Space rock
Space rock is a style of music; the term originally referred to a group of early mostly British 1970s progressive rock and psychedelic bands like Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, though it now tends to refer to a series of late 1980s British alternative rock bands. This style is characterized by shimmering, melodic sounds, often with copious drug and science fiction references (such as pioneers Spacemen 3's legendary quotation: "taking drugs to make music to take drugs to").
The science fiction author Michael Moorcock collaborated with Hawkwind on many occasions: the Hawkwind track "The Black Corridor", for example, included verbatim quotes from Moorcock's novel of the same name. An album The New Worlds Fair by "Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix" was released in 1975, which included a number of Hawkwind regulars in the credits. ("The Deep Fix" was the title story of an obscure collection of short stories by "James Colvin" published in the 1960s). Moorcock wrote the lyrics to an album track entitled "Black Blade", referring to the sword Stormbringer in the Elric books, by the American band Blue Öyster Cult: Moorcock has even performed this song live with BÖC. The cyberpunk author John Shirley has also contributed to the lyrics of BÖC.
By the early 1990s, mainly British alternative rock genres like space rock, twee pop, shoegazing and noise pop emerged into the mainstream with the explosion of Britpop bands like Blur, Suede and Oasis. By 1991 (see 1991 in music), though, the original space rock bands had mostly fallen apart, and the musicians had moved on to new bands or new styles.
Oddity: Odd ditty
The probable earliest example of something like space rock is a song written in the 1940s by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger for a BBC radio show called You're Only Young Once. The song is called Space Girl and parodies most of the major themes of 1940s science fiction. (A version was recorded on "The World of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger" volume 2: Songs from the radio ballads in 1971 on Argo Records label).
A much shorter version of the same song was recorded in the 1960s by Shirley Collins.
Early space rock
- Sheb Wooley - Purple People Eater (1958)
- Joe Meek and The Blue Men - "I Hear A New World - An Outer Space Music Fantasy" (1960)
- The Tornados - Telstar (1962) (which was also the first number one hit for a British group in the American chart)
Examples of space rock
- Acid Mothers Temple - especially the 'Cosmic Inferno' incarnation
- Ariaphonics - Ariaphonics
- Babylon Zoo-The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes
- The Byrds - Fifth Dimension
- Bethany Curve - Gold
- Cave In - Jupiter
- David Bowie
- Space Oddity
- Halo Spaceboy
- Denison Marrs - "Holding Hands At 35,000 Feet"
- Failure - Fantastic Planet
- Füxa
- Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll (Part 2)
- Gong - (most of their material)
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor
- Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut and Downward is Heavenward
- Ron Grainer - The theme to Doctor Who
- Hawkwind - (most of their songs, see particularly the double album Space Ritual)
- Man or Astroman? - Eeviac
- Mars Everywhere
- Martian Death Lyric
- Joe Meek
- Monster Magnet - 25............tab and other works
- Moody Blues - To Our Children's Children's Children and Long Distance Voyager
- Omega
- Ozric Tentacles
- Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
- Porcupine Tree - The Sky Moves Sideways
- Quarkspace
- Radio Massacre International
- Radio Vago
- Rush - 2112
- Peter Schilling - The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)
- Secret Machines
- Spacemen 3
- Sparks Fly From a Kiss
- Strike Him Centurion
- Sun Dial
- Voivod
- Jeff Wayne - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
