View source for Silver Machine

{{short description|1972 song by Hawkwind}}
{{For|the construction in set theory|Silver machine}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Silver Machine
| cover      = HawkwindSilverMachine72Single.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Hawkwind]]
| album      =
| B-side     = Seven By Seven
| released   = 9 June 1972
| recorded   = 13 February 1972
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Space rock]]
| length     = 4:39
| label      = [[United Artists Records|United Artists]]
| writer     = [[Robert Calvert|R.Calvert]], [[Sylvia McManus]]
| producer   = [[Dave Brock|Dr Technical]]
| prev_title = [[Hurry on Sundown]]
| prev_year  = 1970
| next_title = [[Urban Guerrilla]]
| next_year  = 1973
| misc       = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|o5e79w_2mxY|"Silver Machine"}}}} 
}}

"'''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]]''.

==The single==
{{Listen
|filename=Hawkwind_SilverMachine.ogg
|title=Hawkwind – "Silver Machine"
|description=28 seconds (of 4:39)}}

"Silver Machine" was recorded live at a Greasy Truckers benefit gig at [[The Roundhouse]], London on 13 February 1972 and this version was released on the various artists compilation album ''[[Glastonbury Fayre (album)|Glastonbury Fayre]]'' and the 2007 box set of ''[[Greasy Truckers Party]]''. Overdubs were applied and mixing took place at Morgan Studios with Douglas Smith and [[Stiff records|Dave Robinson]] overseeing the process. Dave Brock took production credits using an alias of Dr Technical. The sleeve was designed by [[Barney Bubbles]] (uncredited). [[Stacia]] appears prominently in the music video.

===Personnel===
*[[Robert Calvert]] – vocals
*[[Dave Brock]] – guitar, vocals
*[[Nik Turner]] – saxophone, [[flute]], vocals
*[[Lemmy Kilmister]] – bass guitar, vocals
*[[Dik Mik]] (Michael Davies) – Synthesizer
*[[Del Dettmar]] – Synthesizer
*[[Simon King (musician)|Simon King]] – drums

===Music===
The writing credit on the single is Robert Calvert and Sylvia MacManus.<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikegerrish/4538382136 ''United Artists Music Ltd - Words & Music by Bob Calvert and S. MacManus'']</ref> MacManus was Dave Brock’s then wife Sylvia whose name Brock used in order to put pressure on his publishing company to improve his deal.<ref>''The Saga of Hawkwind'' (pp98-99), Carol Clerk</ref> The verse is an eight-bar [[rock and roll]] boogie whose riff is an adaption of the standard riff that can be heard on the likes of [[Johnny and the Hurricanes]]' "[[Red River Valley (song)#Other cultural references|Red River Rock]]" ({{audio|JohnnyAndTheHurricanes_RedRiverRock.ogg|sample}}).

<blockquote>[The Greasy Truckers] was about my third gig, and I didn't know what I was doing. I hadn't done any rehearsals and I thought that Silver Machine was a Chuck Berry number – really. – Simon King<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/skap0175.html ''Sounds'', January 1975] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315192010/http://www.starfarer.net/skap0175.html |date=15 March 2012 }}</ref></blockquote>

===Vocals and lyrics===
The lyrics were written by Robert Calvert and he sang the lead vocal on the original live recording. However, the vocals were considered too weak ({{audio|Hawkwind_SilverMachine-Live.ogg|sample}}) for the single release so they were re-recorded in the studio. Calvert, who suffered from [[bi-polar disorder]], had been [[Involuntary commitment|sectioned]] at the time so was unavailable to attempt another version, and the lead vocals were eventually recorded by Lemmy:

<blockquote>[Calvert's] vocal was fucking hopeless, but he never realised it. That's how mad he was. It sounded like Captain Kirk reading 'Blowing in the Wind'. They tried everybody singing it except me. Then, as a last shot, Douglas said, 'Try Lemmy'. And I did it in one take or two.<ref>''The Saga of Hawkwind'' (pp97-98), Carol Clerk</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>Lemmy just had the best voice for it. Of course, Bob was not pleased when he found out. – Douglas Smith<ref>[http://www.starfarer.net/intvw999.html ''Mojo'', September 1999] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314035625/http://www.starfarer.net/intvw999.html |date=14 March 2012 }}</ref></blockquote>

