King Rocker is a 2020 British documentary film directed by Michael Cumming and written by Stewart Lee about the singer Robert Lloyd and his bands, The Prefects and The Nightingales.[1][2] It premiered at the 2020 Sheffield Doc/Fest, before being shown on Sky Arts, with its premiere on the network being on 6 February 2021.[3][4]

King Rocker
Film poster
Directed byMichael Cumming
Written byStewart Lee
Produced byJames Nicholls
Release dates
  • June 2020 (2020-06) (Sheffield Doc/Fest)
  • 6 February 2021 (2021-02-06)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

King Rocker features Frank Skinner,[5] Kevin Eldon,[6] Marc Riley,[7] Robin Askwith,[8] and Paul Morley,[9] with archive footage included of John Peel, Ted Chippington and We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It.[10] The latter two appeared with Lloyd/The Nightingales on the British Children's pop programme Razzmatazz, performing the single credited to The Vindaloo Summer Special in 1986.[11]

The film was produced by James Nicholls, who was one of the people behind music documentary The Ballad of Shirley Collins (which also featured Lee).[12] The film also features a statue of King Kong by Nicholas Monro.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "No Image: A King Rocker Conversation with Stewart Lee, Michael Cumming And Robert Lloyd". The Quietus. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Sky Arts to show Stewart Lee's King Rocker". The Quietus. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ^ "King Rocker". Sheffield Doc/Fest. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Stewart Lee film 'King Rocker' lands February premiere date". NME. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Vindaloo Records Birmingham Music Archive". Birmingham Music Archive.
  6. ^ a b "TV tonight: the story of Brummie punk Robert Lloyd". the Guardian. 6 February 2021.
  7. ^ "This week's home entertainment: from King Rocker to Deliver Us". the Guardian. 5 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Stewart Lee and Michael Cumming". BBC. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  9. ^ "King Rocker". Radio Times.
  10. ^ "VINDALOO SUMMER SPECIAL | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  11. ^ "Record Review: The Vindaloo Summer Special". 4 August 2011.
  12. ^ "The Ballad of Shirley Collins review – brilliant story of lost folk singer". the Guardian. 12 October 2017.

External links edit