The Hawks were a rock & roll-loving band who were out of step with the post-punk late '70s. Though they had talents of vocalist Stephen Duffy and guitarist Dave Kusworth, they didn't get the breaks and released only one single, 1980s "Words of Hope" before splitting too soon. Long considered a lost band worth rediscovering, 2021's Obviously Five Believers collection gave credence to that opinion and paid tribute to the sadly departed Kusworth, as well.

The band formed when members of the Birmingham-based Stooges-inspired group TV Eye, who had just split, went looking for musicians to team with in a new, less aggressive band. Guitarists Dave Kusworth and Paul Adams and drummer Dave Twist reached out to vocalist Stephen Duffy, who was singing in an early incarnation of Duran Duran. They convinced him to leave, taking bassist Simon Colley along with him. The new group paired classic rock & roll attitude with the brevity of punk and jagged energy of post-punk. They first chose the name Obviously Five Believers, then switched to the Subterranean Hawks before settling on just the Hawks. Their first show took place in mid-1979, then the band began writing songs and recording demos at a steady pace. Despite the quality of their songs, their image was deemed too rock & roll for the times by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade, among others, and they only released one single on their own label (1980's "Words of Hope"/"Sense of Ending") before splitting in 1981. Duffy went on the chart success under the name Stephen Tin Tin Duffy, then formed the Lilac Time. Kusworth teamed with Nikki Sudden in the Jacobites and had a long, fruitful career as a solo artist (often with Twist on drums.) The group's music was swathed in legend until 2020, when at Kusworth's heartfelt urging, Duffy finally unearthed the band's tape archives. Duffy then selected an album's worth of songs, which were sent to engineer John Paterno to be cleaned up. Sadly, the project was only in the beginning stages when Kusworth passed away. The completed project, Obviously Five Believers, is a fitting testament to Kusworth's spirit as well as a showcase for his and Duffy's nascent skills as songwriters. The ten-song collection was released by the combination of Easy Action and Seventeen Records in late 2021. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi