Space Bandits
Encyclopedia
Space Bandits is the sixteenth studio album
by the English
space rock
group Hawkwind
, released in 1990
. It spent one week on the UK albums chart
at #70.
By mid-1989, the group's line-up had changed once again. Guitarist Dave Brock
, keyboardist Harvey Bainbridge
and bassist Alan Davey
remained. Drummer Richard Chadwick had just established himself, while lead guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton
had left, his position occasionally being filled by former keyboardist Simon House
providing lead lines on violin. In addition, singer Bridget Wishart
had started to perform with the group. This new line-up recorded a 60 minute live performance at Lenton Lane television studios, Nottingham on 25 January 1990 for broadcast on the ITV
late night series Bedrock, later released as the video Nottingham 1990.
The group entered Rockfield Studios
in April through to June to record this album, produced with Paul Cobbold. "Black Elk Speaks" features a sample of John Neihardt
reading from his book Black Elk Speaks
, the testimony of Black Elk
as given to Neihardt.
The group undertook a 25 date UK tour in October and November to promote the album, although House had left the group by then. This was followed by 18 North America dates in December, the Oakland Omni Theatre show on 16 December being recorded and released as California Brainstorm
.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
space rock
Space rock
Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...
group Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
, released in 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
. It spent one week on the UK albums chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
at #70.
By mid-1989, the group's line-up had changed once again. Guitarist Dave Brock
Dave Brock
David Anthony "Dave" Brock is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He plays electric guitar, synthesizer, bass and oscillators. He is best known as being one of the founders and musical focus of the English space rock group Hawkwind...
, keyboardist Harvey Bainbridge
Harvey Bainbridge
Harvey Frederick Bainbridge is an English bass and keyboard player. He is best known as the bass player and keyboard player in Hawkwind....
and bassist Alan Davey
Alan Davey (musician)
Alan Davey is best known as the former bassist with Hawkwind. He is now the bass player and vocalist for Gunslinger as well as Hawklords, Meads of Asphodel, and Thunor.-Early musical career:...
remained. Drummer Richard Chadwick had just established himself, while lead guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton
Huw Lloyd-Langton
Huw Lloyd-Langton is an English guitarist, best known as the guitarist for Hawkwind. He also had his own band, the Lloyd Langton Group with bass player Kenny Wilson and drummer John Clark , and is the session lead guitarist for UK band The Meads of Asphodel.As a member of Hawkwind he appeared on...
had left, his position occasionally being filled by former keyboardist Simon House
Simon House
Simon House is a composer and classically trained violinist and keyboard player, perhaps best known for his work with space rock band Hawkwind. His arrival in 1974 introduced a new element to the band's style...
providing lead lines on violin. In addition, singer Bridget Wishart
Bridget Wishart
Bridget Wishart is a vocalist and performance artist who performed with Hawkwind from 1989 to 1991, appearing on the albums Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me to Your Future and, among others, the Nottingham 1990 video.She obtained BA in Fine Art from Newport Art...
had started to perform with the group. This new line-up recorded a 60 minute live performance at Lenton Lane television studios, Nottingham on 25 January 1990 for broadcast on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
late night series Bedrock, later released as the video Nottingham 1990.
The group entered Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales and just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire are where many of British rock music’s most successful recordings have been made.-History:...
in April through to June to record this album, produced with Paul Cobbold. "Black Elk Speaks" features a sample of John Neihardt
John Neihardt
Johnathan Gneisenau Neihardt was an American author of poetry and prose, an amateur historian and ethnographer, and a philosopher of the Great Plains...
reading from his book Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux medicine man or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota into English by Black Elk's son, Ben...
, the testimony of Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
as given to Neihardt.
The group undertook a 25 date UK tour in October and November to promote the album, although House had left the group by then. This was followed by 18 North America dates in December, the Oakland Omni Theatre show on 16 December being recorded and released as California Brainstorm
California Brainstorm
California Brainstorm is a live album by the British space rock group Hawkwind, recorded during their North America tour in 1990, and released in 1992 in the USA on the Iloki label....
