Good News for Hawkwind fans!

Hawkwind's back-catalogue from 1976 has been bought up by Cherry Red Records - good news for all fans of the band who have been struggling to get some of those releases on CD! This is the announcement from Cherry Red, owners of Esoteric:-

"Cherry Red records and their imprint Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the acquisition of the entire HAWKWIND catalogue released between 1976 and 1997. The deal brings every Hawkwind album from "Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music" to "Distant Horizon", together with all singles, EPs and associated master tapes to the Cherry Red group who now hold full exclusive rights on these recordings for the world. The acquisition, undertaken with the full agreement of all past and present members of Hawkwind who appear on the recordings, also sees the launch of a new Cherry Red label, Atomhenge, upon which the catalogue will be reissued in full over the next eighteen months. Atomhenge will be managed by the team behind Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint.

Atomhenge label manager Mark Powell said; 'The acquisition of the majority of Hawkwind's catalogue by Cherry Red is an exciting development. Hawkwind are arguably one of the most important and enduring British bands and their musical heritage is of considerable importance in terms of the history of British rock. The band has been cited as an influence by successive generations of musicians and to be given the chance to present Hawkwind's recorded work in the manner it deserves is a privilege". Among the albums brought to the label as part of the deal are many classic albums such as "Quark, Strangeness and Charm", "25 Years On", "Live Seventy Nine", "Levitation", "Sonic Attack", "Choose Your Masques", "Chronicle of the Black Sword" through to more recent works such as "Alien 4", "Love in Space" and "Distant Horizon". All of these albums willbe released as expanded remastered editions on the Atomhenge label over the next eighteen months and will include previously unreleased bonus material as all the associated master tapes form part of this acquisition. Cherry Red managing director, Adam Velasco added; "Most of this material has been unavailable officially on CD for a number of years and it is our intention to make the forthcoming releases definitive editions in terms of audio remastering (from the original master tapes), content and packaging". To begin the Hawkwind catalogue campaign, Atomhenge will be releasing two newly remastered 3CD anthologies compiled from albums and singles covering the periods 1976 to 1984 and 1985 to 1997 on November 3rd 2008 as a precursor to the reissuing of the Hawkwind catalogue which will commence in stages at the beginning of 2009. A further announcement about plans for the cataloguewill follow in September when the anthology series track listings will be finalised. "