Talk:Robert Calvert

Untitled

Captain Lockheed is not really a solo work, it is highly dependant, for example, on the contributions of Vivian Stanshall (amongst others) but this is a minor quibble. sjc

Saxophonist

It's him who was a saxophonist in Catapilla or not? Anybody knows? --GolerGkA 19:48, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

I rather doubt it, as if he played sax, he would have surely have played it sometime in Hawkwind, and I certainly have heard or read nothing to suggest he did.--C Hawke 18:10(UTC) , 31 March 2007 In fact a quick google confirms --C Hawke 18:13, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Calvert WAS a ssax player, he played sax with Mother Gong. There is no mention of The Kid From Silicon Gulch in this article, nothing of Mother Gong, or any of his actual poems or spoken word work.

He died in 98 NOT 88. This article is incredibly small seeing as numerous modern musicians have listed him as an influence, his appearance in many collaborative works, as well as the sheer body of the man's own work. Calvert was a brilliant poet, and desrves a much larger fottprint than this—Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.3.5.129 (talk) 08:56, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Not sure about the sax playing. I know Robert played trumpet on occasion (pretty sure the brass section on Kerb Crawler is Nik and Bob) so you never know. Re this article being too short - I agree! As soon as I've figured out how to work this thing, I'm gonna add some stuff about Captain Calvert. F104G (talk) 16:58, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

No - the Robert Calvert from Catapilla and Mother Gong is a different person - "Indeed, experienced Catapilla-watchers will not have been surprised to see Calvert working with that band's Gilli Smyth in the mid-'90s" from http://www.myspace.com/catapilla7172 which shows it is a differnt person as this Robert Calvert died before the 90s --C Hawke (talk) 17:51, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you are correct. I have since had this confirmed by various musicians who have worked with Robert the saxophonist. He has a Discogs page here https://www.discogs.com/artist/658372-Robert-Calvert-2 F104G (talk) 10:43, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

He also has his own Wikipedia article - Robert Calvert (saxophonist) - as referred to in Hatnote below Arjayay (talk) 10:48, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Date of Death

After seeing a BBC4 documentary on Hawkwind giving Calvert's year of death as 1998, I checked here and was found that was the date given here... hmmmm. As he is listed as a 1988 death at the bottom of the page and from memory I recall it as happening well before 1998, I amended the year of death accordingly. Exislander 21:58, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Ian A's Sonic Assassins has it as 14/08/88. It certainly wasn't 1998.--C Hawke 12:14, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

He died in 1988 NOT 98 - the "Hawklord's Live" album, originally released in 1992, was "a tribute to Bob Calvert...(he died of a heart attack)". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.156.68.96 (talk) 17:45, 4 August 2009 (UTC) Yes: it was definitely 1988. I remember getting a letter from Brian Tawn telling me the sad news. F104G (talk) 16:54, 27 March 2010 (UTC) No it was 1998 he was playing saxaphone(speaking of his sax playing) for Mother Gong in 1991, so unless by some miracle Calvert can be six foot under and still palying saxaphone, and yeas he played sax, then he was alive in 1988. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.29.242.13 (talk) 23:31, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

IP 71.29, that must be a different Calvert. I vividly remember hearing about his death whilst working on a building site, just prior to starting my current job in 1989 109.144.147.232 (talk) 21:02, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Nationality

Was Robert really South African? Although he was born in SA I believe both his parents were British. They moved back to England when Robert was two years old, and Robert stayed here ever since. Does that make him South African (where he was born) or British (where he grew up)? F104G (talk) 16:51, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Tribute to Calvert?

"Nik Turner, and other former Hawkwind musicians are currently collaborating as Hawklords as a tribute to Calvert."

