1981 Albums

Peter Hammill entered the 80s as a solo artist and without a label, yet still managed by former Charisma director Gail Colson. This link led to a (somewhat controversial) production job for Random Hold's 1980 debut album, Etceteraville, and later, briefly, a label, S-Type, that released his 1980 album A Black Box. Arranged, performed and produced by Hammill himself, it's a curious record, full of technological experimentation and odd, chunky production.

Hawkwind headlined Glastonbury Festival in June, and in a bizarre twist of fate, none other than Ginger Baker was co-headliner! The band had recovered from the debacle with their former drummer and regrouped around Dave Brock, Huw Lloyd-Langton and Harvey Bainbridge—the latter now sharing keyboard duties with Brock. Martin Griffin, previously a member of Ark and the Hawklords, returned on drums, as did poet Michael Moorcock (absent during most of the Robert Calvert era).