King Rocker

King Rocker

90 mins | Documentary, Music | Oct. 31, 2020

How does a working class autodidact, with no visible means of support, maintain his role as the leader of a cult British underground band into its fifth decade? Comedian and writer Stewart Lee, director Michael Cumming and James Nicholls investigate the mysterious existence of Robert Lloyd, Britain’s ultimate post-punk survivor. Robert Lloyd’s Prefects played with The Clash on the White Riot tour in 1977, and their ongoing incarnation, as Birmingham’s Captain Beefheart suffused post-punk poets The Nightingales, recorded more John Peel sessions than any other band. Ever. But what were the social, cultural and economic circumstances that enabled and sustained such outsider artists in the punk and post-punk eras, and how has the world changed to the point where such figures are unlikely to flourish in the same way today? Lloyd’s own odyssey echoes how abstract notions of social mobility, of the value of culture and music, have changed in the last five decades.

King Rocker

90 mins | Documentary, Music | Oct. 31, 2020

King Rocker
How does a working class autodidact, with no visible means of support, maintain his role as the leader of a cult British underground band into its fifth decade? Comedian and writer Stewart Lee, director Michael Cumming and James Nicholls investigate the mysterious existence of Robert Lloyd, Britain’s ultimate post-punk survivor. Robert Lloyd’s Prefects played with The Clash on the White Riot tour in 1977, and their ongoing incarnation, as Birmingham’s Captain Beefheart suffused post-punk poets The Nightingales, recorded more John Peel sessions than any other band. Ever. But what were the social, cultural and economic circumstances that enabled and sustained such outsider artists in the punk and post-punk eras, and how has the world changed to the point where such figures are unlikely to flourish in the same way today? Lloyd’s own odyssey echoes how abstract notions of social mobility, of the value of culture and music, have changed in the last five decades.
IMDb rating 7.5
Producers Fire Films
Original title King Rocker
Directors Michael Cumming
Writers Michael Cumming, Stewart Lee

Cast

Robert Lloyd

as Himself

Stewart Lee

as Himself

Frank Skinner

as Himself

Marc Riley

as Himself

John Peel

as Himself

Robin Askwith

as Himself

Bridget Christie

as Herself

John Taylor

as Himself

Nish Kumar

as Himself

Nigel Slater

as Himself

Paul Morley

as Himself

Gina Birch

as Herself

Samira Ahmed

as Herself

Seann Walsh

as Himself

Andrew O'Neill

as Himself

Kevin Eldon

as Himself

Danny Fields

as Himself

Paul Putner

as Himself

Steve Beresford

as Himself

Alan Apperley

as Himself

Paul Apperley

as Himself

Helen Apperley

as Herself

Dave Twist

as Himself

Maria Hughes

as Herself

Peter Byrchmore

as Himself

Ted Chippington

as Himself

Maggie Dunne

as Herself (as Magz from Fuzzbox)

Vickie Perks

as Herself (as Vix from Fuzzbox)

Louis Lloyd

as Himself

James Brown

as Himself

Mark Jones

as Himself

Daren Garratt

as Himself

Felicity Kitson

as Herself

Andreas Schmid

as Himself

James Smith

as Himself

Julie Lloyd

as Herself

Simon Bazalgette

as Himself

John Walters

as Himself

Adrian Edmondson

as (archive footage)

David 'Kid' Jensen

as (archive footage)