Simon House obit

Former Hawkwind and David Bowie violinist and keyboardist Simon House has died, aged 76

House also featured in early prog bands High Tide and Third Ear Band before joining Hawkwind in 1974 

He was not on the list.

Simon House, former keyboardist and violinist for Hawkwind and member of David Bowie’s live band, has died, aged 76. The news was broken by his daughter Holly on Sunday (25 May).

Born in Nottingham on 29 August 1948, House was a classically trained violinist who married effortless technique with boundary-pushing sonic exploration, and is also one of the great unsung keyboardists of the progressive ‘70s.

Moving to London in the ‘60s, he quickly embedded himself in the countercultural scene of Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove. The first band of note he joined was High Tide, a post-psychedelic/proto-prog outfit formed by ex-Misunderstood guitarist Tony Hill. House was playing bass when he first drifted into the band’s circle, but Hill encouraged him to switch to violin instead. Electrified and pushed through a variety of effects, House’s playing was imbued with a wailing power, and became a defining part of High Tide’s sound.

High Tide were a Clearwater band and regularly played shows around west London, one of which, at the All Saints Church Hall on 29 August 1969 (House’s 21st birthday), was famously gatecrashed by the band that would go on to become Hawkwind. House recorded two albums with High Tide, Sea Shanties and High Tide, before the band broke up. He then became a member of the Third Ear Band, and played on the soundtrack album the group recorded for Roman Polanski’s film of Macbeth. While violin was still his main instrument, House had also started playing keyboards as well, including the VCS3 synth.

When Hawkwind’s synth player Del Dettmar announced his intention to leave the band at the end of 1973, House was recruited to take his place. With Dettmar not officially leaving until June 1974, House spent his first few months in the background, making occasional contributions on stage and tagging along as part of the band’s entourage during their ‘1999 Party’ tour of America.

But by the time that Hawkwind went into Olympic studios in May 1974 to record Hall Of The Mountain Grill, House was a fully-fledged member and immediately made his presence felt. Whereas Hawkwind had previously been renowned for their crunching, deep space riffarama, House brought a new sophistication to their sound, from the faux-classical drama of Wind Of Change to the elegant pocket symphony of the album’s title track, House’s first writing credit with the band.

But it was on 1975’s Warrior On The Edge Of Time that House really came into his own, his sweeping Mellotron, coiling synths and Banshee violin bringing the fantastical concept behind the album to life, creating the aural equivalent of reading one of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion novels. It also featured another House-penned instrumental, Spiral Galaxy 28948, his birthday slightly mixed up.