> A few words about
Bob.
I have great respect for him. It was always great fun working with him
- though we did squabble about different pieces of music we worked on.
Many times I had to bail him out of trouble as sometimes his eccentricity
and unstability caused terrible
scenes.
He once sued me and forbade me to use any of his works on stage as I had
said he was mad, but, it was XXX (sorry...) not me who was the
guilty party. Eventually Bob found the truth and all was forgiven.
Another
time he lived in a caravan on our farm during autumn, shutting himself
away to write a
play about a round-the-world yachtsman who didn't sail around
the world but round and round the Atlantic Ocean - radioing in that
he was in different parts of the globe. Eventually he was found
out and committed suicide. The yacht was found empty with just the
log. So, to Bob to write the story shutting himself in a caravan
with the wind buffeting, a car battery for power was the closest
he could get.
Another time he was about to behead Adrian
Shaw (our bass player) with a sword during Assassins
of Allah / Hassan I Sahba as he threw himself into the part
a bit too dramatically.
The sword was taken away and the show went on.
Anyway, there
are loads of magic moments I can remember. So,
as long as Hawkwind play so will his contribution still continue
as we still play some of his songs. <
Dave
Brock
- taken from SOUNDS 6/11/82
>
The funny thing about Bob Calvert, is he keeps doing these really
objectional things. Like when we were playing the Hammersmith Odeon,
he turns up outside with a placard saying, 'All the money from this
show is going straight into Dave Brock's wallet', and he's walking
up and down shouting at the queue through a megaphone:
'Hawkwind are sellouts, don't go and see Hawkwind. Come and see
my show down the road'.
Then just before we are due to go on, he drops round at the stage
door, puts his placard down and comes to say 'Hello' and asks if
we want him to play.
Then when we've finished, he picks up his placard and megaphone
and goes to catch the crowds on their way out. <
taken from
Radio Clyde Broadcast - Feb. 1984
When we used to
have Bob Calvert, we used to work really well together. We used
to feed off each other. He'd give us a lot of ideas and when he
left, I found it really difficult for the past few years, because
it's very hard to feed off of everybody else... I mean, Calvert
was a real loony and he used to make me go a bit peculiar as well!
- And the same did Lemmy....
taken from
an interview by Dane Carlson Bob
was a wonderful character. He was quite a genius. He was one of
these guys who have lots of creative ideas. Obviously, good to work
with. He was up and down; sometimes he was a bit loony, but you
find anybody with creativity within themselves are a bit loony,
unstable, erratic (laughs). He got in a lot of terribly scrapes,
but he was a wonderful guy to work with. It was a sad day when he
died.
On touring with Calvert...
Yeah, he was on a downer then. He was "up" in the UK and
in Europe but when we got to America he went down the other side.
He
peaked when we were in Paris. We were playing this ice rink
in Paris to about 5,000 people and he was really on form, over the
top. He used to stride around stage with a sword, very dramatic
and totally over the top. like a Shakespearean
actor doing rock.. He was totally over the top. He would work
up to this great peak and then we went to tour America and he went
down the other side. He became so down and slow. That was the last
tour we did together. I mean, I actually gave my guitar away to
Mark S. and walked off the stage and said, "I've had enough
of this band!" That's when Simon House went and joined David
Bowie. It was just the end for us.
on
>
DAVE BROCK 
