No Condition Is Permanent

Pictured: Robert Calvert.

An occasional frontman and poet-in-residence with Hawkwind, Robert Calvert was one of the truly great English rock’n’roll eccentrics of our age. As a science fiction poet and novelist, he seemed to be living a decade ahead of the rest of the world, anticipating everything from virtual reality and the internet while cyberpunk author William Gibson was still in short pants, to punk rock while a long-haired John Lydon stood in the audience at numerous Hawkwind shows.

As well as writing “Silver Machine” and its follow up “Urban Guerrilla” for Hawkwind, Calvert used that band, along with fellow English eccentrics Twink (Pink Fairies drummer), Brian Eno, Arthur Brown and Viv Stanshall, for Captain Lockheed And The Starfighters, his first of five solo albums recorded intermittently until his death in 1988.

Songs from the album, such as “The Widow’s Song,” continue to crop up in Hawkwind sets from time to time… The sketches, such as Stanshall’s upper-class German twit in Two Test Pilots Discuss The Starfighter’s Performance are genuinely funny: First pilot: “How does she handle?” Second pilot: “Pretty good. I found I could balance a glass of beer on my oxygen mask, while I was flying it in a slow roll… go into a loop, light a cigarette, peel a banana and thread a needle at twenty-five-thousand feet… go into a dive, do the three-card trick, write my name backwards, catch a peanut in my mouth and juggle my eyeballs from one socket to the other.” First pilot: “Sounds like a pretty nifty kite.”

— Tommy Udo, Classic Rock.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 348 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT:

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 348 OF NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT BY CLICKING ON THE THREE DOTS /\

Here’s what we played in Ep. 348 of No Condition Is Permanent:

THE FIRST SET

MFSB — “Brothers And Sisters” — Philadelphia Freedom

Christy Ogbah — “Advise” — Duomo Sounds Ltd: Nigerian 80s Disco Music to Move Your Soul

Zorba & The Greeks — “Shockwave” — The Surf Creature

Perihan — “Nerden Nereye” — Turkish Freakout 2 (Psych-Folk 1970-1978)

Apostolic Intervention — “(Tell Me) Have You Ever Seen Me” — The Immediate Singles Collection

Wang Xiang Ling — “Love Spirit” — Taiwan & Singapore Disco

Dream Team — “I’m Not Satisfied” — Eccentric Soul: The Shiptown Label

IT’S MADISON TIME…

GMC & The Arcells — “The Witch” — Back from the Grave # 10

THE SECOND SET

R. D. Burman Feat. Asha Bhosle — “Mera Naam Hai Shabnam” — The Bombay Connection Vol. 2:  Bouncin’ Nightclub Grooves from Bollywood Films 1959-1972

The Deejays — “Blackeyed Woman” — British Mod Sounds of the 1960s

Johnny Zamont — “Fat Mama” — Rough Guide to Boogaloo Vol. 2

The Cramps — “Zombie Dance” — Songs the Lord Taught Us

Najib Alhoush — “Ana Qalbi Ehtar” — The Free Music (Part 1)

Ohio Players — “Ruffell Foot” — Pleasure

Dead Men’s Orchestra — “Totencombo” — Hồ! #1 Roady Music From Viêtnam

Robert Calvert — “The Right Stuff” — Captain Lockheed & The Starfighters

THE THIRD SET

Phil Flowers — “Twistin’ Beat” — ‘Black’ Rock ‘n’ Roll – Savage Kick Vol. 10

King Tubby — “Stealing Version” — King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi Dubplate Specials 1975-1979

The Knickerbockers — “One Track Mind” — Nuggets I: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era

Orkes Kelana Ria — “Sajang” — Padang Moonrise: The Birth of the Modern Indonesian Recording Industry ⋆ 1955-69

Rangers — “Snow Skiing” — HO-DAD HOOTENANNY!

Dur-Dur Band Int. — “Wan Ka Helaa” — The Berlin Session

Danny & the Demons — “Phelpio” — High School Rumble Vol 2: 18 Explosive 50’s/60’s Instrumentals

Kalyanji Anandji — “Cabaret Dance Music” — The Bombay Connection

THE FINAL SET

Adrienne Posta — “Shang A Doo Lang” — The Girls’ Scene

Pamelo Mounk’a — “L’Argent Appelle L’Argent” — Pamelo Mounk’a

The Stooges — “T.V. Eye” — Fun House

Olmedo Torres y Los Gatos — “Don Alfoncito” — Ecuatoriana: El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga 1969-81

The James Quintet — “Paw’s In The Kitchen” — Dangerous Doo-Wop 4

Junior Murvin — “Lucifer” — Police & Thieves

Andre Williams — “Whip Your Booty” — Whip Your Booty! Rare & Unreleased Soul, Funk & Dance Jams From The Vaults Of Andre Williams – 1967-1977

Rei Nakanishi & Kunihiko Suzuki — “Kinjirareta Ichiya” — Killing Melody: Instrumental Music from Japanese Pinky Violence Movies

LORD BUCKLEY’S WEEKLY BENEDICTION…

Peter Cook & the Dudley Moore Trio — “Bedazzled” — Bedazzled: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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