“There would be no Holiday In Cambodia without Hawkwind”: Jello Biafra discovered the space rockers in a copy of Penthouse – and wound up singing Silver Machine with Nik Turner

In 2013 former Dead Kennedys leader Jello Biafra told Prog how Hawkwind came to mean so much to him – and the moment he realised it.

“Next to Funhouse by The Stooges, Space Ritual is my ground zero for what made me what I am today. There would be no Holiday In Cambodia without Hawkwind. When Klaus Flouride began noodling around with that bass riff, I knew immediately where it should go.

I’d read about them in one of my dad’s Penthouse magazines. I checked out In Search Of Space but I didn’t like it. Then I got Space Ritual and it blew me away. I not only liked its power but its ethereal hypnosis too. This – and an increase in weed consumption – was a gateway to the more powerful side of psychedelic music, and eventually prog rock.

I saw them as the Hawklords in 1978. It was stripped down; no light show. I was 19, in freshly spray-painted punk clothes. I had a chat with Bob Calvert about Captain Lockheed… asking him, ‘Where do you get your information?’ He told me where he read things up, and how he had dossiers on white-collar criminals. When I began doing spoken word, I was doing the same thing.

Some Hawkwind line-ups are better than others. The third time I saw them was at Hammersmith Odeon with Ginger Baker. During Brainstorm, he went off into a 10-minute solo. I admire the idea but it wasn’t my favourite.

Hawkwind - Born to Go - taken from Space Ritual 1973 (animation) - YouTube

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Another time I was walking down Broadway and saw Hawkwind were on, so I strolled in. This time it was the real deal. Alan Davies had joined, and drummer Richard Chadwick was very friendly to me ’cos I was a fan of his anarcho-punk band Smartpils. That night I realised how much the band meant to me.

I also saw the ‘other Hawkwind.’ Nik Turner hooked up with Pressurehed, adding Helios Creed on guitar and Paul Della Pelle from legendary Philadelphia hardcore band Ruin on drums.

Then Del Dettmar arrived with an electric axe – an axe with a string on it! On another platform was Genesis P. Orridge. I followed their tour, then joined in too. They’d been doing Silver Machine and no-one could hit the high notes. I wound up as the high voice on the live album!”

Silver Machine (Live) - YouTube

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