It's been a rough week for rock'n roll, with yesterday's passing of Australian rock'n roll legend Stevie Wright of the Easybeats descending into the ether, we're knocked back again today with yet another pillar of several decades of decadence, Lemmy Kilmister now dead at the age of 70. So everyone knows Lemmy from Motorhead, that's easy and yes, incredible rock'n roll with no compromises, but sadly only a fraction of the rock'n roll masses know about his earlier work, most notably Hawkwind, the ground-breaking heavy psychedelic band that changed the face of mind-altering music, coining the term "space rock" along the ride. While Lemmy's earlier bands such as Sam Gopal and the mid-60s Rocking Vickers remain footnotes in his storied career, Hawkwind remains the true original template that was unlike anything that came before it, and luckily for us all, the fine folks in the BBC's archival division have put together a top-notch documentary which we have streaming for you here.
Hawkwind plowed through the 1970s like no one else before them, pulling out the most intense proto-punk noise and simultaneously assembling the legions of heads that would soon assume the position of the first class of punk rockers. Yes Virginia, there would most definitely be no Sex Pistols without Hawkwind's "Brainstorm" and their sinister brand of ill will would soon be legendary to anyone even remotely connected with the deep UK underground that already had sprouted such implementable acts such as The Deviants and Pink Fairies. It's an important point in rock'n roll that often gets overlooked due to no "hit singles" generated, not to mention the primitive anarchistic intentions of these drug-addled heathens, of which would change the face of the counterculture overnight.
So without further delay, please dive headfirst into the incredible Hawkwind BBC documentary as well as a rare clip of Lemmy fronting Sam Gopal from 1969. Too good to be forgotten, and thankfully he never will be.
RIP Lemmy Kilmister...
"Hawkwind "Urban Guerilla" promo video
