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Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Studio album by Robert Calvert
Released	1974
Recorded	March 1973 - June 1974
Genre	Rock
Length	42:24
Label	United Artists
Producer(s)	Roy Thomas Baker
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Robert Calvert chronology
	Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters (1974)	Lucky Leif and the Longships (1975)

Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters was a 1974 satirical concept album by the erstwhile frontman of acid-rock band Hawkwind, Robert Calvert. It targeted the military and arms salesmen, with the principal target being Lockheed and the plane which they sold to the German Air Ministry, the F-104 Starfighter, colloquially known as the Widowmaker. These planes were regarded by many as unsafe, with inherent dangerous characteristics possibly made worse by a number of radical and ill-considered modifications which were made to them by the manufacturers at the behest of the Germans in order to clinch the sale.

Other artists who appeared on the album included such luminaries as members of Hawkwind, Viv Stanshall, Brian Eno, Arthur Brown and Jim Capaldi. One track of the album was released as a single, "Ejection" (The B-side was another track from the album, "Catch a Falling Starfighter").

For a long time this album was very difficult to obtain, but was re-released on CD in the mid 1990s.

The album tracks are a mixture of spoken dialogue and songs.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Musicians 2.2 Actors 2.3 Recording 2.4 Sleeve 3 External links

All songs by Robert Calvert except where stated.

1. "Frank Joseph Strauss, Defence Minister, reviews the Luftwaffe in 1958" – 1:40
2. "The Aerospace Inferno" – 4:35
3. "Aircraft Salesman (A Door in the Foot)" – 1:41
4. "The Widow Maker" (Dave Brock, Calvert) – 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)" (Arthur Brown, Calvert, Wagner) – 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)" (Brown, Calvert, Wagner) – 3:10
16. "Bier Garten" – 0:38
17. "Catch a Falling Starfighter" – 2:54

• Robert Calvert - vocals
• Arthur Brown - vocals ("The Song of the Gremlin" parts 1 and 2)
• Paul Rudolph - lead and rhythm guitar (all), bass guitar ("The Song of the Gremlin" parts 1 and 2, "Hero with a Wing")
• Dave Brock - lead guitar ("The Widow Maker")
• Lemmy Kilmister - bass guitar
• Nik Turner - saxophone
• Brian Peter George St John La Baptiste De La Salle Eno - Synthesizer
• Del Dettmar - Synthesizer
• Adrian Wagner - Keyboards ("The Song of the Gremlin" parts 1 and 2)
• Simon King - drums
• Twink Alder - Funeral drum ("Catch a Falling Starfighter")
• The Ladbroke Grove Hermaphroditic Voice Ensemble - Back up vocals

• Vivian Stanshall - most leads (e.g. Ground Control, Bright Mechanic)
• Jim Capaldi - American Salesman, Recruiting Officer, Dim Mechanic
• Robert Calvert - Pilot
• Tom Mittledorf
• Richard Ealing

• Technicians: Phil Brown, Frank Owen, Rufus Cartwright, Anton Matthews, Phil Chapman
• Producer: Roy Thomas Baker
• Studios: Isalnd, Olympic, Radio Luxembourg (dialogue) between March 1973 and January 1974
• Mixing: Trident Studios

• Concept: Bob Calvert
• Art Directions: Pierre Tubbs
• Illustrator: Stanislaw Ferdandes

• www.starfarer.net: libretto
• www.headheritage.co.uk: The Book of Seth review
• www.amazon.com: Samples and customer reviews