Paul Hammond (1952–1992) was an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

drummer who was a member of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band Atomic Rooster and the hard rock band

Hard Stuff Hard Stuff were an English hard rock group which included John Du Cann and Paul Hammond, formerly of Atomic Rooster. Also in the line-up were vocalist Harry 'Al' Shaw, formerly of Curiosity Shoppe and latterly Export, and John Gustafson, f ...

during the 1970s.

Career

Born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Hammond began playing drums aged 12, and joined his first band, The Farm, after winning a competition in the '' Melody Maker'' music newspaper.Talevski, Nick – "Knocking on Heaven's Door: Rock Obituaries", Omnibus Press, 2006, p.242. When Atomic Rooster drummer

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

left the group to form

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

in the summer of 1970, he was replaced briefly by

Ric Parnell Ric Parnell (13 August 1951 – 1 May 2022) was an English rock drummer. Notable for his work in the band Atomic Rooster, he is probably best known for his role as the ill-fated drummer Mick Shrimpton in the film ''This Is Spinal Tap''. Caree ...

before Hammond was recruited as a permanent replacement in August, joining vocalist / guitarist John Cann and keyboard player

Vincent Crane Vincent Rodney Cheesman (21 May 194314 February 1989), known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster. Crane co-wrote "Fire", the 1968 hit sin ...

. The band subsequently recorded the ''

Death Walks Behind You ''Death Walks Behind You'' is the second studio album by British rock band Atomic Rooster, released on September 1970. It was their first album to receive US release, albeit in a different sleeve. It is commonly thought of as the archetypal A ...

'' album in September of that year, followed by the hit singles "Tomorrow Night" and "Devil's Answer". After the recording of ''

In Hearing of Atomic Rooster ''In Hearing of'' is the third album by British rock band Atomic Rooster. Although not included on the album, the " Devil's Answer" single was released just prior to it, becoming the band's highest chart success at number 4 in the UK. This he ...

'' in the summer of 1971, Hammond left the band along with Cann. Parnell subsequently rejoined the band as drummer. Hammond and Cann joined forces with singer Al Shaw and bass guitarist John Gustafson to form Daemon, later changing the name to Bullet, and then

. Hammond recorded two albums with Hard Stuff before the band split up in 1973. That year he suffered serious leg injuries in a car accident in Belgium, and spent two years recovering. In 1977 Hammond was a member of T.H.E. with Pete Newnham (

Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...

) and Mike Marchant ( Third Ear Band), and an unsuccessful single, "Rudi", was released under the name of Pete Newnham. Hammond later joined The Intellektuals, an

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spiri ...

band from London, led by

Jack Hues Jeremy Allan Ryder, better known as Jack Hues, (born 10 December 1954) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, who is best known for forming and fronting the 1980s English new wave band, Wang Chung. Hues was also a member of the one-o ...

and

Nick Feldman Nicholas Laurence Feldman (born 1 May 1955) is an English musician best known for forming the British new wave band Wang Chung in 1980. Feldman was half of the duo Promised Land, which also featured Jon Moss of Culture Club. He was a founding ...

. After the group split in 1978, Hues and Feldman formed Wang Chung. Hammond then worked on John Du Cann's solo album (Cann having added the "Du" to his name), and in 1980 he rejoined Atomic Rooster, which now once again consisted of Hammond, Du Cann and Crane. After Du Cann had left again, and the band recorded the unsuccessful '' Headline News'' album in 1983, they disbanded for good. Hammond died in 1992 in London from an accidental drug overdose.

Discography

Atomic Rooster

*''

'' (1970) *''

'' (1971) *'' Headline News'' (1983)

Hard Stuff

*''

Bulletproof Bulletproofing is the process of making an object capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles (e.g. shrapnel). The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protecti ...

'' (1972) *'' Bolex Dementia'' (1973)

John Du Cann

*''

The World's Not Big Enough ''The World's Not Big Enough'' is the only solo album by John Du Cann, who was best known as guitarist and vocalist with Atomic Rooster and Hard Stuff in the 1970s. The album was recorded in 1977, but remained unreleased until 1992, and was re ...

'' (1977, released 1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Paul 1952 births 1992 deaths English rock drummers 20th-century English musicians 20th-century drummers Atomic Rooster members