Songs from the Multiverse: The Music of Michael Moorcock

I’ve had several folks ask me about the Moorcock-music connections that I mentioned briefly in the Manowar piece, so thought I’d put this up from anyone else that was curious.

Michael Moorcock not only played a huge role in the New Wave of science fiction (spreading the works ofMaster of the Multiverse such greats as Brian Aldiss, Norman Spinrad, and Roger Zelazny) but also created some of SF & F’s most memorable characters with Elric of Melnibone, Dorian Hawkmoon, and Corum Jhaelen Irsei, many of which were aspects of the Eternal Champion, a being doomed in an endless struggle to maintain Balance in worlds beset by the forces of Law and Chaos.  And if that wasn’t enough, he developed the often copied concept of the Multiverse, which provides endless possibilities of realities for his protagonists to explore.

Music’s always played an important role in Moorcock’s work.  In an interview with Terry Bisson, Moorcock said he listened to music whenever he wrote.  Back in the early days of Elric, the Grateful Dead was his band of choice.  At that time as well, he was inspiring, collaborating, and performing with the masters of What many consider the classic lineup (Yes, that's Lemmy looking a little dazed and confused)space-rock, Hawkwind.  Their album Doremi Falso Latido was inspired by Moorcock’s The Black Corridor.  By the time the classic Space Ritual came out, he had been performing with them and had written one of their classic tracks: Sonic Attack.  Their collaboration peaked with The Warrior on the Edge of Time, which is based on Moorcock’s Eternal Champion series.  Dave is cited as saying he considers this work to be the epitome of Hawkwind.  During this time, too, the band would occasionally show up in novels as the Hawkwind Orchestra.  (There are also two books and a graphic novel which feature Hawkwind as the main characters.  Written by Michael Butterworth, Moorcock is listed as the coauthor of the first one, The Time of the Hawklords, though supposedly he only did the initial outline.)

After parting ways for several years, Hawkwind returned to the world of the Eternal Champion with 1985’s The Chronicle of the Black Sword.  The entire album is a retelling of Moorcock’s Elric saga, and the following year, they released Live Chronicles, which captured what many fans believe to be their finest performance.  They incorporated older songs and added a few new ones to expand upon the Black Sword album.  Moorcock did several readings at a show at the Hammersmith, which is available on the remastered release.  A DVD is also available; it contains all of Moorcock’s performances. 

In the seventies, Moorcock released a solo album titled New Worlds Fair.  It’s an interesting affair, but to be honest, his voice is an acquired taste.  The musicianship is strong and features many friends from his Hawkwind past.  His band played some live shows, but the recording really never found a following.  There were other recordings made, but a second album never emerged.

Blue Oyster CultIn seventy-nine, Moorcock collaborated with American rockers Blue Oyster Cult on their Mirrors LP.  His song, The Great Sun Jester, remains a fan favorite, and the band has played it live on several occasions.  He came back again, teaming up with front man Eric Bloom, to write the Elric inspired Black Blade for Cultosaurus Erectus.  This song, too, was an album and live favorite and was even released on Extraterrestrial Live.  When the band released one of their most commercially successful albums, A Fire of Unknown Origin, Moorcock contributed Veteran of the Psychic Wars, which was also used in the soundtrack to the Heavy Metal motion picture.  In 1987, when Moorcock was guest of honor at the very first DragonCon in Atlanta, Bloom showed up to jam with Moorcock on stage.

So, there you go: a very, very brief look at Moorcock and music.  I’m sure there are things I’ve forgotten to include (a couple come to mind right now) or don’t know about.  I’d love to hear from your guys about it.

Daring Heroics, Dastardly Deeds, & Space Rock

How’s this for nerdiness: as an undergrad, I took a literature class called Icelandic Saga. It was a great, memorable experience.  My classmates were all into it, especially the connections with fantasy lit.  My college mentor was even teaching.  Yeah, all four of us had a blast. 

Anywho . . . speaking of sagas, just read a good one:  THE SAGA OF HAWKWIND.

