STEWART LEE SALUTES THE NIGHTINGALES’ ROBERT LLOYD IN KING ROCKER

FROM MARCH to November 1972, an 18-foot fibreglass King Kong stood outside Birmingham’s Bull Ring shopping centre. Created by pop artist Nicholas Monro, the statue was part of a public arts initiative to bring modern sculpture to British cities. Birmingham declined to buy the statue.

The looming effigy stayed in the minds of two Midlanders: comedian and satirist Stewart Lee (right, on right) and cult alt-rocker Robert Lloyd (on left) of The Nightingales and The Prefects. In 2018, a plan was hatched to make a documentary portrait of Lloyd and his 40-plus years in music, with the mighty ape as metaphor for this prophet without honour on his own turf.

“Stewart’s got this thing, sort of, that Birmingham’s got a history of not knowing its culture when it’s got it,” Lloyd tells MOJO. “I think that’s where I fit in. And I am kind of gorilla shaped – my arse sticks out and my belly sticks out, and I think he saw me on-stage beating my chest, and he just got this impression in his head. I think Stewart’s intrigued, sort of, by me, as someone who’s never sold any records and doesn’t really have any fanbase – it’s like, why has this loser carried on for all these years? But he knows it’s good. So why is something so good unrecognised?”

These are serious, pertinent questions of a universal nature, but the film – directed by ’Gales fan Michael Cummings, whose CV includes Brass Eye and Toast Of London – also promises to be entertaining. With its subject’s full cooperation, and new and archive film of the band, it will feature ‘Roobarb & Custard’-style animations, a visit to the King Kong statue’s new home in the Lake District, contributions from fans and fellow-travellers including broadcaster Samira Ahmed and ’70s sex comedy eminence Robin Askwith, and others.

“When he sees a comedic thing he can exploit, Stewart goes down that route,” says Lloyd. “A bit like his own act really. It doesn’t necessarily have to be true to be funny. But I sort of consider it Stewart and Michael’s film. It was never my idea, particularly. Ultimately, I’m a relatively shy bloke and I have a certain amount of dread about being thrust into the spotlight. I’ve just sort of let them tell the story they want to tell, I trust them. Stew’s never done anything half-arsed as far as I’m concerned and I think there’s an element of him wanting to surprise me, and I’m happy with that.”

The film’s out in spring or early summer, and crowdfunding is ongoing. Meanwhile, The Nightingales tour the UK in April around new album Four Against Fate. A reissue campaign, including a box set of their many Peel sessions (only The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit did more), is also in prospect.

“There are times when you think, You’re a fucking idiot, Lloyd, you should just pack it in,” he concludes. “The making no money from it… and I don’t feel particularly loved or anything. But other times there’s a certain stubbornness about it. When the majority of stuff is kind of cack, unless the good ones keep on going, we’re kind of doomed. My hope was that the film’s gonna upgrade the profile of the band… I still have a cynicism about it, but I’d like to think there’s a corner to be turned.” Donate at: www.kingrockerfilm.com