I am indebted to Keith Kniverton for sending me this slightly ropey (in terms of audio quality) demo of my song 'Turn It On Turn It Off', which must have been recorded totally live at The Mill House (the residential rehearsal facility owned by Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire), where the Hawklords/wind were resident sometime in 1979.  I seem to remember sunshine and no money, with me doing all the cooking on no/low budget. I have no memory of why Martin Griffin (and the great Bob Calvert) left, and how the brilliant Simon King came to be playing drums with the band again, albeit briefly. It's a loooong time ago!

This first version of the track features the classic line-up of Simon King (drums), Harvey Bainbridge (bass & harmonies), Dave Brock (guitar & harmonies) and myself on vocals and keyboards.

It later appeared as one of the stand-out tracks on my 1980 album Fresh Blood (featuring Simon King, Huw Lloyd-Langton and Nic Potter), which is now  - I'm pleased to say - remastered and available on iTunes and all the usual online outlets  - via Atomhenge/Cherry Red.

Words and music by Steve G Swindells (c) All rights reserved..

Turn It On Turn It Off (Hawklords/wind Demo 1979)

Fly sideways through time!
It's an electric line!

Try it, it's fun! :-)

Steve Swindells is a singer/songwriter/musician/producer and artistic polymath. He owns all the rights to the tracks featured on here (PRS/MCPS) -  apart from the Hawklords, Tre Nation, Findike and Spirits Burning tracks (and 'Shot Down In The Night' and 'Turn It On Turn It Off', which Steve wote, but are published by Warner Chappell) - so all the other tracks and co-writes are available to sample (with permission and a suitable publishing split!) and to cover and/or licence.

The Plastic Sturgeons, Steve's ad-hoc, all-star jamming band, were honoured to be joined by one of the best bass players in the world, Guy Pratt (just google him - I'll mention Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson for starters) at their live gig at The Real Music Club In Brighton. Then Amy Winehouse's bass player and musical director Dale Davis guested at the next super-jam @ The Brunswick in Brighton on Nov 23rd.  That was Steve's 61st b/day party too. All tracks were recorded by the most excellent Roy Weard.

Steve's new(old) double CD The Lost Albums was released in 2012 on Flicknife Records (http://www.flickniferecords.co.uk) and you can read the first review of it here: http://www.recordcollectormag.com/reviews/review-detail/8099 - also available from iTunes, Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and HMV.com

Steve's 1974 Album 'Messages' was digitally remastered and reissued on Esoteric/Cherry Red, in 2009, as was his classic 1980 album Fresh Blood (Atomhenge/Cherry Red). The latter is also available on Spotify, iTunes etc etc.

Steve's double compilation album of home recordings and demos from the late 80s through to 2013 is called 'New Crescent Yard' and is available to download for just $10 here, as his new album 'The Hanging Baskets Of Babylon' : http://steveswindells.bandcamp.com and they are also on most streaming and download platforms.

Steve's burgeoning multimedia EBook 'Sex N' Drugs N' Sausage Rolls' is now free to peruse (for a limited period) on http://steveswindells/wordpress.com/about

Steve also played with the re-convened Hawklords (he was in the band in 1978/9), which features the cream of the ex-members of Hawkwind and The Hawklords. Steve also played quirky keyboards on The Hawklords' 2012 release 'We Are One' before leaving the band.

http://www.facebook.com/TheHawklords

Stream and download (please 'fan' for loads of free downloads) more of Steve's songs and music at:
http://www.reverbnation.com/steveswindells

Then there are the ambient/chill/healing albums - perfect for film, library and TV music.  These CDs are now available to buy direct from the artist. 

http://www.reverbnation.com/steveswindellsbamboo

http://www.reverbnation.com/steveswindellsenigmaelevations

And please 'like' me @ http://www.facebook.com/SteveSwindellsMusic

Don't forget to check-out my Bowie-esque alter-ego Thom Topham too:
http://soundcloud.com/thom-topham and http://www.reverbnation.com/thomtopham

The double DanMingo album featuring Jon Moss, Winston Blissett, Dale Davis, Jerry Richards, Kit Morgan and Moos in now available as a download and to stream on all the usual digital suspects.

Steve released the double album 'The Unplanned Obsolescence of Thom Topham' and it's available to download/stream on all digital outlets.

Turn It On Turn It Off (Hawklords/wind Demo 1979)

steve-swindells