Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Oh, GONG. By light years. The 'Radio Gnome' trilogy is one of the all time original and astounding pinnacles of rock music for me, despite Daevid Allen's unavoidable and annoying whimsy that sometimes threatens to boil over (the end of 'Flying Teapot' or the sub-Chas & Dave 'Givin' My Love To You', for example). That doesn't matter when you've got long, staggeringly dynamic and visceral tracks like 'The Isle Of Everywhere', 'Other Side Of The Sky', 'Zero The Hero and The Witch's Spell' or, most awesome of all, 'A Sprinkling Of Clouds' dominating the proceedings. And 'Camembert Electrique' was a fabulous precursor for the trilogy, though I still find Gilli Smyth's interjections really uncomfortable to listen to in places. And every musician that passed though their ranks was or is a master of his or her art. That just ain't the case with Hawkwind.

I'm risking surprising a few folks here - and earning their ire - but I've never really got into Hawkwind. The odd track or moment really moves me, but I've never been able to sit through a whole album of theirs without being distracted or bored. I also have serious doubts over the quality of their musicianship, whatever the line-up: probably because I feel Dave Brock to be one of the most one-dimensional guitarists in rock. And I think it's Brock that spoils the party for me. The Robert Calvert dominated era of 'Astounding Sounds', 'Quark' and 'PXR5' is their peak IMHO, but even then I feel there's only about one decent LP's worth of tracks from all three albums. I was given 'Space Ritual' many years ago as a gift, and I've yet to get all the way through it in one sitting: it's shoddy, rough and dull as dishwater for me, apart from those few moments when the loud bits blast through - and I admit those bits are pretty good. And I like the studio version of 'Masters Of The Universe', mainly for that excellent two note bass riff that reappears in Budgie's 'Crash Course In Brain Surgery' and The Osmonds' 'Crazy Horses' (!). But that's it for me. Gong, Gong, Gong.