''Shot Down in the Night'' is a 1979 song written by

Steve Swindells Steve Swindells (born 21 November 1952) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboardist, party organizer, club promoter and journalist. Life and career Early life Swindells grew up in the Bath and Bristol area, dropping out of art college to play ...

, who was at that time keyboardist with the UK rock group

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. Swindells and Hawkwind released different versions of the song as a single on 27 June 1980. Hawkwind's version reached #59 in the UK singles chart, being a slightly different version to the one on the album

Live Seventy Nine ''Live Seventy Nine'' is a 1980 live album by Hawkwind recorded on their Winter 1979 UK tour. It reached #15 on the UK album chart. This is a reconstituted Hawkwind with Brock, Bainbridge and King emerging from the dissolved Hawklords, joined ...

. The song was written by

while rehearsing with Hawkwind (then working under the name "

Hawklords Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, (Robert Calvert – vocals, Dave Brock – guitar and Simon King – drums) and a local Devon group named A ...

") at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

in 1979. He presented it to the band, and they agreed on its potential as a future single. However, Swindells was then offered a solo record deal by

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

, and left Hawkwind to pursue a solo career. His studio version of ''Shot Down in the Night'' was released as a single on the same day as Hawkwind's live version. Swindells claims that his version was "waaay harder, more dramatic and simply better than Hawkwind’s version. In both the battle of the butch and the artistic, the queer won."daynum
– Swindells blog site Despite that claim, Simon King (drums) and

Huw Lloyd-Langton Richard Hugh "Huw" Lloyd-Langton (6 February 1951 – 6 December 2012) was an English musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band HawkwindStrong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Rock Discography'', Canongate, , p. 466 at various times. ...

(guitars) played on both recordings, giving the two versions a musical closeness, although Swindells' gruff vocals perhaps make his version heavier than

Dave Brock David Anthony Brock (born 20 August 1941) is an English musician. He plays electric guitar, keyboards, bass and oscillators. He is a founder, sole constant member and musical focus of the space rock group Hawkwind.Allmusic– Dave Brock biogra ...

's folky vocal on Hawkwind's version.

References

{{Authority control Songs about nights Hawkwind songs 1980 songs