Simon King Accolades

Here are some of the other comments I've had, heard or seen about Simon King and his drumming:

"...a very good drummer. Highly rated." Dave Brock, HW, radio interview in early Eighties.

"... a brilliant drummer - quite unique..." Steve Swindells (HW 1978-9)

"... the pile-driving drumming of Simon King" Melody Maker, mid-70s

"I always enjoyed performing with the band when Simon was the drummer. I enjoyed his company and liked his mind-set. We used to see quite a lot of each other during the early seventies... and I was sorry we lost touch after he left the band. He was, of course, on our New Worlds Fair (Deep Fix) album and enhanced it considerably. If ever we get the Deep Fix re-formed, we'll try to persuade Simon to come back and drum for us! I always enjoyed travelling, playing and having a good time with Simon." Michael Moorcock (famous SF writer and occasional HW performer)

"Drummer Simon King must have a stand-in... or the drums play themselves; to sustain such energy and tightness throughout this double album (Space Ritual) is indeed astounding." Gary Sperrazza!, Strait, 15 November 1973

"And down in the engine room, in place of booster rockets, lurked the most amphetamine-fuelled rhythm section ever heard along the interstellar spaceways. You have to race forward warp-speed almost 30 years to the launch-pad powersurge of 'Speed Guru' from Japan's Acid Mothers Temple before you hear anything that multiplies the G-force as effectively as the combined muscle of Simon King and Lemmy." Dr. Robinson Kane, Record Collector, May 2002

"It's hard to ignore the vital contribution made to Hawkwind by Simon King. Whilst he may not play with the obvious flash of a Cobham, Simon has a perfect understanding of the need for driving rhythms and swift, intricate fill-ins, which, on examination, reveal the work of a very fine drummer indeed." UK music paper, 1974

"The simple basis of each passage was gripped by... Simon's immaculate drumming..." John Walker, UK music paper, 1973

"...Simon King helps too. Now the sole drummer in the band, he just gets down and plays engine houses, relying on nuclear fuel to do its best - he really is a very good drummer." Gary Cooper, UK music paper, 1978

"...laying launch pads like Werner Von Braun..." Bob Edmunds, NME, 1974

"...sheer power..." London Evening Post, 1976

"Yea verily, and the God of Rhythm heard the pleas of the people, and forsooth he bestowed upon them monster drummer Simon King and animal bass-masher Ian "Lemmy" Kilminster, and it was damn good and the people rejoiced" J Eric Smith, The Blanga guide

"...mighty drumming power..." Paul Keough

"...the greatest rock drummer ever." Peter Moltesen

"I saw Hawkwind many times in the 70's, pre-punk, Hawkwind made up 90% of of my listening hours. When punk arrived everyone raved about the energy and the spirit, well, having listened to the Simon King-powered Hawkwind for the previous 4 years I enjoyed the spirit, but the energy was nothing new to me.. the sight of Simon's silver kit at the back of the stage during numerous interminable support acts was the sign that soon... very soon... everything was gonna be alright. Like Hawkwind itself, I have never been the same since." Steve Pond

"I have written of my growing disenchantment with post-Lemmy HW too many times here... but the era with Lemmy in the band, and the non-conformist if not, um, 'revolutionary' attitude they seemed to project, had a great deal in my leaving home the day after I turned 18 to play rock music on my own... and much later, in the tres unreal das ludicroix, to enjoy drumming in 'Simon King mode'. And once I figured it out, it wasnt so much what he did but the authority with which he did it." Larry Boyd

"... the definitive rock drumming of Simon King..." Gary Cooper, UK music magazine, 1977

"...Simon King has a great groove, you always get the feeling that he is not going to make round the kit in one of his long two stroke rolls in time, there is a sense of danger in his playing. Yet he is also very precise, the groove he lays down on Psychedelic Warlords is a good example. Anyway the trick in a good drummer is how he makes the listener feel...so he must be a 'great' drummer....! Jim Roberts

and finally, "...tall, dark and handsome..." NME annual 1972 and "...charming and elegant..." NME, also 1972....8-))