Charged With Cosmic Energy
On October 8, 1971, Hawkwind released their second album, In Search Of Space. It’s a landmark record, space rock ground zero, and every bit as mind-melting and innovative as the then-contemporary krautrock scene in Germany.
But while Hawkwind were born out of the alternative society of Ladbroke Grove in west London, In Search Of Space wasn’t an album fuelled by peace and love. Instead, as its title suggests, it was a radical escape route from authoritarianism and mainstream conformity, and a blast of sonic disgust against the foolishness of the straight world.
“Guys with long hair were always getting picked up, always being searched in the street. Every time we arrived back in the early hours in our van, we’d be stopped by the police in Notting Hill and searched.”
Dave Brock
The year of its creation was a tumultuous one for the band, with numerous altercations and brushes with death along the way. Yet by the end of 1971, Hawkwind would be the country’s biggest cult band with a newly minted science fiction mythology and a secret weapon in their arsenal set to propel them to even greater heights.
Hawkwind had ended 1970 by co-headlining the Christmas Space Party, a benefit gig at the Roundhouse for the underground press. Yet for bassist Thomas Crimble, it would prove to be his final show with the band. Crimble had played a key role in moving them on from the jammy, often abstract psychedelia of their self-titled
