Was Hawkwind the first “space rock” band? Twink, part-time drummer for both the Pink Fairies and Hawkwind, says it was the Pink Fairies. In any case, both bands blazed the space-rock trail. The Round House, a disused railway station in North London was the birthplace of space rock, and Hawkwind played at many huge “happenings” there. This book follows the band’s many member changes, ongoing live shows, influence on a flood of space bands (including Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd with “Instellar Overdrive”) and discusses questions about atmosphere, lyrics and what qualifies as space rock. Other bands and their influences on space rock and ambient music are mentioned as well: Amon Düül, Gong, Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, Eno, Legendary Pink Dots, to name but a few. The book ends up with a discussion of current space projects such as new Hawkwind/Nik Turner solo projects and Steve Hillage from Gong, and his involvement with The Orb. Includes a huge discography. DW

Publisher: Cleopatra
Paperback: 147 pages
Illustrated

Toys and games, etc., based on characters from ‘60s and ‘70s TV shows. The book is chock-full of pictures of cult toys from shows like The Munsters, Star Trek (of course!) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and tells what the toys are worth today in three separate collectible conditions: mint, excellent, good. Complete with names of collectors, toy dealers’ and fan club addresses, and online collecting info. DW

Publisher: Krause
Paperback: 224 pages
Illustrated

Hot rod music from 1961 to 1965, with a massive amount of photos. Every page has some cool poster, 45 label or LP cover of that era. All the popular bands of the time are included: Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, the Hondells, Davie Allen and the Arrows, et al.—as well as obscure favorites like Jekyll and Hyde’s “Dracula’s Drag” b/w “Frankenstein Meets the Beatles.” Contains a huge index and bitchin’ glossary of hot rod slang terms. This book illustrates the overlap of the surf and hot-rod genres. DW

Publisher: Popular Culture Ink
Hardback: 184 pages
Illustrated

Two eyeballs are the logo for this famous racing-car parts company of the ‘50s and ‘60s, and all the hot rods and race cars of the time could be seen sporting the two eyed decal of Moon Equipment. Dean Moon started by building hot rods behind the family restaurant (Moon Cafe) at a young age. He began hanging out at the Hula-Hut Drive-in in Whittier where the Hutters hot-rod club started, and became a member. Hot rodders from all around L.A. would go there to learn speed secrets from Moon, and eventually he officially opened shop behind the cafe, and Moon Automotive was born. With his brother Buzz he started tuning cars for money, then began working on a line of high performance car parts such as a first big seller the Moon aluminum racing fuel tank. Other big sellers were a foot-shaped gas pedal and the famous Moon disc wheel covers. In 1957, Moon had a Disney commercial artist draw the eyes as we know them today. Then, in the early ‘60s, he started on a series of race cars for which the Moon name would become immortal. DW

Publisher: Classic Motorbooks
Paperback: 128 pages
Illustrated

Normally I don’t like to see a police car at all, but this book is the best way to see them, in photographs. Covers the entire history of the police car, from horse-drawn patrol carriages to present-day cars with many detailed black-and-white photos. Quite a few limited-edition vehicles, as well as a Ferrari said to be “donated” by (i.e., confiscated from) local drug dealers in San Mateo, CA. Some motorcycles too. DW

Publisher: Krause
Paperback: 304 pages
Illustrated

The most absurd cars ever—loads of black-and-white photos of functional and not-so-functional cars of all kinds. Cars that double as boats, cars with many headlights, cars from famous films and, yes, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles. (The oldest known Wienermobile is a 1952 model. In 1988, six new Wienermobiles were made.) A category for every letter in the alphabet from “Artistic Autos” to “Zany Cars.” DW

Publisher: Krause
Paperback: 304 pages
Illustrated

Burroughs talks about painting technique—his and other people’s—in the first chapter. One of his favorite methods is shooting cans of spray paint with a shotgun (which he has placed in front of a piece of plywood) the random splattered paint on the plywood being the finished piece. In the second chapter he talks about whether we need police or not, suggesting that when people start feeling comfortable without police, the police come along and start trouble. What we therefore need is a criminal strike, in which every criminal agrees not to commit any crime for one day, paralyzing the system. Four or five days of that and we would say, “Why do we need police?” Twenty-thousand gun laws passed in 20 years, but the murder rate goes up and up: “After any shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people that didn’t do it.” DW

Publisher: Hanuman
Paperback: 104 pages
Illustrated

In 1916, Ball founded the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. It was the performance, exhibition space and headquarters, so to speak, for the Dadaists and their “new tendency in art.” Ball kept records of their early performances and exhibits, documenting the movement’s progress as it unfolded day by day. with conventional language, focusing on sounds not words, creating sound poems. Ball’s involvement with sound poetry (a form of poetry which dispenses with conventional language, focusing on sounds, not words) and the gesamtkunstwerk (total art work) left its mark in Dada circles. Despite gaining an international reputation, Ball remained mysterious, and his Dada Manifesto was rarely studied since it appeared only in fragments and was never printed in its entirety or translated into English until 1974 (this book is a revision of that edition). Fellow Dadaist Hans Arp noted that “in this book stand the most significant words that have thus far been written about Dada… [Ball] forces current attitudes in art and politics to ever more extreme conclusions, only to discover that his method always eludes him. Finally he outruns himself and flees from time itself.” DW

Publisher: University of California
Paperback: 324 pages
Illustrated

According to the author, “Dada is the only appropriate philosophy for our age.” Huelsenbeck focuses on the Dada movement’s beginning as absurd farce and radical political stance and evolution into as a tool for the development of mankind. In 1936, Huelsenbeck moved to New York, changed his name, started a private psychiatric practice and severed all ties with the art world. From 1936 to 1945 he did not publish anything, then suddenly, from 1949 to 1974, published a series of essays rethinking Dada, claiming he was in a “position to pass fair judgement on Dadaism.” Finally, after “leaving America for good,” he concluded that Dada could not exist in America (as did Duchamp). He also felt that he was unable to explain to America that “Dada was simply a revolt against technology, mass media and the feeling of being lost in an ocean of business cleverness.” “Liberty never existed anywhere,” he wrote, “but America’s attempt (although it has failed) was one of the most sincere attempts.” Longing to get the chaos of Dada back in his life and to be a “Dada hippie” again, he moved back to Europe and died, in 1974. DW

Publisher: University of California
Paperback: 202 pages

Dali collaborates with the famous portrait photographer Philippe Halsman who has more than a hundred Life magazine covers to his credit. Dali was one of Halsman’s favorite subjects. Dali would envision a seemingly impossible picture to shoot (always revolving around his mustache) and Halsman would in turn find a way to do it. The book is presented as a question-and-answer interview, with Dali’s cynical , cryptic answers being the caption for each photo. This combination of wit, humor and experimental photography originally published in 1954, is an enduring look at these two artists. The current faithfully reproduced volume includes publisher’s notes on how some of these unusual photos were achieved (such as gluing flies to Dali’s mustache). “Someday perhaps someone will discover a truth almost as strange as this mustache, namely that Salvador Dali was possibly also a painter.” DW

Publisher: Flammarion
Hardback: 128 pages
Illustrated