Group X - Starfarer's Hawkwind Page

The Beatles were recording Sgt. Peppers & Barrett‘s Pink Floyd were working on Piper at the Gates
of Dawn. The Famous Cure had supported the band when they toured SF Sorrow – a show which
featured a running theme & an impressive light show (shades of The Space Ritual, perhaps?).
Later they were to tour with Led Zeppelin & live the full rock & roll lifestyle – including the
tours, the drugs & inevitable line-up changes & bust-ups.
In a few short months, 305 had made the transformation from a run-down shop into a headquarters
for the counterculture. In early 1970, the ground floor was the ‗Much Ado‘ antiques
shop. Soon it was to be the home to the market downstairs, the basement studio, Friends upstairs
and, later, Ross Granger‘s Sunflower head shop (purveyors of the usual Moroccan &
Eastern paraphernalia) & featured as the focal point for several documentaries about the
scene in the area. Even the International Times was promoting 305 as ―..a place for people to
come & rap, give us stories & get it on.‖ Frendz actively promoted local artists Brindsley
Schwarz, Mighty Baby, Chilli Willi, The Pink Fairies and, most significantly, Hawkwind. (The Sonic Assassins
was a comic strip written by Moorcock & illustrated by Jim Cawthorn for Frendz in
1971. The story featured adventures of the band.)
―We‘re going to have a Christmas party at the Roundhouse – probably on December
13th. It‘ll mean we have to charge admission so we can pay for the hire of the place, but
there‘s going to be free food, & probably free acid. Split any profits down the middle – half to the Roundhouse, & the rest
to the people who need it like IT & Friends.‖ - Nik Turner
In March 1971, Jon Trux took over as editor & re-launched the publication as Frendz but, perhaps inevitably, the dream was not to
last. Smiling Michael, a Hawkwind associate-cum-roadie, died in an accident
at the shop. He would later be immortalised on Quark, Strangeness &
Charm in Calvert‘s lament for the Portobello era, Days of the Underground
(―And some of us made it/But not Smiling Michael/His black motorcycle/Got
eaten by rust.‖) On November 21, 1971 there was a fire in the
basement. Upstairs there was a selection of locals crashed out & it was
largely through luck that one of them, known as Tiny Tony, was woken
by the sounds of neighbours trying to break down the door. Tony woke
the others & they escaped unscathed.
Mike Moorcock: ―Smiling Mike worked on Friends & sometimes
slept 'over the shop' in Portobello Rd. Late one night, stoned on
marijuana & acid, he decided to stay at Portobello Rd. but had no
key to get in. He decided to climb up the outside of the building,
305 & 307 Portobello Road, c. 1967
slipped & was impaled on the spiked area railings. He was a sweet,
good-natured guy.. Nobody 'important' but someone I liked a lot & was very sorry to lose.‖
After the fire, Frendz relocated to 307 Portobello Rd. & entered the last chapter of its existence.
Teenburger (New Worlds, Time of the Hawklords‘ HQ ), 307 Portobello Rd. W10 5TD
Jonathon Green: "Barney was an inveterate hippie. Drugs with everything. He's made an arrangement with a caff, I think the
Venus, in Golbourne Rd. He'd give them a lump of hash & every time we went there for lunch,
which was most days, they'd crumble a little over his steak & chips."
Colin Fulcher, a.k.a. Barney
Bubbles
Next door to the flourishing „Motherburger‟ was „Teenburger‟ -
another hotbed of creativity that would have an enormous effect
on the development of Hawkwind.
Colin Fulcher left Twickenham College of Art in 1963 to work
as a typographer. By 1965, Fulcher had built a distinctive portfolio
& reputation, so much so that he joined the in-vogue
Conran Group as Senior Graphic Designer, working on a variety
of projects including the iconic Norman archer logo for
Strongbow cider.
Frendz’ Sonic Assassins
comic strip
Ad for accommodation placed
by Bubbles