Strange, I had been told that the reason was that they had performed under the name "xHAWKWIND" and due to confusion (the 'x' was very small on all the posters), people thought they were going to see the REAL Hawkwind... So they got sued and lost. Then they changed their name to Hawklords. 77.99.98.37 (talk) 11:33, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

xHawkwind changed their name to Space Ritual. Hawklords is a different band. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.122.50.233 (talk) 19:24, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

John Stevens' Away

Despite one eBay seller claiming that the Robert Calvert on "John Stevens' Away" LPs is the same as the Hawkwind one, Discogs says otherwise - indeed, this CD with him on was released in 2004, long after this Robert Calvert died. --C Hawke (talk) 20:04, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Death date

I know he couldn't have died in 1988 he was playing saxaphone for Mother Gong in 1991, I am fairly sure the death date is actually 1998, but I have nothing to back this up with. I know for a fact though it was not 1988. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.29.242.13 (talk) 23:29, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

See section above - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Robert_Calvert&curid=26183&diff=463908501&oldid=463908379#Saxophonist - you are mixing up the two Robert Calverts - either that or I went to a very premature tribute gig in 88--C Hawke (talk) 17:19, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

The postscript of the BBC 4's "Hawkwind" documentary clearly lists the year of his death as 1998.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzAldD6t-psjohncheverly 20:07, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

I was watching Hawkwind onstage at a fest in Tewkesbury in 1988 when we got the news he had died (100% true) 17:41, 5 December 2013 (UTC) cosmic debris

I've still got the programme/booklet thing from the Hawkwind tribute gig to Bob at the Brixton Academy, although not to hand. I'll check when I get home, but I'm pretty sure it was while I was working at City of London Polytechnic, which job I left in November 1989. I'm 100% sure Bob was dead at the time. Mr Larrington (talk) 16:10, 9 November 2014 (UTC)

Front of the tribute gig programme: [1]. Note "1945-1988" at the top.

Back of the tribute gig programme: [2]. Note "dec 1988" in bottom RH corner.

Make of that what you will... Mr Larrington (talk) 18:31, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Hatnote

The confusion with the saxophonist keeps arising.
Robert Calvert (saxophonist) doesn't exist, and may not meet if it is created, so we can't hat-note to it.
Is it worth a hatnote along the lines of "for the saxophonist of the same name see Catapilla" ?
Arjayay (talk) 18:05, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Having researched Robert Calvert (saxophonist) he has played with at least 5 artists that merit their own articles on Wikipedia - I believe, therefore, that he meets WP:N so have written an article about him, and hatnoted this article - hopefully this will reduce future complaints/confusion. Arjayay (talk) 19:06, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

Other Albums

Because the CDs are at home and I'm not, I can't add the details, but there exists a bunch of CDs from 1986-87 which were official enough to have been bought via Amazon. Titles:

• Ship Of Fools - Newcastle 1987 (2 CDs)
• The Right Stuff - Middlesbrough 1986
• Radio Egypt - Rehearsals 1987
• In Vitro Breed - Manchester 1987 (2 CDs)

I'll try to remember to bung 'em in when I return home from cat-sitting duties... Mr Larrington (talk) 16:21, 9 November 2014 (UTC)

OK, I've added these. Confusion as the Newcastle and Manchester CDs say 1986 on the front and 1987 on the back. I've gone with the latter as these have specific dates of recording, not just the year. Judging by the catalogue numbers I'd expect there to be at least two more live sets from this period Out There. Mr Larrington (talk) 17:55, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

He also worked with Adrian Wagner on Disco Dream And The Androids. At the time of release it was anonymous, with no credits (other than producers) anywhere on the record but later re-issues (and the blurb on Adrian's website) explain that this was Robert and Adrian doing their disco thang. I still haven't figured-out how to amend the main page though.F104G (talk) 10:49, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

What are those live albums like ? Is there much difference between them. Somewhere, I did have the live at the QEH album. -- Beardo (talk) 03:36, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

Maximum Effect

Towards the end of his life, his backing band were called the Maximum Effect. Anyone know who was in that band ? --Beardo (talk) 04:27, 19 May 2019 (UTC)

Yes: Maximum Effect grew out of the ashes of Inner City Unit. They were Dead Fred and Steve Pond + drum machine. Mary Cason also performed on stage with them at some gigs, although they might have, by this time, been going by the name of Krankschaft. Krankschaft continue to gig and release albums to this day: Steve Pond plays alongside Kevin Walker and Alex Tsentides (ex The Enid). Maximum Effect released a single in 1986 titled "Espana". The line-up was Steve, Fred and Mick Stupp.86.30.97.53 (talk) 09:17, 18 December 2019 (UTC)

Cheers - thanks. I saw them play in a pub near the Oval, shortly after Bob's death. -- Beardo (talk) 04:11, 4 February 2020 (UTC)