Andy Ellison
Encyclopedia
Andrew "Andy" Ellison is a musician
and vocalist best known as the frontman in John's Children
, Jet
and Radio Stars
.
During the height of John's Children's popularity, he carried a pillowcase stuffed with feathers, throwing them around the stage. On the group's (in)famous 1967 tour with The Who
, Ellison threw feathers around the stage so much that Roger Daltrey
could not sing.
A song
sung by Ellison, "It's Been A Long Time," appears on the soundtrack
- better known for its contributions from The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic
- to the film
, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. "It's Been A Long Time" also featured on the compilation album
, Backtrack 1, a Track Records
release featuring The Who and Jimi Hendrix
amongst others.
Radio Stars
, a new wave
band, had one UK
Top 40 hit
, "Nervous Wreck" in early 1978. It peaked at #39. The b-side
to the single
was a cover of Marc Bolan
's "Horrible Breath", a John's Children staple.
In the 1990s, Ellison fronted a reformed version of John's Children. Radio Stars reformed for a one-off gig in London in 2008 to mark the release of their Something For the Weekend live release on Radiant Future Records
.
Stories and myths abound around the legendary, cult, pop-art, mod, 60's band JOHN'S CHILDREN. Known for their wild stage act and some say the fore-runners and godfathers of punk.
In their all white outfits and school boy looks they seemed the epitome of angelic charm........ until the four of them took to the stage!
On a German tour with the WHO in 1967, they caused such riots that the Police were forced to bring in water canons to the 12,000 seater stadium. The WHO were upstaged and couldn't play. Consequently they were thrown off the tour, had all their equipment confiscated and were ceremoniously deported.
They were managed by 60's maestro SIMON NAPIER BELL, who introduced a young mod by the name of MARC BOLAN to the band. The band then introduced a world of mayhem to their new young guitarist, handing him his first electric guitar and a wall of 20 Jordan amplifiers, the loudest in the world shipped over from the USA and made by NASA.
They owned their own club, 'The Johnschildren Club' in Surrey, were protected by 'The Richardsons,' (a well know South London rival firm of gangsters to 'The Krays)', and drove around in AL CAPONE'S original white Oldsmobile convertible car, (specially shipped over from the Chicago), and in a strange dichotomy, (Mods verses Rockers), were escorted from gig to gig by an entourage of Hells Angels!
Their first album ORGASM was banned in America, as were a string of singles. the first being DESDEMONA written by MARC and banned by the BBC. Another single A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SCENE, is now one of the most sought after singles ever, the last copy exchanging hands for £6,000.
www.johnschildren.co.uk
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and vocalist best known as the frontman in John's Children
John's Children
John's Children were a 1960s pop art/mod rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off a tour with The Who in Germany in 1967 when they upstaged the headliners...
, Jet
Jet (UK band)
Jet were a glam rock band from London formed in 1974. They released one album in 1975 before splitting up, with the bulk of the band going on to become the punk/new wave band Radio Stars.-History:...
and Radio Stars
Radio Stars
Radio Stars are an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released three albums and had one UK Top 40 single.-Biography:Radio Stars were formed by ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison, Sparks exile Martin Gordon , and Ian MacLeod in 1977, following the end of their underachieving...
.
During the height of John's Children's popularity, he carried a pillowcase stuffed with feathers, throwing them around the stage. On the group's (in)famous 1967 tour with The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Ellison threw feathers around the stage so much that Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
could not sing.
A song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
sung by Ellison, "It's Been A Long Time," appears on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
- better known for its contributions from The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
- to the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. "It's Been A Long Time" also featured on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Backtrack 1, a Track Records
Track Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
release featuring The Who and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
amongst others.
Radio Stars
Radio Stars
Radio Stars are an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released three albums and had one UK Top 40 single.-Biography:Radio Stars were formed by ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison, Sparks exile Martin Gordon , and Ian MacLeod in 1977, following the end of their underachieving...
, a new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band, had one UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Top 40 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Nervous Wreck" in early 1978. It peaked at #39. The b-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
was a cover of Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
's "Horrible Breath", a John's Children staple.
In the 1990s, Ellison fronted a reformed version of John's Children. Radio Stars reformed for a one-off gig in London in 2008 to mark the release of their Something For the Weekend live release on Radiant Future Records
Radiant Future Records
Radiant Future Records is a British independent record label distributed by Voiceprint, and home to one-time Sparks bassist Martin Gordon, Jet, Radio Stars, John's Children, the Blue Meanies and related artists...
.
Discography
- Cornflake Zoo - solo singles, demos, and rarities - CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
- VoiceprintVoiceprintVoiceprint can refer to the spectrogram of a voice. More specific uses include:* VoicePrint, Canada's broadcast reading service* Voiceprint Records, an English record label* The stored template used to identify a person via their voice in Speaker recognition...
VP364CD Release date: 11 September 2006
- "You Can't Do ThatYou Can't Do That"You Can't Do That" is a song written by John Lennon and released by The Beatles as the B-side of their sixth British single "Can't Buy Me Love".-Composition:...
" (Lennon/McCartneyLennon/McCartneyThe Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history...
) - "Cornflake Zoo"
- "Hippy Gumbo" (Marc BolanMarc BolanMarc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
) - "It's Been A Long Time"
- "Casbah Candy"
- "Help!Help! (song)"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom....
" (Lennon/McCartney) - "Fool From Upper Eden"
- "Lucky Lie"
- "Train In My Head"
- "To The Beat of A Different Drummer"
- "Life's Too Short"
- "Hurt Myself"
- "She's So Dissatisfied"
- "Something She Said"
- "Heather Lane"
- "Anyway Goodbye"
- Fourplay - self published, 2008. CD-RCD-RA CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
EPGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
featuring four new soloSolo (music)In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
recordingsSound recording and reproductionSound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
writtenSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, recorded and producedRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Ellison in 2007.
- "Anyway Goodbye"
- "She's Trying To Kill Me"
- "Cold Light"
- "Cluster Bombs"
External links
Stories and myths abound around the legendary, cult, pop-art, mod, 60's band JOHN'S CHILDREN. Known for their wild stage act and some say the fore-runners and godfathers of punk.
In their all white outfits and school boy looks they seemed the epitome of angelic charm........ until the four of them took to the stage!
On a German tour with the WHO in 1967, they caused such riots that the Police were forced to bring in water canons to the 12,000 seater stadium. The WHO were upstaged and couldn't play. Consequently they were thrown off the tour, had all their equipment confiscated and were ceremoniously deported.
They were managed by 60's maestro SIMON NAPIER BELL, who introduced a young mod by the name of MARC BOLAN to the band. The band then introduced a world of mayhem to their new young guitarist, handing him his first electric guitar and a wall of 20 Jordan amplifiers, the loudest in the world shipped over from the USA and made by NASA.
They owned their own club, 'The Johnschildren Club' in Surrey, were protected by 'The Richardsons,' (a well know South London rival firm of gangsters to 'The Krays)', and drove around in AL CAPONE'S original white Oldsmobile convertible car, (specially shipped over from the Chicago), and in a strange dichotomy, (Mods verses Rockers), were escorted from gig to gig by an entourage of Hells Angels!
Their first album ORGASM was banned in America, as were a string of singles. the first being DESDEMONA written by MARC and banned by the BBC. Another single A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SCENE, is now one of the most sought after singles ever, the last copy exchanging hands for £6,000.
www.johnschildren.co.uk