MICHAEL MOORCOCK & The Deep Fix – The New World’s Fair: 50th Anniversary Edition – review

MICHAEL MOORCOCK & The Deep Fix – The New World’s Fair: 50th Anniversary Edition – review
Think Like A Key Music

I discovered Hawkwind circa “Levitation”. Because I’m not that old. Followed them round on tour. Heard about this record from the olden days of 1975. No internet in those days, kids. Had devoured the Elric books as a 13 year old. Thought, I’m having that. Took a while to find a copy, and it was pricey, for me. Excitement level critical.

And it was shite. No. It was unmitigated shite. How? Look at the people involved. There’s a batch of Hawkwind lads, the not famous yet Snowy White on lead guitar, Kuma Harada, the phenomenal bass player. What the hell, man?

But of course, I was young and foolish. Writing pulp fiction about an albino Melnibonéan emperor and his soul sucking sword, and bunging a few lyrics in a Hawkwind / Blue Oyster Cult direction doesn’t make you a songwriter. Or a singer. And the other fellas involved in the songwriting are conspicuous by their absence from any other projects.

There was some depressing country psych rock, some blues, some faux glam rock, a hint of late sixties proto prog. But it just wasn’t very good. However, I’m an old man now, so when I saw this was being released with, joy of joys, bonus tracks, I looked at my disposable income and a money off code, and dived back in. Nudged along by a surprise bonus track appearance by Drachen Theaker. Crazy World of Arthur Brown, fact fans.

It’s still not very good. The packaging from Think Like A Key is fabulous, there are some excellent liner notes and photographs, even a fake obi strip. But this record could only have happened when it did. Stoned record executives and stoned musicians doing stoned things. Cheers, 1974 drug dealers. I have to admit ‘Ferris Wheel’ is a cracking tune with some peak Simon House mellotron, and I always had a penchant for the non-album single ‘Dodgem Dude’, which was glam rock done by the tramp in the woods, and which now opens the expanded album. The spoken-word narrative which tries to tie together the fairground concept is actually more annoying than I remember. Probably because I was taking a lot of speed in those days.

It only existed back then, because of Hawkwind fans. They didn’t embrace it then, and those of us still breathing and retaining some faculties won’t embrace it now. Still, it looks nice in the big box of Hawkwind, Friends & Relations stuff, teetering in the corner.

I can’t be bothered checking but, for people who like to know This Sort of Thing, I suspect it’s only the last three, 1981 recordings, that are unreleased, and which didn’t appear on the mid-nineties CD reissue.

Presumably, Think Like A Key get more money if you buy it direct – https://www.thinklikeakey.com/

Or, the Evil Empire, over in the Amazon have it.