Robert Calvert - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters (1974)

Artist: Robert Calvert

Album: Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters

Streetdate: 1974

Source: CD (remaster)

Format: MP3

Bitrate: 256-320 kbps

Audio Sample Rate: 44khz



Description:



BGO Records (BGOCD5)

UK 1974



Robert Calvert, vocals, voice, percussion; Paul Rudolph, lead, rhythm, and bass guitar; Lemmy Kilminster, bass, rhythm guitar; Simon King, drums; Brian Eno, synth, electronic effects; Del Dettmar, synth; Nik Turner, sax; with Dave Brock, guitar; Arthur Brown, vocal; Adrian Wagner, keyboards; Twink, drum; Vivian Stanshall, voice; Jim Capaldi, voice; Tom Mittledorf, voice; Richard Ealing, voice



Tracklist:

1. Frank Joseph Strauss, Defence Minister, reviews the Luftwaffe in 1958. Finding it somewhat lacking in image potential. ? 1:40

2. The Aerospace Inferno ? 4:35

3. Aircraft Salesman (A Door in the Foot). ? 1:41

4. The Widow Maker ? 2:42

5. Two test pilots discuss the Starfighter's performance. ? 0:41

6. The Right Stuff ? 4:23

7. Board meeting (seen through a contract lense). ? 0:58

8. The Song of the Gremlin (part one) ? 3:21

9. Ground Crew (last minute reassembly before take off). ? 3:17

10. Hero with a Wing ? 3:20

11. Ground Control to Pilot ? 0:52

12. Ejection ? 3:35

13. Interview ? 3:55

14. I Resign ? 0:27

15. The Song of the Gremlin (part two) ? 3:10

16. Bier Garten ? 0:38

17. Catch a Falling Starfighter ? 2:54



total time 42:24



Gnomes? Hobbits? No way, man--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 alternates between octane guzzlers in the classic Hawkwind vein and Monty Python-like vignettes that move the story along. For the songs, since all the key members of classic Hawkwind are actually on here (though Dave Brock is only present on one song), this is a veritable Hawkwind album in all but name, with strongest moments including "The Right Stuff" and "The Aerospaceage Inferno." 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 deliciously 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 ▄ber-Teutonic Defense Minister with a crazed German accent that might make even Keith Moon slink away.



Since this album is so laced with the British humor typified by Python that peaked in the early-mid 1970s, it probably won't tickle everyone's funny bone. In my ideal world, however, an album with such a bizarre idea as its concept gets points just on principle.