Prog - In Memory Of Simon House
- Joe Banks
- Sep 12
- 5 min read
Here's the piece I wrote about Simon as it appeared online following his death on 25 May 2025.
A longer version appeared in the June 2025 issue of Prog magazine, reproduced here:
In Memory Of Simon House
A key presence in Hawkwind’s line-up during the 1970s, Simon House brought an incredible palette of sonic colours to the band’s songs with his exciting and imaginative keyboard and violin work. Leaving to become a member of David Bowie’s live band, he went on to become an in-demand session player before rejoining Hawkwind again (twice) and releasing a series of solo albums. We pay tribute to House, who died at the end of May.
Simon House, former keyboardist and violinist for Hawkwind and member of David Bowie’s live band, died on May 25, 2025, aged 76. A classically trained musician who married effortless technique with boundary-pushing sonic exploration, House helped define Hawkwind’s post-//Space Ritual// sound, and was one of the great unsung players of the progressive ‘70s and beyond.
Brian Tawn of long-running Hawkwind information service //Hawkfan// was first to share the sad news: “I'm sorry to be saying that one of the finest musicians I have ever known has passed away. Whenever he worked with Hawkwind, David Bowie or anyone else, he lifted the quality of their music, and his solo albums are a joy to listen to as well. He'll be greatly missed by many.”
Hawkwind added their condolences: “We are very sorry to hear of the passing of our old friend and bandmate Simon House… An outstanding musician, we share treasured memories… Fly free old friend.”
Hawklords also paid tribute to House: “Simon was a towering musical genius, yet humble and helpful to all of us in pursuit of our creative endeavours. Never short of a wry and witty retort, or a beaming smile in any circumstances, he was a friend to all. He will be enormously missed.”
Born in Nottingham on 29 August 1948, House took up the violin at the age of 11 and played as a classical musician for seven years in a number of local orchestras. He went to university, but dropped out to become part of the underground scene around west London in the late ‘60s. House lived in a flat with ex-Misunderstood guitarist Tony Hill, out of which came the formation of explosive proto-prog outfit High Tide. House electrified and pushed his violin through a variety of effects, imbuing it with a wailing, elemental power.
House recorded two albums with High Tide – //Sea Shanties// and //High Tide// – before the band broke up in 1971. 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. After TEB, he played with Magic Muscle and Barclay James Harvest before taking a break from music to work in a boiler house.
House already knew Hawkwind via Clearwater Promotions, the agency that High Tide had shared, and when 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.
Yet 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. It also featured another House-penned instrumental, //Spiral Galaxy 28948//, his birthday slightly mixed up.
Quietly spoken and very laid back, House was nevertheless fully committed to the band’s unique brand of sonic attack, as he explained in the 2007 documentary //Hawkwind: Do No Panic// – “I used to have these speakers I called the Illuminators. Huge things on either side of the stage, with high frequency horns in the middle. In conjunction with the VCS3 synth, I could stun a badger at 20 paces. I would never instigate sonic violence – but once someone else starts it, I’ll join in.”
However, House adapted with ease to the mellower vibe of 1976’s //Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music//, his vaporous synth work bringing a distinctly Floydian atmosphere to tracks such as //City Of Lagoons// and his own //Chronoglide Skyway//. But he also had an eye on the future, with the following year’s //Quark, Strangeness And Charm// featuring the first sequencer loop on a Hawkwind album on his instrumental //The Forge Of Vulcan//.
At the start of 1978, House dropped a bombshell in the Hawkwind camp when he announced he was leaving to become David Bowie’s violinist. Remembering House’s “long and illustrious career”, the official David Bowie site noted that Bowie had known him since his early days and that “David had wonderful things to say about High Tide.” Dressed all in white, House was an implacable presence on stage during Bowie’s Isolar II world tour and also contributed to his subsequent //Lodger// album, including the hit single //Boys Keep Swinging//.
House worked as a session musician throughout the 1980s, featuring on albums including Japan’s //Tin Drum//, Thomas Dolby’s //The Golden Age Of Wireless//, and The Associates’ //Perhaps//, and playing in Mike Oldfield’s live band for the tenth anniversary of //Tubular Bells//. House also formed two short-lived groups at this time, Turbo and the Famous Scientists, the former featuring Hawkwind’s Simon King.
House rejoined Hawkwind in 1989 and appeared on the //Space Bandits// and //Palace Springs// albums, but left less than a year later to look after his daughter, who had contracted leukaemia. During the ‘90s, he released a series of collaborative albums with Spiral Realms and Anubian Lights, played with Nik Turner’s Space Ritual, and released his solo //Yassasim// album.
He played with Hawkwind again from 1999 to 2003, and appeared on 2005’s //Take Me To Your Leader//. He released the albums //Spiral Galaxy Revisited// (2000) and //House Of Dreams// (with Rod Goodway – 2002), and collaborated throughout the ‘00s with artists including Judy Dyble and Astralasia.
Simon House
29 August 1948 – 25 May 2025 To see more pictures of Simon and Hawkwind at Cardiff Castle in 1976, go here