Grateful Dead sound out of place in 2008, but they own a sonic territory which has to be understood in the context of music of the 70's. Just using guitar, bass, drums and keyboards they didn't use original sounds or song arrangements, but put soul into the music the old fasioned way - artistry. And the fans are devoted to the musicians more than the music.
I don't play GD a lot and maybe I should more often, but you have to respect the phenomenon. Its such a new concept these days to listen to a band overall, and not just the song playing right now.
The Hawkwind VST idea - well, I kind of think part of the effect of the VSC-3 or EMS Synthi was the stoned musician with the "whoa, what does THIS knob do?' look on his face. Yes, Hawkwind, I'm looking at you...
Tiny bit of Hawkwind in "What the Future Sounded Like" which if you haven't seen:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFhhFmRtW7A
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