The lyrics are a send-up of space travel, inspired by the [[Alfred Jarry]] essay ''How to Construct a Time Machine'' which Calvert interpreted as a description of how to build a bicycle:
[[File:Jarry velo.jpg|thumb|Jarry in Alfortville]]
<blockquote>I read this essay by Alfred Jarrey {{sic}} called, "How to Construct a Time Machine", and I noticed something which I don't think anyone else has thought of because I've never seen any criticism of the piece to suggest this. I seemed to suss out immediately that what he was describing was his bicycle. He did have that turn of mind. He was the kind of bloke who'd think it was a good joke to write this very informed sounding piece, full of really good physics (and it has got some proper physics in it), describing how to build a time machine, which is actually about how to build a bicycle, buried under this smoke-screen of physics that sounds authentic. Jarrey got into doing this thing called '[['pataphysics|Petaphysics]]' {{sic}}, which is a sort of French joke science. A lot of notable French intellectuals formed an academy around the basic idea of coming up with theories to explain the exceptions to the Laws of the Universe, people like Ionesco the playwright. The College of Metaphysics. I thought it was a great idea for a song. At that time there were a lot of songs about space travel, and it was the time when NASA was actually, really doing it. They'd put a man on the moon and were planning to put parking lots and hamburger stalls and everything up there. I thought that it was about time to come up with a song that actually sent this all up, which was 'Silver Machine'. 'Silver Machine' was just to say, I've got a silver bicycle, and nobody got it. I didn't think they would. I thought that what they would think we were singing about some sort of cosmic space travel machine. I did actually have a silver racing bike when I was a boy. I've got one now, in fact. – Robert Calvert<ref>''Cheesecake'' No. 5, April 1981</ref></blockquote>

===''Top of the Pops''===
Hawkwind have very rarely appeared on television, but the success of the single necessitated an appearance on the BBC chart show ''[[Top of the Pops]]''. However, the group felt ill at ease at the prospect of miming a performance in front of a studio audience who didn't represent their following, so a compromise was reached with the BBC recording the band performing live at Dunstable Civic Hall on 7 July 1972, this clip being shown with the single version dubbed over it.

===Discography===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Single format
!Silver Machine
!Seven By Seven
!Notes
|-
|1972
|7-inch
|Original mix – 45UP35381 A-1U
|Original mix – 45UP35381 B-1U
|Winged monkey in clockwork sleeve
|-
|1976
|7-inch
|[[Roadhawks]] version – UP35381
|Remix – UP35381 (available on ''[[Stasis (The UA Years 1971–1975)|Stasis]]'')
|
|-
|1978
|7-inch
|Roadhawks version – UP35381 A-4
|[[Space Ritual]] version – UP35381 B-4
|Black [[Doremi Fasol Latido|Doremi]] shield on white background
|-
|1978
|12-inch
|Original mix – 12UP35381 A-1U
|Remix – 12UP35381 B-2U
|Silver foil sleeve with embossed Doremi shield
|-
|1983
|7-inch
|Roadhawks version – UP35381
|Space Ritual version – UP35381
|White Doremi shield on black background
|-
|1983
|7-inch pic disc
|Roadhawks version – UP35381 A-4
|Space Ritual version – UP35381 B-4
|White Doremi shield on black background
|-
|1983
|12-inch
|Original mix – 12UP35381 A-1-1
|Remix – 12UP35381 B-1-1
|White Doremi shield on black background
|}

===Chart performance===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}

====Weekly charts====
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1972–1973)
!Peak<br>position
|-
!scope="row"|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref>
|81
|-
{{singlechart|Austria|9|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Belgium (Wallonia)|43|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Germany|6|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|songid=248|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Ireland2|17|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Dutch40|15|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Dutch100|14|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|Switzerland|1|artist=Hawkwind|song=Silver Machine|rowheader=true}}
|-
{{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|3|artist=Hawkwind|rowheader=true}}
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1978)
!Peak<br>position
|-
{{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|34|artist=Hawkwind|rowheader=true}}
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1983)
!Peak<br>position
|-
{{singlechart|UKsinglesbyname|86|artist=Hawkwind|rowheader=true}}
|}
{{col-2}}

====Year-end charts====
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1972)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>{{cite web|title=Swiss Year-End Charts 1972|website=www.swisscharts.com|url=http://swisscharts.com/charts/jahreshitparade/1972|accessdate=6 September 2020}}</ref>
|8
|-
!scope="row"|UK Singles<ref>{{Cite web|title=Top 100 1972 - UK Music Charts|url=http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1972.shtml|access-date=2020-09-06|website=www.uk-charts.top-source.info}}</ref> 
|29
|}
{{col-end}}

==Other versions==
===BBC sessions===
A version was recorded at Maida Vale Studios, London on 2 August 1972 for broadcast on the [[Johnnie Walker (DJ)|Johnnie Walker]] show on the 14th, "Brainstorm" also being part of the session. These two recordings have subsequently been included on the 2010 EMI release ''[[BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Hawkwind album)|Hawkwind: At the BBC – 1972]]''.<ref name="ATTHEBBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.esounds.com/esounds/EN/Details.aspx?ProductID=M5099960992925&VariantID=5099960992925 |title=Hawkwind – Hawkwind: At The BBC – 1972 |work=[[EMI]] |author=esounds |accessdate=17 February 2010}}</ref> The song was also recorded live at the Paris Cinema, London on 28 September 1972 as part of the hour-long ''In Concert'' series broadcast. This full concert was released in mono in 1991 as ''[[BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Hawkwind album)|BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert]]'', and in mono and stereo in 2010 as ''Hawkwind: At the BBC – 1972''.<ref name="ATTHEBBC" />

On 3 December 2007, [[Cleopatra Records]] in the USA issued a limited edition of 500 10-inch vinyl EPs consisting of both BBC versions of "Silver Machine", the live version as the A-side and the session version as the B-side.

