Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters


Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters is a 1974 satirical concept album by Robert Calvert, the former frontman of British space-rock band Hawkwind. The album contains a mixture of songs and comic spoken interludes with an overall concept based on the German Air Ministry's purchase of the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, which was eventually nicknamed Widowmaker by Luftwaffe pilots. In German service these planes had a poor safety record, with 262 out of 916 Luftwaffe Starfighters lost in accidents during the aircraft's time in service from the early 1960s until the mid-1980s.
Musicians who appeared on the album include members of Hawkwind, The Pink Fairies, Brian Eno, Arthur Brown and Adrian Wagner. The spoken sketches are primarily performed by Calvert, Viv Stanshall and Jim Capaldi.
"Ejection" was released as a single, although both songs are slightly different versions to those on the album. "The Widow's Song" was included in the libretto and Calvert had hoped to record it with Nico singing. It wasn't recorded at the time but it was eventually recorded in 1984 with Calvert's wife Jill Riches on lead vocals and included on the Hawkwind, Friends and Relations Vol.3 compilation.
The album was re-released in the late 1990s by BGO Records and later became available on Eclectic Records with bonus tracks.

Track listing

All songs by Robert Calvert except where stated.
  1. "Franz Josef Strauss, Defence Minister, Reviews The Luftwaffe in 1958. Finding It Somewhat Lacking in Image Potential" – 1:40
  2. "The Aerospaceage Inferno" – 4:35
  3. "Aircraft Salesman " – 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 " – 0:58
  8. "The Song of the Gremlin " – 3:21
  9. "Ground Crew " – 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 " – 3:10
  16. "Bier Garten" – 0:38
  17. "Catch a Falling Starfighter" – 2:54

Bonus tracks

  1. "The Right Stuff" – 8.07
  2. "Ejection" – 3.47
  3. "Catch A Falling Starfighter" – 3.00
Hawkwind has incorporated some of the songs in their live set through the years including "The Right Stuff", "Ejection", "The Widow Maker" and "The Song of the Gremlin" and they have also been recorded and included on several of their live albums and compilations.
Monster Magnet did covers of "The Right Stuff" on their 2004 album, Monolithic Baby! and "Ejection" on their 2018 album Mindfucker.

Personnel

Musicians

Actors

Recording

Sleeve