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"Quark, Strangeness and Charm" | ||||
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Single by Hawkwind | ||||
from the album Quark, Strangeness and Charm | ||||
B-side | "The Forge of Vulcan" | |||
Released | 29 July 1977 | |||
Recorded | Rockfield Studios, February 1977 | |||
Genre | Space rock | |||
Length | 3:06 | |||
Label | Charisma Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robert Calvert/Dave Brock | |||
Producer(s) | Hawkwind | |||
Hawkwind singles chronology | ||||
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"Quark, Strangeness and Charm" is a 1977 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind, being the title track from the Quark, Strangeness and Charm album.
The title references quarks which are sub-atomic particles; "strangeness" and "charm" are playful terms used by physicists to refer to how many strange and charm quarks are within a particle. The lyrics take a humorous look at certain famous physicists' romantic failures.
It was released as a single in the UK (CB305) on 29 July 1977, being a slightly different version to the one on the album. Some European copies had a different B-side, such as Germany, which featured "The Iron Dream" instead. The single version was subsequently included on the 1980 Repeat Performance compilation album.
At the time Hawkwind shared the same management as Marc Bolan and so were given a slot on the Marc Granada Television programme to promote it. For some reason Brock declined to appear either being unwilling to drive to Manchester for the filming or because he held a long time grudge against Bolan. For the pre-recording of the music on this show, Shaw played guitar whilst Calvert mimed playing guitar during the filming. [1]
The song only briefly featured in Hawkwind's live set in 1977 with one recording surviving, released on both the Hawkwind Anthology and Weird Tape Volume 2 albums. It was briefly resurrected at the end of 1993 for the tour of the It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous album and remained until the end of 1994.
Quark, Strangeness and Charm | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | September 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1994 | |||
Genre | Space rock | |||
Label | Emergency Broadcast System Records | |||
Producer | Hawkwind | |||
Hawkwind EPs chronology | ||||
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In 1994, Hawkwind recorded a new version of the song with significant rewriting of the music. This version was also included on the album The Business Trip .
A new acoustic version of "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" was included on The Road to Utopia (2018), produced and arranged by Mike Batt with additional orchestrations. [2]
The Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel has long been an admirer of the song, stating it was "a song I'd really fucking wish I'd written". He has performed versions of the song with Three Men and Black. [3]
Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock. They are also regarded as an influential proto-punk band. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes.
Robert Newton Calvert was a South African writer, poet, and musician. He is principally known for his role as lyricist, performance poet and lead vocalist of the space rock band Hawkwind.
Levitation is the tenth studio album by English rock group Hawkwind, released in 1980. It peaked at No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart.
In Search of Space is the second studio album from Hawkwind, released in 1971. It reached No. 18 on the UK album charts.
Quark, Strangeness and Charm is the seventh studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1977. It spent six weeks on the UK albums chart peaking at number 30.
PXR5 is the ninth studio album by Hawkwind, released in 1979. It reached No. 59 on the UK album charts.
Live Seventy Nine is a 1980 live album by Hawkwind recorded on their Winter 1979 tour. It reached #15 on the UK album chart.
The Business Trip is a 1994 live album by the English space rock group Hawkwind. It was recorded at the Slough gig of the group's 1993 tour to promote the It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous album.
Palace Springs is a 1991 live/studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind.
The Weird Tapes are a set of music tapes by the English rock group Hawkwind. Issued in the early 1980s, they contain live, radio sessions, out-take and demo performances.
Take Me to Your Future is the twenty fifth studio/live album produced under the Hawkwind name, a 2006 dual disc of new studio audio and archive live videos by Hawkwind.
Choose Your Masques is the thirteenth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1982. It spent five weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 29.
Spirit of the Age is a 1988 compilation album by the British space rock group Hawkwind covering their Charisma Records period 1976–1979. It was issued by Virgin Records after they had acquired the Charisma catalogue, to test whether there was a viable market for the Hawkwind albums included in the deal. There was, and the company then re-issued each of the four albums the following year as part of the Compact price series.
Live Chronicles is a 1986 album by Hawkwind recorded of a live performance of their The Chronicle of the Black Sword concept album based on the Michael Moorcock character Elric of Melniboné.
Alien 4 is the twentieth studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind, released in 1995.
Out and Intake is a 1987 live/studio album by the English space rock group Hawkwind.
"Silver Machine" is a 1972 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind. It was originally released as a single on 9 June 1972, reaching number three on the UK singles chart. The single was re-issued in 1976, again in 1978 reaching number 34 on the UK singles charts, and once again in 1983 reaching number 67 on the UK singles charts. The original mix has been re-released on the remasters version of In Search of Space.
Space Ritual are a British space rock band, formed in 2000 fronted by Nik Turner, and composed principally of former Hawkwind members. They play a mix of early Hawkwind material and their own compositions.
Spirit of the Age is a 1977 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind. It was originally recorded and issued on the album Quark, Strangeness and Charm.
Spirit of the Age and The Dream Goes On are two triple CD anthologies released in 2008 covering the periods 1976-84 and 1985-97 of the British rock group Hawkwind.