Robert Calvert

Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters is the solo debut album by Robert Calvert, former singer of the space-rock band Hawkwind. It's a satirical concept album with both songs and spoken interludes based on the story of the poor quality of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter planes. The sputtering and sprawling planes starts up the album, which portrays the West German minister of defense as a psychopath who's furious about the Luftwaffe. It's the effective combination of rock and Monty Python skits where the true power of the record lies. Psych and space rock, but also folk music makes up the different sides of the album, which also benefits from apparitions by Brian Eno, Lemmy and Arthur Brown, among others. Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters is Calvert's most perfect release; the album as a whole can be seen as a serious and sophisticated effort to search for interaction between music and theatre. The English musician - also a writer and a poet - co-wrote Hawkwind's hit single Silver Machine and is also known for his Science Fiction books. A man who gave everything for art, he died way to soon at the age of 43. This vinyl release of Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 4-page booklet with extensive liner notes.