THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

577-Hawkwind-Silver Machine.

1972-Number 3 single. It has been re-issued on a further three occasions, failing to chart in 1976, reaching Number 34 in 1978, and Number 86 in 1983.

Best Bit-At 0-22. The last song Lemmy wrote before being fired from Hawkwind in 1975, was a track called ‘Motorhead,’ and the rest is history.

Hawkwind were formed in Ladbroke Grove, London England, in 1969, and at the time of writing they remain active, with founding member Dave Brock being the groups one constant. In total to date there have been 46 official different members come and go, including some famous and influential names. Ian Kilmister, (Lemmy) (1945-2015) (see also best songs 16) was a group member between 1971-1975, Ginger Baker, (1939-2019) (see also best songs 726) was a member between 1980-1981, and Simon House, (see also best songs 302) was on board between 1973-1978, and then again between 1989-1991. The six group members who performed on this recording of ‘Silver Machine’ were Dave Brock, (guitar, and vocals) Nik Turner, (saxophone, flute, and vocals) Lemmy Kilmister, (1945-2015) (lead vocals) Michael ‘Dik Mik’ Davies, (1943-2017) (synthesizer) Del Dellmar, (synthesizer) and Simon King (drums.)

The discography of ‘Hawkwind,’ who started out life as ‘Group X,’ before becoming ‘Hawkwind Zoo,’ and finally ‘Hawkwind,’ includes 35 studio Albums released between 1970-2024, and 22 singles released between 1970-2023, there are also eight extended plays, 10 official compilation Albums, and 13 live Albums available. In the UK, 13 of their Albums have reached the top 40, with ‘Warrior on the Edge of Time,’ peaking the highest at Number 13 in 1975. They have never charted on Billboard in America, but their second studio Album ‘In Search of Space,’ did reach Number 34 in Australia, in 1971. Hawkwind’s only charting single remains ‘Silver Machine,’ which peaked at Number 3 in the UK in 1972.

‘Silver Machine’ was co-written by Dave Brock, who wrote the music, and Robert Calvert, (1945-1988) who provided the lyrics, the song was produced by Brock using the pseudonym ”Dr Technical,’ he also used the pseudonym ‘Sylvia McManus,’ (who was his wife) for his writing credit. ‘Silver Machine’ was first recorded live at a ‘Greasy Truckers’ benefit gig, at ‘The Roundhouse,’ London on the 13th February 1972. The recording was the taken away for mixing, but it was decided that the lead vocals of Robert Calvert were not up to scratch, and Ian Kilmister, (Lemmy) who was the groups bass player recorded his stronger vocals over the track in the studio. At the time Calvert who suffered from ‘Bi-Polar disorder,’ had been sectioned, so he was unavailable to attempt another version. Doug Smith, who was Hawkwind’s manager at the time has said, ‘Lemmy had a high voice, but it was just very much more powerful, he had a gruffness with it, so we decided to use his vocal.’ It is said that when Calvert was in recovery, and found out that his vocals had been removed, he was not best pleased.

Hawkwind are a ‘Rock’ group, who have recorded in the genres of ‘Progressive Rock,’ ‘Psychedelic Rock,’ ‘Acid Rock,’ ‘Proto-Punk,’ and ‘Space Rock.’ ‘Space Rock’ is a genre of music that is characterised by lengthy song structures, that may feature distorted and reverberation laden guitars, with the lyrical themes often dealing with science fiction. The genre emerged in the late 1960’s, with ‘Psychedelia,’ and ‘Progressive Rock’ groups such as the English Rock band Pink Floyd,’ (see also best songs 992 and 280) and the French formed group ‘Gong,’ exploring different musical sounds. Pink Floyd’s early Albums including ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,’ (1967) and ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ (1968) contain pioneering examples of ‘Space Rock,’ on tracks such as ”Lucifer Sam,’ and ‘Let There Be More Light.’

The lyrics for ‘Silver Machine’ were inspired by the French writer Alfred Jarry’s (1873-1907) essay, ‘How To Construct a Time Machine.’ The lyrics are a send up, whereas Jarry wrote about constructing a ‘Cosmic space travel machine,’ Calvert made it about a new silver racing bike. Robert Calvert has said,’I thought it was a great idea for a song. At that time there were a lot of songs about space travel, and it was the time when ‘NASA’ was actually, really doing it. They’d put a man on the moon and were planning to put parking lots and hamburger stalls and everything up there. I thought that it was about time to come up with a song that actually sent this all up, which was ‘Silver Machine.’ ‘Silver Machine’ was just to say, I’ve got a silver bicycle, and nobody got it. I didn’t think they would. I thought that what they would think we were singing about some sort of cosmic space travel machine. I did actually have a silver racing bike when I was a boy. I’ve got one now, in fact.’

I, I just took a ride in a silver machine, and I’m still feeling mean. Do you want to ride, see yourself going by the other side of the sky. I’ve got a silver machine, it flies sideways through time, it’s an electric line to your zodiac sign. I’ve got a silver machine.’