Robert Calvert - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters

"oh, for the days of stick and string."


At the close of the 60's, the psychedelic rock scene was at its pinnacle. With the likes of Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and Steppenwolf leading the way, radio basically ignored a virtual smorgasbord of lesser known bands that in some cases it can be arguably said were just as good if not better than what the mainstream hippie had to listen to. Bands like Hawkwind, Blue Cheer, Audience, H. P. Lovecraft, and the subject of this particular review, The Robert Calvert band.

Remember those cartoons about gremlins terrorizing Bugs Bunny? Well, this disc is full of them and with these guys at the wheel defective airplanes is where it's at! The debut solo album of Hawkwind vocalist/poet Robert Calvert finds as its inspiration the apparently true story of Germany's purchase of the Lockheed Starfighter jet. Due to the modifications made in Germany's appropriation of the jet (the "F104G") that proved to be fatal, the Starfighter later achieved the dubious monikers "The Flying Coffin" and "The Widowmaker."

Captain Lockheed switches back and forth between monster rockers in the classic Hawkwind vein and Monty Python-like pieces that carry the saga along. For the songs, since all the key members of classic Hawkwind are actually on here (though Dave Brock is only present once), this is a veritable Hawkwind album in all but name, with strongest moments including "The Right Stuff" and "The Song Of The Gremlins." Lemmy Kilmister, the man so many in the heavy metal community refer to lovingly as GOD, plays bass in his own dutifully aggressive style. Brian Eno also is on board, and as Paul Rudolph and Simon King were with him to record his debut solo album, folks will notice an obvious resemblance in sound to Here Come the Warm Jets.

At their best, the vignettes are delightfully dark in their surrealism ("Ground Control to Pilot" would have made a classic interlude on Space Ritual) and humor ("Interview"). In the center of it all is Calvert, turning out a manic characterization of the Über-Teutonic Defense Minister with a crazed German accent that might make even Keith Moon slink away.

In the end it must be said that this album is a must have for the fans of classic rock, space rock, prog rock and Motorhead fanatics alike. Ranging in sound from early industrial (early foreshadowing of Brian Eno's solo work perhaps?) to experimental to even a Pink Floyd-esque moment or two. Alas, since this album is so meshed in British humor typified by Python that peaked in the early-mid 1970's, it probably won't tickle everyone's funny bone but in the end who really cares?. In my ideal world, however, an album with such a bizarre idea as its concept gets points just on principle....and this one does.


Robert Calvert - Capt. Lockheed and The Starfighters
Artist: Robert Calvert
Album: Captain Lockheed and The Starfighters
Genre:Space rock, prog rock

By Bez