Steve Swindells (born 21 November 1952) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboardist, party organizer, club promoter and journalist.

Life and career

Early life

Swindells grew up in the Bath and Bristol area,

dropping out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

of art college to play keyboards with the rock ban
Squidd
(which was put together by drummer and fantasy artist,

Rodney Matthews Rodney Matthews (born 6 July 1945) is a British illustrator and conceptual designer of fantasy and science-fiction. Career Trained at the West of England College of Art, Matthews worked in advertising for Plastic Dog Graphics before turni ...

). Relocating to London in 1973 and living in squats, he recorded his debut solo album, ''

Messages A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

'' for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

in 1974. Produced by his manager Mark Edwards, Swindells felt the production quality to be poor, despite the presence of quality musicians.Swindells, Steve (2009). ''Messages'' (CD sleeve notes). London: Esoteric. ECLEC2163. A follow up album ''Swindells' Swallow'' was recorded, mastered and test pressings manufactured, but the deal fell through. Departed from his manager, Swindells joined Pilot, recording the 1977 album ''Two's a Crowd''. In 1978 he joined a reformed

Hawkwind 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 ha ...

, renamed as

Hawklords Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, (Robert Calvert – vocals, Dave Brock – guitar and Simon King – drums) and a local Devon group named Ar ...

, for the ''

25 Years On ''25 Years On'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Hawkwind, released in 1978. The band released it under the name "Hawklords" for legal reasons, as there was a dispute over ownership of the name "Hawkwind" at the time. It reac ...

'' album and tour.

1980s

In 1980 he recorded another solo album, '' Fresh Blood'', released by

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

, but was dropped when it failed to hit sufficient sales, despite reaching No. 3 in the US airplay charts. Swindells would go on contribute songs to

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...

on "Martyrs and Madmen" and "Treachery" for Daltrey's 1982 compilation album ''Best Bits'', before temporarily turning his attention away from the music business. In 1983, Swindells switched careers to club promoting and party organising.

1990s

In the early 1990s, he decided to re-invent himself as a journalist, writing the internet column for ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' under the name Spyder for many years, as well as a gadget/lifestyle colourmn for ''

Attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a prop ...

'', before becoming the editor of the magazine's website. Throughout his career changes, Swindells continued to compose and perform music.

2000s

In 2003, Swindells played keyboards and sang lead vocals in the band Danmingo together with Jerry Richards, Jon Moss and Winston Blissett. Swindells wrote all of the songs, apart from two band collaborations and one co-write with Stephen Meade (aka Shanks) and the late Kent Brainerd. As of 10 December 2013, Swindells had been number 1 on the Reverb Nation Singer-songwriter Chart For London for several days. He then released the double download ''DanMingo'' album under his own name. In 2009, Swindells was instrumental in the formation (or reformation) of the

, a musical collective of ex-

members, playing a special show in memory of artist

Barney Bubbles Barney Bubbles (born Colin Fulcher; 30 July 1942 – 14 November 1983) was an English graphic artist whose work encompassed graphic design and music video direction. Bubbles, who also sketched and painted privately, is best known for his distinc ...

. The show was advertised as a benefit concert 'with a view to setting up a foundation/annual award for innovative album cover design, and a memorial plaque for him'. However, there is no evidence that the proceeds of the concert were used for any of these purposes.

2010–present

In 2010, Hawklords performed a mini tour of the UK. In 2011, the group were active in several appearances across the UK, and a touring line-up underwent a full national tour in October 2011. In 2012, they announced they were working on an album, titled ''We Are One''. In May 2012, via the band's Facebook page, it was announced that, due to health reasons, Swindells would not be participating in the planned 2012 tour and he subsequently terminated his involvement with the band. Swindells re-discovered two 'lost' albums from 1980: ''The Invisible Man'', and ''Treachery''. They were released on Flicknife Records on 27 February 2012. His 1980 album ''Fresh Blood'' was released on CD for the first time with the label Atomhenge/ Cherry Red in August 2009. His 1974 album ''Messages'', along with a bonus CD of the hitherto unreleased ''Swindells' Swallow'', was re-released by Esoteric Recordings/Atomhenge on 26 November 2009. Early in 2012, Swindells put together an ad-hoc, 'all star' jamming band called The Plastic Sturgeons. Special guest musicians have included

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

and Dale Davis. There have only been two gigs to date which were recorded by Roy Weard. As of 10 December 2013, The Plastic Sturgeons have been number 1 in The Reverb Nation London Jam Chart for several weeks.

Discography

As solo artist

*''

'' (1974) *'' Fresh Blood'' (1980) * ''The Lost Albums'' (Double CD) (released 27 February 2012 on Flicknife Records). * ''New Crescent Yard'' (2011) * ''The Hanging Baskets Of Babylon'' * ''DanMingo''

With Pilot

*''Two's a Crowd'' (1977)

With Hawklords

*''

'' (1978) *'' Weird Tape 1'' (1980) *'' Weird Tape 2'' (1980) *'' Weird Tape 4'' (1981) *'' Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 1'' (1982) *'' Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 3'' (1985) *'' Hawkwind Anthology Volume 1'' (1985) *'' Hawkwind Anthology Volume 2'' (1986) *'' Hawklords Live'' (1992) *'' Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Volume 6'' (1996) *''

Levitation Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact. Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...

'' 2009 re-master (first 5 bonus tracks on disc 1) (2009) *'' Live '78'' (2009)

With The Hawklords

*''Robert Calvert Memorial Concert'', Kings Hall, Herne Bay, 28 September 2008 (2009) *''Sonic Rock Solstice 2010'' (various artists) (2010) *''Barney Bubbles Memorial Concert'' (2011) *''We Are One'' (2012)

Other album appearances

*Capdevielle ''Les Enfants Des Ténèbres Et Les Anges De La Rue'' (1979) *

Spirits Burning Spirits Burning is a musical collective that features musicians associated with space rock and progressive rock, including input from members of Blue Öyster Cult, Clearlight, Gong, and Hawkwind. Spirits Burning is overseen by American composer/ ...

& Bridget Wishart ''Earth Born'' (2008) *

& Bridget Wishart ''Bloodlines'' (2009)

References

External links

*
Steve Swindells discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Steve Swindells discography, album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Steve Swindells albums to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swindells, Steve Living people 1952 births 20th-century English singers 20th-century pianists 21st-century English singers 21st-century pianists English keyboardists English rock pianists English songwriters Hawkwind members musicians from Ipswich English gay musicians British LGBT singers LGBT songwriters Rock songwriters English rock singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people