.
Side 1
- "Images" (Bridget WishartBridget WishartBridget Wishart is a vocalist and performance artist who performed with Hawkwind from 1989 to 1991, appearing on the albums Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me to Your Future and, among others, the Nottingham 1990 video.She obtained BA in Fine Art from Newport Art...
, Dave BrockDave BrockDavid Anthony "Dave" Brock is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He plays electric guitar, synthesizer, bass and oscillators. He is best known as being one of the founders and musical focus of the English space rock group Hawkwind...
, Alan DaveyAlan DaveyAlan Davey may refer to:* Alan Davey , chief executive of the Arts Council England* Alan Davey is best known as the former bassist with Hawkwind. He is now the bass player/vocalist for Gunslinger as well as Hawklords, Meads of Asphodel, and Thunor....
) – 9:34 - "Black Elk Speaks" (Black ElkBlack ElkHeȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
, Brock) – 5:15 - "Wings" (Davey) – 5:22
Side 2
- "Out of the Shadows" (Doug Buckley, Brock, Davey) – 4:57
- "Realms" (Davey) – 3:26
- "Ship of Dreams" (Brock) – 5:13
- "T.V. Suicide" (Harvey BainbridgeHarvey BainbridgeHarvey Frederick Bainbridge is an English bass and keyboard player. He is best known as the bass player and keyboard player in Hawkwind....
) – 5:20
Atomhenge CD bonus tracks
- "Snake Dance" [Previously unreleased]
- "Out Of The Shadows" [Live]
- "Images" [Single version]
Personnel
- Bridget WishartBridget WishartBridget Wishart is a vocalist and performance artist who performed with Hawkwind from 1989 to 1991, appearing on the albums Space Bandits, Palace Springs, California Brainstorm and Take Me to Your Future and, among others, the Nottingham 1990 video.She obtained BA in Fine Art from Newport Art...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Dave BrockDave BrockDavid Anthony "Dave" Brock is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He plays electric guitar, synthesizer, bass and oscillators. He is best known as being one of the founders and musical focus of the English space rock group Hawkwind...
– electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals (track 4,6) - Alan DaveyAlan Davey (musician)Alan Davey is best known as the former bassist with Hawkwind. He is now the bass player and vocalist for Gunslinger as well as Hawklords, Meads of Asphodel, and Thunor.-Early musical career:...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals (track 3) - Simon HouseSimon HouseSimon House is a composer and classically trained violinist and keyboard player, perhaps best known for his work with space rock band Hawkwind. His arrival in 1974 introduced a new element to the band's style...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - Harvey BainbridgeHarvey BainbridgeHarvey Frederick Bainbridge is an English bass and keyboard player. He is best known as the bass player and keyboard player in Hawkwind....
– keyboards, vocals (track 7) - Richard Chadwick – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Credits
- Recorded at Rockfield StudiosRockfield StudiosRockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales and just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire are where many of British rock music’s most successful recordings have been made.-History:...
, April to June 1990. - Produced with Paul Cobbold.
- Sleeve by Joe PetagnoJoe PetagnoJoe Petagno is an artist known principally for creating images used on rock album covers, for bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth, Motörhead, Roy Harper, Marduk, Nightshade, and Illdisposed....
.
Release history
- September 1990: GWRGWR RecordsGWR Records was a record label active in the UK from 1986 through to 1991.By 1984, Gerry Bron's Bronze Records were in financial difficulty leading to a hiatus in recording activity for Motörhead...
, GWLP103, UK - February 1992: Castle CommunicationsCastle CommunicationsCastle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...
, CLACD282, UK - July 1999: Castle CommunicationsCastle CommunicationsCastle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...
, ESMCD738, UK CD digipak - September 2010: Atomhenge (Cherry RedCherry RedCherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
) Records, ATOMCD1025, UK CD