Don’t know the Hawklords?  And you call yourselves nerds.  Okay, here’s a brief summary of the Sparknote version of the Cliffnote version of why one of the world’s most under-rated bands should be discussed on Nerdbloggers.  Since its inception, Hawkwind has delivered some the most innovative and compelling space rock known to man.  Their live album Space Ritual captures the early glory.  (And yes, that is Lemmy from Motorhead on bass.)  Hall of the Mountain Grill and The Warrior on the Edge of Time are other highlights.  Contributing to, and occasionally performing with, the band is none other than the master of science-fantasy literature: Michael Moorcock.  The album Doremi Falso Latido is based upon Moorcock’s novel The Black Corridor.  And then there’s the ultimate treat of The Chronicle of the Black Sword which, of course, is based upon Moorcock’s Elric Saga.  I would say that it just doesn’t get better than that, but it does.  There’s the recording of the Black Sword tour – Live Chronicles – which may be one of the best live albums ever recorded.  They based songs upon works all of the great speculative writers ranging from Asimov (I Robot) to Zelazny (Damnation Alley).  I could go on and on and on, but you get the idea.  The Hawks (well, Dave Brock and current friends) are still churning out good stuff to this day.  Their thirty-plus-years story is truly a saga.  And that’s what Carol Clerk presents in The Saga of Hawkwind (Omnibus Press 2004).

From what I remember from my class, a saga usually preserves the tales of great deeds from the past.  Clerk’s chronicle follows Hawkwind from before its earliest inception.  She follows Dave Brock and company as they struggle across 1950’s and 60’s Britain and Europe performing blues, busking, and jazz.  They’re lots of interesting rock history along the way.  For example, I’ve been listened to Hawkwind for over twenty years but never knew of the meeting between Brock and Eric Clapton, when Brock showed Clapton how to play some chords.  Or that Jimi Hendrix watched Hawkwind’s legendary free performance at the Isle of Wight and later dedicated a song to Nik Turner – that silver guy – when he did his set.  The book is filled with juicy little bits like that.  Clerk devotes a chapter to every historical step Hawkwind ever took.  At over thirty lengthy chapters, that should give you an idea of the history in there. 

One thing I admired about the book was also something that bothered me at times.  Clerk’s objectivity cannot be disputed.  Right from page one, she informs you that the history of the band is complex and often conflicting.  The same story is remembered differently by different band members or observers; sometimes stories about certain members are remembered by some while vehemently denied by others.  The bothersome part, however, is that the book is all about the infighting and disputes, petty and profound, that occurred within the band.  Ultimately, Brock, who is one of the mythic legends looming large within the pantheon of my all-time favorites, is given a chaptered titled “God, Satan, or Just Captain of the Ship.”  It was troubling at times to read but revelatory.  It reminded me that all artists are essentially human.  In fact it is that struggle that can distinguish between the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The history of Hawkwind definitely trudges through all three.

The Saga of Hawkwind is a hefty tome.  The hardback copy I own is over five hundred pages.  I bought the Kindle version which, however, has been updated and expanded and is even longer!  If I had a quibble with the book, this would be it.  You are sometimes reminded of the daunting size of the book.  Like the sagas of days gone by, Clerk focuses on genealogy.  She has constructed a lineage of the band and its connections to others bands and provided a history of every member who has served with the band from their birth till their joining.  While this is not a problem necessarily with the key figures, it does interrupt the narrative when your reading about the problems of a certain tour then, right in the middle, break to read about who so-and-so is, where he was born, went to school, and what bands he worked with before finally meeting Hawkwind.  Sometimes the book is too comprehensive.

Aside from their speculative fiction leanings, Clerk reveals the role this band played in the development of punk (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was a huge Hawkwind fan) and dance music.  The volume is filled with stories of the heroic and the petty, and that honesty keeps the story real and relevant.  There’re also great photos throughout the band’s long, varied history.  Despite its flaws, which are few, The Saga of Hawkwind is a straight-forward, interesting look at an important, over-looked band.