Michael Moorcock

Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939) is a prolific British writer of both science fiction and science fantasy. He has also published a number of literary novels. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at only sixteen, later moving on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the New Wave in the UK and indirectly in the U.S. His serialisation of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.

Musical interests

He has also collaborated with the British rock band Hawkwind on many occasions: the Hawkwind track "The Black Corridor", for example, included verbatim quotes from Moorcock's novel of the same name, and he also worked with the band on their album Warrior on the Edge of Time. Moorcock also penned the lyrics to "Sonic Attack", a SF send-up of the public information broadcast, that was part of the Space Ritual set.

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Moorcock also collaborated with former Hawkwind frontman and resident poet, Robert Calvert (who gave the chilling declamation of "Sonic Attack"),

Related Topics:
Hawkwind - Robert Calvert

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on Calvert's albums Lucky Leif and the Longships and Hype.

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An album The New Worlds Fair by "Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix" was released in 1975, which included a number of Hawkwind regulars in the credits. A second version of the album "Roller Coaster Holiday" was issued in 2004. ("The Deep Fix" was the title story of an obscure collection of short stories by "James Colvin" published in the 1960s).

Related Topics:
1975 - 2004 - 1960s

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Moorcock wrote the lyrics to three album tracks by the American band Blue Oyster Cult: "Black Blade", referring to the sword Stormbringer in the Elric books, "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars", showing us Elric's emotions at a critical point of his story (this song may also refer to the "Warriors at the Edge of Time", which figure heavily in Moorcock's novels about John Daker; at one point his novel "The Dragon in the Sword" they call themselves the "veterans of a thousand psychic wars"), and "The Great Sun Jester", about his friend, the poet Bill Butler, who died of a drug overdose. Moorcock has even performed live with BÖC (in 1987 at the Atlanta, GA Dragon Con Convention) and Hawkwind.

Related Topics:
Blue Oyster Cult - Elric - Dragon Con

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