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Commercial Breaks

"Hang on a sec, wasn't that Hawkwind??" Here's a selection of adverts and TV shows that have, bizarrely enough, used Hawk music to sell their wares and add a certain je ne sais quoi to the small screen... If you know of any other examples, have links etc, please let me know!


'Silver Machine' - Mazda (2000)

This was apparently Mazda's "first brand campaign for eight years as it moved to target younger car owners." Which is obviously why you'd use a crusty piece of cosmic boogie from 1972 on the soundtrack. Quite a clever ad actually.



'Silver Machine' - Red Square Reloaded (early 2000s?)

An even more peculiar use of the song, as a seemingly random accompaniment to the Banksy-meets-parkour visuals. Too much cheap vodka alcopop imbibed at this brainstorming session.



'Master Of The Universe' - Ford (2012)

OK, this is more like it. A brilliantly conceived, stunningly executed, and entirely daft ad, that uses this classic track to really build the tension. Very effective.





'You Shouldn't Do That' - Callan: 'Charlie Says It's Goodbye' (1972)

There's a whole minute of 'YSDT' in the foreground of this episode of the popular Edward Woodward-starring spy drama. Wait for the immortal pay-off line: "Turn off that ridiculous music!"



'Brainstorm' - Life On Mars: episode 4, series 1 (2006)

The soundtrack to this BBC1 timeslip cop show is packed with great music from the '70s (see below), including plenty of Hawkwind. Here's the first major use of their music in the series (from 1:33) (Click on image to view the video.)


'You Shouldn't Do That' - Life On Mars: episode 5, series 2 (2007)

An even longer blast of Hawkwind here from 1:00, but watch from the start for a wonderful parody of the opening titles of Camberwick Green. (Click on image to view the video.)



(For a full list of the music used by Life On Mars, including other Hawkwind tracks, go here.)


'Silver Machine' - Life On The Inside: 'What Goes Around' (2019)

Here's a particularly incongruous example, the old chestnut used over the outro of this documentary on the Channel Tunnel. The signing guy looks like he's thinking of joining in... (Thanks to Ted Blair for the tip)



There are lots of other films and TV programmes that have featured Hawkwind's music, including:

  • 'Ejection' - How to Change the World (documentary film)

  • 'Hurry On Sundown' - Darwin's Garden

  • 'The Iron Dream' (or possibly 'The Forge Of Vulcan', or both!) - Top Gear

  • 'Life Form' - Any Given Sunday (film)

  • 'Master Of The Universe' - The Secret Life Of The Motorway, Match Of The Day 2

  • 'Silver Machine' - Stephen Fry's 100 Greatest Gadgets, The 70s (documentary series), The Secret Life Of Bob Monkhouse, The Last Leg, Lefties (Property Is Theft), Trust (drama), Inside the Factory (Pots and Pans), Pistol (drama)

  • 'Urban Guerilla' - For The Love Of Cars


"Brought to you by your local Mazda dealer..." (and given away when you took a test drive?)



Days Of The Underground is a decade-long trip into the music of Hawkwind. It explores the ideas and concepts that fuelled the band during their classic 1970s period and speaks to the crew that manned the ship.

 

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