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June 12, 2011

Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters - Robert Calvert [1974]


Good Captain Bob waxes Ballardian lyrical about F104G ("G for Germany") Lockheed Starfighter. Fatally flawed design earning monikers Flying Coffin and Widowmaker. Calvert harbours borderline psycho-sexual passion for his metal minx: an uneasy sense that he does not so much want to fly a starfighter as crash it into the ground in a blaze of psychedelic glory (wearing tastefully applied mascara, possibly). Apart from able-bodied Hawkwind crew, an air armada of UK eccentrics are along for the ride: various Pink Fairies, Arthur Brown, Viv Stanshall, Eno. Viv does his Keith Moon/Monty Python turn on interlude skits that bear up remarkably well to repeated listens, though deployment of personal playlist editing will beckon for some. Eno adds Warm Jets vocal tweaking and crazed keyboard fiddlage. Oh, and Lemmy's on bass.


Nick Kent described single Ejection (best song ever written about bailing out of a fighter plane - fact) as having best riff since (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Not sure about that but it does give Silver Machine a run for its money.





Also check WB Calvert heavy Hawkwind post

Oddi wrth y brawd

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's up there with the best...
One of the best Calvert/Hawkwind albums ever...