KRANKSCHAFT

Some Krankschaft History:

In Mid 1986 Robert Calvert was approached to do a one-off gig at Londons prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall, not having a band at the time he contacted Fred & Steve from Inner City Unit who hastily arranged a set of Bobs songs, having no money at the time we couldn`t afford to rehearse. So Fred & Steve arranged the songs with a drum machine, then sent cassettes of the songs to Calvert in Margate, he'd learn them there & phone up with any suggestions, 2 weeks later they were ready to rehearse properly, ICU graphic designer Mary was drafted in to play synth and after two 4-hour rehearsals at the same "Hole in the ground" ICU used to rehearse at we did the show. The gig was a success, so much so that we decided to expand the set and take it on tour around the UK.

The QEH gig was recorded by a couple of Bobs friends on an old 8 track. Bobs untimely death prompted the release of the tape as a Limited edition vinyl only LP (with free T shirt and Badge) as a tribute to the old sod. ...er, Poet and Genius. It has since been re-issued on CD.

The QEH Show was supposed to be a one-off, but such fun was had and it was so well received that a tour was hastily arranged, we added a few more songs to the set so we could chop & change the set each night to keep things different & headed out on the road.

As the tour went on we started to see the side of Calvert that we'd always heard about, previously we'd only met him for one or two days at a time & he was always full of fun, on the tour his hyperactivity and manic depressive ness started to show, he was fine if he had something to do.. Read the Daily Telegraph, expound his latest theory, Play "What's my job" (The tour-bus game of the moment..) but if he wasn`t occupied he got more & more fretful & was quite honestly a handful to look after.. On tour I roomed with Bob, and as much as I enjoyed staying up all night listening to stories from the Hawkwind days and all about his writing and theories etc.. I needed some sleep!

At the end of the tour we didn't pursue working with Calvert full time, it was fun, but both Fred & I write songs & didn`t really relish the prospect of being a "backing band" so we let him drift away, shortly before he died though he called up as he wanted us to make his next studio LP with him, we were definitely up for that, but sadly as we all know he passed away before anything could happen.

We`ve decided to make a live show from the tour that followed the QEH gig available for download, this tape as far as I know has never been heard outside the band and a couple of lucky people who emailed me asking if I had anything interesting.. :) this is from a show at the Carlisle "Stars & Stripes" a huge venue in the middle of nowhere, we were disturbed to find out that we'd only sold about 50 advance tickets, the promoter reassured us with "Don`t worry lads, we had Narareth last week & they only sold eight!" .. behind the stage was a recording studio linked to the front of house PA with tie lines, we asked if they could record the show and they did, not multitrack, but onto a chrome cassette, there is one problem with the sound, every time the front of house engineer pans things from side to side they fade up & down in the recording, it mauls the guitar in Acid Rain something rotten!

Robert Calvert & Krankschaft
Live at the Carlisle Stars & Stripes, 3rd November 1986:

1. Orgone Accumulator
2. Lord of the Hornets
3. Teen Ballad of Dino
4. Quark Strangeness & Charm
5. Radio Egypt
6. Diamond Mine
7. Days of the Underground
8. Ned Ludd
9. Acid Rain
10. Work Song
11. Online
12. Damnation Alley
13. All The Machines Are Quiet
14. Telekinesis
15. Picket Line
16. Robot
17. Test Tube Conceived