Dave Wyndorf on Hawkwind – X In Search of Space (1971)

I bought X In Search of Space the week it came out, which allows some unpleasant conclusions to be drawn about my age. I got the album at ‘Jack’s Music Shop’ in Red Bank/New Jersey. Bestseller records were displayed prominently and promoted, but Hawkwind barely had any press and didn’t get much attention. So I discovered the album by chance in between all the other records. I saw the cover and thought, “It’s like it was made for me.” The band name also seemed to be from a comic book.

I can still remember that day exactly, it was in late Summer. I took the record home with me and it completely blew me away. Such a sound was new to me, which was no surprise: Hawkwind had invented this kind of music, they had made it possible in the first place. X In Search Of Space sounded so special and weirdly produced that even then it amazed me how a major label could release something like that. Who should buy this? Other than me, I mean. This music sounded like space was a place on Earth. And of course I failed to identify all the sounds. For example, I didn’t know that Nik Turner was playing his saxophone through a wah-wah pedal, which is actually intended for guitars. The result sounded bizarre, almost like a goose. Then there were the oscillators that I only knew from science-fiction films.

Hawkwind was the mean version of Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd on acid. I completely freaked out. And the best was yet to come: I would like the second side of the LP even more than the first one.

by Dave Wyndorf

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