

Jake Sniper said...

There's always room for a bit of Hawkwind.

Swiss Adam said...

Space is deep. Really deep.

drew said...

Swede, my only gripe with the box set is that all the albums have been remastered quite quietly. Also it is ridiculously priced now. I paid 25 quid for it, well used an Amazon gift card of that value.

drew said...

Gram - tell us more, did you get a coherent interview out of them?

Unknown said...

Drew - Nik Turner was always a gentleman. A decent bloke who was very patient with me even when I asked dumb questions. I did have a brief conversation with Lemmy at their 1st gig, but he wasn't really interested in talking with a reporter. He wasn't rude, just didn't want to talk.
What I found fascinating was their rise from a small venue gig at Cowdray Hall, Aberdeen circa 1971 to a much larger venue (Aberdeen Music Hall) for their 2nd show in the city and then seeing them headlining an all day "festival" at the Oval cricket ground in September 1973 with Frank Zappa's Grand Wazoo Orchestra (the original headline act) playing a set just before them.

Unknown said...

Correction - the Oval gig was September 1972. There's details about that "festival" including a poster, on this web page...

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/rock-at-the-oval-vftmud.html