On 14 November 2019, the group recorded a session for [[Marc Riley]]'s [[BBC Radio]] [[BBC Radio 6 Music|6 Music]] show, playing "65 Million Years Ago", "Last Man on Earth", "[[Spirit of the Age]]" and "Silver Machine".<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC Radio 6 Music - Marc Riley, Hawkwind Live In Session|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b6nd|author=BBC|author-link=BBC|accessdate=4 December 2019}}</ref>

===Live versions===
The song has sporadically been played live by the band. Its first re-appearance is on the 1980 live album ''[[Live Seventy Nine]]'', but it explodes after a minute and is suffixed with "(requiem)" in Brock's attempt at laying the song to rest, sick of having to play their "hit single". Further live versions have been released, most notably a version on the 2002 live album ''[[Canterbury Fayre 2001]]'' with vocals by [[Arthur Brown (musician)|Arthur Brown]].

Lemmy continued to make guests appearances with the band when their paths crossed. Some live versions of the song on which Lemmy appeared include ''[[The Friday Rock Show Sessions]]'' from the [[Reading Festival]] 24 August 1986 and [[Motörhead]]'s ''[[Stone Deaf Forever!]]'' boxset from [[Wembley Arena]] 19 October 2002.

===10th anniversary===
{{Infobox song
| name       = Silver Machine
| cover      =
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Hawkwind]]
| album      = [[Choose Your Masques]]
| B-side     = Psychedelic Warlords
| released   = 27 August 1982
| recorded   = mid-1982
| studio     = Rockfield Studios
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Space rock]]
| length     =
| label      = [[Active Records|RCA/Active]]
| writer     = [[Robert Calvert|R.Calvert]], Sylvia MacManus
| producer   = Pat Moran, [[Hawkwind]]
| prev_title = Angels of Death
| prev_year  = 1981
| next_title = Night of the Hawk
| next_year  = 1984
}}
In 1982, the band recorded a new studio version of the song which received general release on 7-inch record and 7-inch picture disk by [[Active Records|RCA/Active]] (RCA267, 27 August 1982). The B-side was a 33 RPM [[extended play]] featuring the full 7:25 version and a new version of "[[Psychedelic Warlords]]" with a [[Huw Lloyd-Langton]] vocal.

Receiving criticism over the release, Brock defended their actions: "It was only done as a tenth anniversary thing, and wasn't supposed to come out just as a picture disc. That was RCA's decision, and I didn't like it one bit. The only reason we cut it was as a special souvenir."<ref>[http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/_hwpress/hw19821100k.html Kerrang, 1982] – The Strange Saga of Hawkwind</ref>

In addition to the single release, the record company included it on the ''[[Choose Your Masques]]'' album, leaving Marion Lloyd-Langton to complain: "[Huw and I] actually had three tracks for the Masques album, but RCA insisted that Silver Machine went on, so the third track was dropped; pity about that."<ref>Orbit 4, June 1983: Huw Lloyd-Langton interview</ref>

===Remixes===
*[[Utah Saints]] version for the 1996 album ''[[Future Reconstructions - Ritual of the Solstice]]''.
*[[Jimi Cauty]] version for a single and the 1999 album ''[[Epocheclipse|Epocheclipse – 30 Year Anthology]]''.
*Richard Chadwick version for the album ''[[The Hawkwind Remix Project]]''.
*[[Dave Brock]] version for the 2006 album ''[[Take Me to Your Future]]''.

==Uses==
Joel Veitch has used it for his Stephen Hawkwind sketch on his [http://www.rathergood.com/ ''Rather Good Videos''] Channel 4 show.

The song has been used for two different UK television advertising campaigns: Mazda cars in 2000 and Red Square alcopops in 2004 ([http://www.halewood-int.com/redsquare_silver.wmv preview]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}).
<!-- *Oxford Speedway [http://www.oxford-speedway.com/] used the song as a build up to the final heat. -->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061003015900/http://www.kadu.demon.co.uk/pages/hawksilvermachine.html Jon's Attic] – Press reviews

{{Hawkwind}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hawkwind songs]]
[[Category:1972 singles]]
[[Category:1976 singles]]
[[Category:1978 singles]]
[[Category:1982 singles]]
[[Category:United Artists Records singles]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Songs written by Robert Calvert]]
[[Category:Songs about spaceflight]]
[[Category:Songs about bicycles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Pat Moran]]
[[Category:1972 songs]]