DAVE Brock has a thousand and one inter-galactic tales to tell about his anarchic career as captain of one of the world’s longest-running bands, Hawkwind.

From astounding stage spectacles — including the lavish Space Ritual shows — legal battles, bust-ups and reunions, rock’s master of the universe has even recorded a couple of tracks with original Star Trek captain William Shatner.

“It’s all still there after 44 years — space, politics, love and some peace,” says Brock, the only original Hawkwind member in the line-up.

“The Star Trek thing was nuts. William Shatner did a spoken word album of space-themed songs and included our big hit Silver Machine.

“Shatner’s a Hawkwind fan and now we’ve done Sonic Attack with him, which is totally different.

“They’ve made a film, to be shown on the Sci-Fi Channel next year, so Hawkwind are going into outer space after all.

“I’m such a mad fan of Star Trek, I’d have never imagined that one day I’d be recording songs with the captain of the USS Enterprise.”

Hawkwind played their first gig in 1969 and while the band has undergone countless changes — amazingly 53 members have come and gone — Brock was the one constant.

“It was the end of Flower Power, so things were a bit off the wall then,” said Brock “To record the first Hawkwind album, that was our biggest achievement. Then we did the second one, then the third.

“Now I think we’ve got a hundred!”

Psychedelic rock – classic riffs and spacey jams — were Hawkwind’s niche and they bring their cosmic space sound to Preston’s 53 Degrees next Friday, featuring a one-off performance of their album Warrior On The Edge Of Time.

Brock said: “People ask me, ‘Dave, what is Space rock?

“I tell them, ‘It’s repetitive, relentless riffs with oscillators going up and down, and a bit of gruff growling from me.

“We did a lot of weird stuff. We used to experiment with tape loops, train noises and then play a bit of guitar over the top.

“One of our old band members summed it up when he said we treated our instruments like barbarians.”

Hawkwind collaborators include Motorhead’s Lemmy, science fiction writer Michael Moorcock and ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker.

Silver Machine, a send up of space travel, had Lemmy on vocals and bass.

“When Lemmy got sacked from Hawkwind in 1975, it set him up on his own road,” said Brock, who was a busker in London for six years before starting Hawkwind.

“Lemmy is a rock superstar now, but we are still good pals.”

So how long can Hawkwind’s incredible voyage continue?

“I’ll go on as long as I can because I still love what I do,” said Brock. “It is a terribly hard business and it is a lot tougher for younger bands now.

“In the ’70s and ’80s there were a lot of free festivals where a band could just turn up and play to a few hundred people.

“I think all that is gone.

“It’s quite difficult to be heard now.”

Hawkwind, Preston 53 Degrees, Friday, April 5.