King Rocker
2020
90 minutes
Overview
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.
Top Cast
Robert Lloyd
Self
Stewart Lee
Self
Frank Skinner
Self
Marc Riley
Self
John Peel
Self
Robin Askwith
Self
Bridget Christie
Self
John Taylor
Self
Nish Kumar
Self
Nigel Slater
Self
Paul Morley
Self
Gina Birch
Self
Samira Ahmed
Self
Seann Walsh
Self
Andrew O'Neill
Self
Kevin Eldon
Self
Danny Fields
Self
Paul Putner
Self
Steve Beresford
Self
Alan Apperley
Self
Paul Apperley
Self
Helen Apperley
Self
Dave Twist
Self
Maria Hughes
Self
Peter Byrchmore
Self
Ted Chippington
Self
Maggie Dunne
Self - Magz from Fuzzbox
Vickie Perks
Self - Vix from Fuzzbox
Louis Lloyd
Self
James Brown
Self
Mark Jones
Self
Daren Garratt
Self
Felicity Kitson
Self
Andreas Schmid
Self
James Smith
Self
Julie Lloyd
Self
Simon Bazalgette
Self
John Walters
Self
Adrian Edmondson
Self (archive footage)
David 'Kid' Jensen
Self (archive footage)
Paul Coia
Self (archive footage)