In conjunction with
Present
Welcome to what without a doubt is the biggest project that the Hawkwind Museum has ever undertaken in it's two year life. The mission we've chosen to accept is to get Hawkwind back into the UK singles chart for the first time in some 30 years. Now to stand any chance of accomplishing this we need somebody's help and that somebody is -
YOU
This is no flash in the pan idea but a full on attempt to create a bit of history. One thing that I must stress is that we aim to make this a genuine attempt at a decent chart entry by 100% legal and above board means, every sale will be a legitimate sale to someone who both likes the song and buys it of their own free will. For that reason I'd like to bring your attention to the official chart rules that you access by -
I suggest you have a read through these if you are unsure of anything you or anybody else is doing but as long as we stick to these rules then I don't envisage we'll have any problems
At the moment it's in it's very early stages of planning but rest assured that things are going to start happening very quickly from now on but for now here are a few answers to a few questions I'm sure you're dying to ask
Q - So come on then what is Chart Trek
It's something I've had in my head for a long while now. The simple fact is that the UK singles are not what they used to be. These days pretty meagre sales figures can get you a reasonable chart entry as long as you follow a few simple rules. Now is neither the time or place to outline these but similar projects for Marillion, Billy Bragg, The Alarm (albeit under the name Poppyfields) and probably most famously John Otway have all resulted in these artists returning to the charts after huge gaps (not 30 years mind!) and with that has come increased exposure, hence more ticket sales at concerts and (hopefully) a bigger budget for the band to spend on things such as staging and lighting.
I also feel that now is the right time for Hawkwind to have a resurgence of interest and before you mock read on. We now have openly "out of the closet " celebrity Hawkfans in the shape of Matthew Wright and Iain Rankin amongst others, another Vic Reeves (remember he contributed to the "When Rock Ruled The World" documentary) has just joined arguably the biggest show on British TV at the moment - I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, there is the potential for a lot of publicity here if we can organise ourselves. I know many of you are very precious when it comes to Hawkwind and rightly so and I think we can all sleep sound at night knowing they are not about to become household names overnight, However I for one think that they are far too undervalued by the music loving public at large and this is our chance to show the rest what they are missing and hopefully we'll have some fun in the process.
Q - So what single are we talking about and when is it coming out
Once a record deal is finalised it's the bands intention to release the song SPIRIT OF THE AGE as a pre cursor to the album TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER. At present the latest details I have is that the plan is for a release the single sometime in February of 2005. As ever the only place for the most up to date information is the bands own web site MISSION CONTROL so always check there but it's also my intention to keep you informed of the latest info regarding this release as and when it happens.
Q - Are you looking for people to help in any way
Does Lemmy have warts? yes of course we do, again things are very much in the planning stage at the moment and I want to get a bit of momentum going first but yes we will need bodies on the ground. Please let us know if you're off to any of the December dates, especially Newcastle as it's my aim to have some sort of presence at all of the upcoming gigs, so again let us know by -
Q - What do I need to do now
I feel we need to get the ball rolling as soon as possible and hope that slowly momentum will start building as more and more people become aware of the project as the release date approaches. One thing I would actively encourage is contacting radio stations world-wide and firstly requesting that they play a Hawkwind track. Lets be honest here for a moment and say that like it or not you're best off asking for Silver Machine in most instances as that's the only record most stations are likely to have access to, However if at all possible also mention that the Band are set to release a new single in the near future and the fans are trying to get it into the UK singles chart. All I ask all of you, including those overseas, is that you have some way of listening to any given station. I would then ask that you take a quick moment to let me know who you've been contacting and what if any reaction you've had from individual stations. Don't forget that the internet itself is awash with both web based and more conventional broadcasters and most have a "listen online" facility. You can pass feedback to me by simply -
Q - Are Hawkwind aware of this
Yes there's been communication between the two parties but as such it's 100% independent of the Hawkwind set up. I do intend making requests to the band to allow us to gather information at venues but this will be done by Volunteers of Chart Trek and not those associated with the band themselves.
Q - I live overseas is it possible for me to be involved in this
Simple answer yes. Without coming across as too dictatorial just keep abreast of developments and we will point all of you in the right direction. I still need to clarify some issues but I'm aware that at least one UK online retailer contributes to the overall make up of the charts. However the way I hope that a lot of you will get your copies is via what I call a "buddy system". Put simply it's my intention to get willing UK citizens to purchase the single on our overseas friends behalf, once again things like this need to be shored up once things start to move, but for now just make sure that you keep abreast of developments.
So there you have it, the briefest of synopsis of what the future plans are, so for now you can return to