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Joe Banks

@joebankswriter.bsky.social

1.8K followers 90 following 840 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 · 9h

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

Thanks, yes, must listen!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 1d

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 · 3d

I've just DMed you on Xitter

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 3d

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

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 4d

Peter Elson

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 4d

I loved these books...

Scifi Art @scifiart.bsky.social · 4d

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 · 4d

Great album and cover

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you, that means a lot!

Reposted by Joe Banks

Sid Smith @sidsmith.bsky.social · 5d

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 · 5d

Glad you're liking it, Sid!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 5d

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

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 5d

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

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 5d

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 · 5d

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 · 6d

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

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

No, this recording is the first time it's been heard since 1974

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

This is just one of the highlights of Hawkwind's Edmonton Sundown set from 25 January 1974, as featured on the new Hall Of The Mountain Grill boxset. Robert Calvert in absolutely mesmerising form... www.youtube.com/watch?v=-su6...

Hawkwind - America

YouTube video by Jonathan Smith

www.youtube.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Oh blimey, I was hoping he'd at least play some of them!

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 6d

Wow, that really sounds quite something