Goldmine's obituary on Simon House.

I want to bring to your attention a very good and touching obituary about Simon House published in the last hours on the Web.

It was written by journalist Dave Thompson for Goldmine and it is available here: 

https://www.goldminemag.com/obituaries-news/simon-house-born-august-29-1948-died-may-25-2025

Thompson writes: "Depending upon which side of the rock spectrum you stand, Simon House's name usually invokes one of two memories — the majesty with which he has graced some of the greatest Hawkwind albums, or the haunting violin which dominated his time with David Bowie.

But House's own career reaches way beyond either of those two highs. As a prodigiously gifted teen, he was a member of High Tide, one of the most creative, if sadly unsung, bands to emerge from the post-psychedelic Sixties."

Hawkwind, May 1974. Left to right: keyboard player Simon House, guitarist Dave Brock, keyboard player Del Dettmar, bassist Lemmy, drummer Simon King and saxophonist Nik Turner. 

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images

"He was thus present at the birth of Hawkwind — staged on House’s twenty-first birthday, Group X’s All Saints Church Hall show saw them opening for High Tide (The two bands would also share the same management company, Clearwater Productions)."

After summarising House's long, glorious musical career, Thompson concludes the piece by quoting the words of Brian Perera, whose Cleopatra Records released several of House’s later recordings:

"It’s with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our dear friend and brilliant collaborator. Simon wasn’t just a musician — he was a sonic architect who helped shape the sound of a generation.

He shared the stage with legends: David Bowie, Lemmy-era Hawkwind, and Nik Turner, always leaving his unmistakable mark. From the art-rock brilliance of Bowie’s “Boys Keep Swinging” era to the boundary-pushing tours with Nik and Cleopatra in the ’90s, Simon’s electrifying violin and cosmic keyboard work lifted every track, every show, every moment.

His vision brought depth, texture, and soul — he simply made everything better.

We miss you deeply, Simon.

Rest easy, my friend. Your sound lives on."

no©2025LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first).

Violinist Simon House passed away yesterday at 76.

Bad news for all of us!

Great violin and keyboard player Simon House, a true giant of the underground, old collaborator of the Third Ear Band (1971-1974), passed away yesterday at 76 (the bad news HERE and HERE or HERE).

A founder with guitarist Tony Hill and bass player Peter Pavli of the seminal band High Tide at the end of Sixties, he was a permanent member of the Hawkwind, between 1974 and 1978, playing with David Bowie on his albums "Stage" (1978) and "Lodger" (1979). 

Apart two solo albums (1994 and 2000), one with Rod Goodway (2002), and two with Spiral Realms (2004 and 2005), he worked with a lot of musicians including  Robert Calvert, Japan, David Sylvian, Thomas Dolby, Mike Olfield, Judy Dyble, Nik Turner, Adrian Shaw, Nektar, Spirits Burning, Magic Muscle...

Through Glen Sweeney, I met him two times in London, where he lived, and he seemed to me a shy and reserved person, interested only in playing music and refractory to any self-indulgence and protagonism typical of the rock environment. 

We later did an interview by phone, but he was very tight-lipped and not very willing to recall the past.... You can read it here:

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/01/brief-phone-conversation-with-simon.html

 

Other files in this Archive related to Simon House:

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/03/italians-like-weird-stuff-old-interview.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2020/09/extraordinarly-amazing-teb-tv.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2024/11/four-rare-1972-photos-of-simon-house-on.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2019/10/peter-pavli-interviewed-on-its.html

 

   Simon House performing live with DanMingo at DAYUM Club, London, December 2005.

 no©2025LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

A composition by Dave Tomlin for the London Youth Jazz Orchestra in 1967.

An article by Bob Houston published by the "Melody Maker" on August 5th, 1967 reveals that Dave Tomlin composed at least a score for the London Youth Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble of young people between the ages of 14 and 21 conducted by Bill Ashton, to perform.

The orchestra, dedicated to the performance of contemporary avant-garde jazz music, had in its repertoire compositions by well-known musicians in the London circles of those years: Neil Ardley, John Patrick, Brian Priestly...

 

 

 no©2025LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)