Conceived as a theatre play, Calvert’s first solo album, Captain Lockheed…, was a dramatic mixture of spoken word and spaced-out rock featuring such doyens of the underground scene as Viv Stanshall, Arthur Brown and Pink Fairies guitarist Paul Rudolph. While his Hawkwind bandmates dallied around with sword-and-sorcery themes, their erstwhile frontman was creating a sharp satire on the German airforce and its disastrous purchase of the Lockheed-made Starfighter aircraft – justly known to all as the Widowmaker.
Though he earned the respect of John Lydon and Jello Biafra (the later describing Captain Lockheed as being instrumental in his own “reverse surveillance” of “corporate wrong-doers”), Calvert’s Enoproduced follow-up, Lucky Leif…, ticks many of the ‘worst excesses of prog’ boxes. Despite containing flashes of his trademark wit, notably on the Beach Boys spoof Lay Of Surfers his only significant excursion outside of his contemporary technological concerns is rather plodding and�misses the incisive relevance Calvert’s work generally had.
South African-born, Calvert liked to portray himself as the quintessential Englishman. As such, incongruously appearing as bonus tracks on the Viking concept album are the previously unreleased Howzat! and a delightful calypso version of Cricket Lovely Reggae (Cricket Star). Calvert hit these for six!
