1974 Albums

Formed in 1972 in Lecco, Lombardy, Biglietto Per L'Inferno ("Ticket to Hell") was another Italian band that released one classic album before breaking up. The band was discovered at a music festival, and subsequently offered a contract with the Trident label, home to The Trip and Semiramis. The band centered around the keyboard talents of two Giuseppes, "Baffo" Banfi and Cossa, plus guitarist Marco Mainetti, vocalist and flautist Claudio Canali and a rhythm section of bassist Fausto Branchini and drummer Mauro Gnecchi.

In early 1972, Clive John split from Man and joined up with former Eyes Of Blue keyboardist Phil Ryan and bassist Will Youatt-all fresh from Pete Brown & Piblokto!-forming Iorworth Pritchard and the Neutrons. They never got around to recording, and all three subsequently returned to Man. After appearing on Man's Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day and Back Into The Future albums, Youatt and Ryan left in 1973 to reform The Neutrons. Their first album, Black Hole Star, featured both Weathers on drums and Williams on guitar.

South African-born Robert Calvert’s time in Hawkwind had, up until this point, been tentative; his documented mental instabilities kept him from having a permanent position with the band. Following his departure after the Space Ritual tour, Calvert teamed up with producer Roy Thomas Baker for his first solo album. The first, Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters, presented the true story of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a plane with a dubious safety record. A mix of spoken word passages and songs, the album is every bit as good as a Hawkwind release.