"Quark, Strangeness and Charm" is a 1977 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind, being the title track from the Quark, Strangeness and Charm album. The title references quarks which are sub-atomic particles; "strangeness" and "charm" are playful terms used by physicists to refer to how many strange and charm quarks are within a particle. The lyrics take a humorous look at certain famous physicists' romantic failures. 1977 single It was released as a single in the UK (CB305) on 29 July 1977, being a slightly different version to the one on the album. Some European copies had a different B-side, such as Germany, which featured "The Iron Dream" instead. The single version was subsequently included on the 1980 Repeat Performance compilation album. At the time Hawkwind shared the same management as Marc Bolan and so were given a slot on the Marc Granada Television programme to promote it. Brock declined to appear, either being unwilling to drive to Manchester for the filming or holding a long time grudge against Bolan. For the pre-recording of the music on this show, Shaw played guitar while Calvert mimed playing guitar during the filming. Track listing "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" (Calvert/Brock) – 3:06 "The Forge of Vulcan" (House) – 3:05 Personnel Robert Calvert – vocal, percussion Dave Brock – electric lead and rhythm guitars Simon House – acoustic and electric pianos Adrian Shaw – bass guitar Simon King – drums Credits Recorded at Rockfield Studios, February 1977 Produced by Hawkwind Engineered by Dave Charles Live versions The song only briefly featured in Hawkwind's live set in 1977 with one recording surviving, released on both the Hawkwind Anthology and Weird Tape Volume 2 albums. It was briefly resurrected at the end of 1993 for the tour of the It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous album and remained until the end of 1994. 1994 EP In 1994, Hawkwind recorded a new version of the song with significant rewriting of the music. This version was also included on the album The Business Trip. Track listing "Uncle Sam's on Mars" (Red Planet Radio Mix) – 2:43 "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" (Calvert/Brock) – 6:24 "Black Sun" – 9:34 "Uncle Sam's on Mars" (Martian Conquest Mix) – 6:53 Personnel Dave Brock – guitar, vocals, keyboards, synthesisers Alan Davey – bass guitar, vocals, synthesisers Richard Chadwick – drums, percussion Astralasia – remixes Release history Sep 1994