Robert Calvert - Hype
#393
September 8 1981
Robert Calvert
Hype
Genre: New Wave/Rock
3.75 out of 5
Highlights:
Over My Head
Evil Rock
I’ve always been mixed on Hawkwind. I’m not really sure how to pigeonhole them and that’s a good thing, I suppose, but I have been putting this record off because of them. Honestly, it’s been sitting there and, instead of listening to 10 records in 3 days I’ve avoided anything on the list for about a week because I know that this record was next.
I have been pleasantly surprised. I shouldn’t have waited for this foray into early 80s New Wave Space Rock.
But let’s talk about something else.
A few years ago I read a book called “The Alternative Hero” by rock drummer Tim Thornton. He was in a band called Fink and I know nothing about them but I was sort of impressed that he had done both. I don’t know why. But, lately, I’ve noticed that this is a thing. Greg Kihn is a novelist. That was news to me. Even Rick Springfield jumped into the novel writing gravy train.
Why bring this up? This record is a concept record that pairs with Calvert’s only novel, Hype. And let’s not forget that Michael Moorcock, a novelist who played occasionally with Hawkwind, appears on this record, too.
I’ve never been able to follow along the story on concept records. It’s a failing of mine. However, I imagine the story is pretty well told, since Calvert’s adapting his own novel unlike that junk record we heard by Camel this year.
At times it actually bashes (“Over My Head” “Sensitive”, which sounds like a song Lou Reed should study) and Calvert’s nervous warble voice is a style I actually love. It’ll make a comeback on Ima Robot’s debut which songs like “Ambitious” must have gotten a few spins in those guys’ homes.
