Robert Calvert

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For other uses, see Robert Calvert (disambiguation).

Robert Calvert
Background information
Born(1945-03-09)9 March 1945
Pretoria, South Africa
Died14 August 1988(1988-08-14) (aged 43)
Ramsgate, England
GenresSpace rock

Robert Newton Calvert (9 March 1945 – 14 August 1988)

performance poet and lead vocalist of the space rock band Hawkwind.[2]

Early life

Calvert was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and moved with his parents to England when he was two.[3] He attended school in London and Margate, living in a flat in Arlington House.[4] Having finished school he joined the Air Training Corps, in which he became a corporal and played trumpet for the 438 Squadron band.[5] He then went on to college in Canterbury. After leaving college, and having been denied his childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot, he slowly acquainted himself with the UK's bohemian scene. Calvert began his career in earnest by writing poetry.[6]

Career

In 1967 he formed the street theatre group 'Street Dada Nihilismus'.[7]

At the end of the 1960s, he returned to London and joined the city's flourishing

multimedia artist.[8]

Hawkwind

After becoming acquainted with

UK Singles Chart.[3] Although Lemmy sings on the single version, this is an overdub of a live recording taken at the Roundhouse in London with Calvert on vocals.[3] "They tried everyone else singing it except me", Lemmy later said.[9] Calvert also directed the Space Ritual tour,[10]
which is widely perceived as the band's artistic zenith.

During periods away from Hawkwind duties, Calvert worked on his solo career; his solo creative output included albums, stage plays, poetry, and a novel. His first solo album,

Vikings, who crossed the Atlantic to reach America before Columbus. In 1977, Hawkwind performed "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" on Marc Bolan's TV series, Marc
.

As well as Michael Moorcock and Brian Eno, Calvert's collaborators included

Steve Pond, Inner City Unit, Vivian Stanshall, Nektar, John Greaves, Adrian Wagner, Amon Düül II and, posthumously, Spirits Burning, Dave Brock
, and Krankschaft.

Calvert suffered from

sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Despite his sometimes debilitating mental health, he remained a fiercely creative, driven and multi-talented artist.[8]

Personal life

In 1966, according to the Sussex History Forum, he married Paulyn J.Morrell, in Thanet. He married Pamela Townley in 1977 and his third wife Jill in the early 1980s. He had 4 children.

Death

Aged 43, Calvert died of a heart attack in 1988 in Ramsgate, England, outside of the "Corner House" café. As he approached the street, he reached for a pay phone, but the nearest phone had been disconnected [3][1][11] and was buried in Minster Cemetery at Minster-in-Thanet. His gravestone is engraved with the line "Love's not Time's fool", from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. One of his four children, Daren (1967–85), is buried with him, and is described on the gravestone as an "Adventurer".

Discography

Studio albums

Demo albums

  • Blueprints from the Cellar (home-recorded demos)
  • Revenge (demos with Pete Pavli – recorded 1980s, released 1999)
  • Centigrade 232 (Voiceprint, 2007). Spoken word. Released as book/CD (VP403CDMO) and CD (VP403CD 2007)

Live albums

  • At the Queen Elizabeth Hall (Clear Records 1989, live album recorded on 1 October 1986. Reissued in 1993 as BGOCD 187)
  • Robert Calvert and Maximum Effect Live at The Stars And Stripes, Carlisle (Stereo Records, 2009)
  • Radio Egypt (Voiceprint VP384, rehearsals recorded at S Nicholas Barn, 26 September 1987, released 2006)
  • The Right Stuff (Voiceprint VP385, recorded at Middlesbrough Polytechnic, 10 May 1986, released 2006)
  • In Vitro Breed (Voiceprint VP387, recorded at The International, Manchester, 25 October 1987, released 2006. Double CD)
  • Ship Of Fools (Voiceprint VP389, recorded at The Riverside, Newcastle, 2 November 1987, released 2006. Double CD)

Singles

  • "Ejection" / "Catch a Falling Starfighter" (1973)
  • "Cricket Star" (1979) (one-sided flexi single, released as Robert Calvert and the 1st XI)
  • "Lord of the Hornets" / "The Greenfly and the Rose" (1980)

With Hawkwind

With Dave Brock

  • The Brock/Calvert Project - "The Brock/Calvert Project" (2007) (includes readings from Centigrade 232)

Guest appearances

Bibliography

Plays

  • The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam's Dice (1976, about Jimi Hendrix)
  • Mirror Mirror (1978, premiered at Pentameters Theatre with Eva Gray in the role of Eleanor Bryant, reprised in 2013 and in April 2019)
  • The Kid From Silicon Gulch (1981)
  • Test-tube Baby of Mine (1986) directed by Paul Jerricho, with Chris Cresswell and Ghislaine Rump in the cast

Poetry collections

Novels

  • Hype (New English Library, 1981)

References

  1. ^ a b Doc Rock. "The 1980s". The Dead Rock Stars Club. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  2. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-939-0
    .
  4. ^ Banks, Joe (26 August 2022). "Hawkwind legend Robert Calvert is being given a special commemoration in his original hometown". Louder. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Robert Calvert (Hawkwind)- Musician Profile". Spirit-of-metal.com. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  6. ^ Stoddart, Lee (21 December 2019). "Thanet Writers Spotlight Robert Calvert". thanetwriters.com. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  7. ^ Bailes, Kathy (11 May 2018). "Hawkwind and why their Dreamland gig is a homecoming (of sorts)". The Isle Of Thanet News. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b Banks, Joe (13 August 2021). "Robert Calvert: the genius who played with fire". loudersound. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. ISBN 1-84449-101-3
    .
  10. ^ "Robert Calvert: The genius who played with fire". 13 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Robert Calvert - a biography". Aural Innovations. Retrieved 31 May 2015.

External links

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