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Joe Banks

@joebankswriter.bsky.social

1.8K followers 91 following 850 posts

'Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground' voted a book of the year by MOJO, Uncut, Prog & Shindig. Visit www.daysoftheunderground.com. 'Rock And Role: The Visionary Songs Of Peter Hammill + VdGG' out 21/11/25. Pre-order: https://kingmakerpublishing.com/

kingmakerpublishing.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · Aug 27

Announcement! And cover reveal! Pre-orders for Rock and Role, my biography of Peter Hammill & Van der Graaf Generator, are now open. Over 500 pages and 400 images. Details here: kingmakerpublishing.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 10h

I haven't spoken to her for a while, but she does pop up occasionally on FB

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 14h

And then a year later, 18 Sept 1977 at the Glasgow Apollo, here's a couple of great pics (by Ian Storarr) of Calvert in full flight with Hawkwind...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 14h

Ah, of course, that's what I was thinking of

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 15h

Robert Calvert with Hawkwind, performing Steppenwolf, 1976? (photo restored by Christopher Scurrah) Does he have the fake severed head in his other hand that I've heard mention of??

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 1d

My new book - Rock and Role: The Visionary Songs of Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator - is off to the printers, and will be published 21 November!
Officially launching today, here's the book's site, which I'll be updating regularly. But check out the A/V section now! www.rockandrole.net

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 2d

but in between, there's an entertaining sub-plot about a messianic Lithian child causing havoc within Earth's repressed society... It's a novel packed with ideas, some more engaging than others, and Blish doesn't always wear his learning lightly, but I really liked it. A genuinely original work. 3/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 2d

even if ultimately it doesn't really amount to much. A biologist/Jesuit studying a paradisical alien planet called Lithia, populated by intelligent but God-less lizards (David Icke, look away), becomes convinced that it's a Satanic trap. Returning to Earth, he has an audience with the Pope... 2/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 2d

My slow tour of classic SF slowly continues with 1958's A Case Of Conscience by James Blish, a book that's become renowned as one of SF's most serious attempts to tackle the role of Christianity in the context of a non-terrestrial, but supremely civilised world. It's a dense, fascinating read... 1/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks, yes, must listen!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 2d

Here's a chest-swelling, patriotic Hawkwind headline from Sounds, 13 May 1972 😉 Plus mention of dates with The (Morrison-less) Doors - though the 11th was at the Mayfair in Birmingham rather than The Roundhouse...

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 4d

I've just DMed you on Xitter

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 4d

Weellll, I think we just didn't really notice at the time, but definite examples...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 4d

I'm sure you're right, but people (like me) can't resist making connections... BTW, did you see that message I sent (via Chat) on here last week?

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 4d

From today's Guardian online and based on a new book, an article on the early 70s French rock underground. The treatment is a little wide-eyed, but good to see it there nonetheless. Would argue Les Variations were more than just Stones knock-offs though... www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

Street battles, invented languages and gigs in psychiatric hospitals: France’s lost rock revolution of 1968

Bands such as Magma and Art Zoyd provided a soundtrack for the student protests that shook the country. Little remembered now, a new book reveals their decisive influence on later successes such as Ai...

www.theguardian.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Peter Elson

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

I loved these books...

Scifi Art @scifiart.bsky.social · 6d

The Terran Trade Authority series were science fiction art books published in the late 1970s & early 80s, created by British author Stewart Cowley using previously published paintings from sci-fi artists of the era, weaving elaborate fictional histories around the imagery. 1/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Great album and cover

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you, that means a lot!

Reposted by Joe Banks

Sid Smith @sidsmith.bsky.social · 6d

I missed Peter Hammill's Edinburgh gig due to family illness but an advance copy of @joebankswriter.bsky.social new book on Peter's work has cheered me up. It's a big book that
goes well with the equally new big CD box set I've also been listening to. More book details here:
kingmakerpublishing.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Glad you're liking it, Sid!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

I had foolishly maxed out my one & a half pints limit ;-)

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Ah, in that case, I'm sure it'll be a tonic!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Oh, really sorry to hear that, Sid - though I'm not sure that might aid her recovery!

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

So, Peter Hammill at the RFH last night was quite an experience... Highlights for me were Don't Tell Me, Comfortable?, Patient, A Way Out (particularly amazing) and Still Life (though gutted to have missed Modern - not allowed back into the hall post-toilet break!) (pic by Howard Rankin)

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Reposted by Joe Banks

Sounds Clips @soundsclips.bsky.social · 7d

An article on Hawkwind by Geoff Barton in Sounds 2nd, October 1976.
@joebankswriter.bsky.social

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