QUARK LIFE

I recently picked up a nice batch of singles from the 1977 to 1978 period. Most are chart fodder: Donna Summer, ABBA and David Soul. Having said that, there was a single by Hawkwind in there called Quark, Strangeness And Charm. I always thought that they were an albums band – like Pink Floyd – so is it worth anything?

Robert Duggan via email

Although Hawkwind served up classic albums in the 70s, their singles output is fascinating, too. Their debut 7” – Hurry On Sundown/dawn Of Illusion – issued on Liberty (LBF 15382) in 1969, hardly sold any copies and is worth in the region of £400. Their second – famously sung by Lemmy – Silver Machine/seven By Seven (United Artists UP 35381, £15), got to No 3 in the UK in June 1972. The next after that – Urban Guerilla/ Brainbox Pollution (UP 35566, £15) – reached No 39 in June 1973.

With regards to their albums, though Hawkwind (Liberty LBS 83348, 1970, £350) did not chart on initial release, subsequent LPS all went Top 30 and there remained up to 1976 a regular flow of singles though none charted.

Vocalist/guitarist Robert Calvert was with the band between 1971 and 1973 but left to launch a solo career with Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters (United Artists UAG 29507, 1974, £40), the first full album produced by Brian Eno. Calvert returned to the fold in 1975 (around the time Lemmy left to form Motorhead) and resumed songwriting with Dave Brock as well as vocals.

Quark, Strangeness And Charm (Charisma CB 305, 1977) was taken from the LP of the same name. It was a straight-ahead song with a great chorus and was reminiscent of Lou Reed. The B-side was Forge Of Vulcan. Despite promotion in the music press and even an appearance to plug the single on Marc Bolan’s TV show, it didn’t chart. Bolan did, however, give them one hell of an introduction: “a group that should have written Star Wars but didn’t. The spirit of the age, my best friends, Hawkwind!”

For some strange reason Dave Brock did not perform on the show. The single is worth £10.