Gene Loves Jezebel
Encyclopedia
Gene Loves Jezebel are a gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

 band from the early 1980s, now two separate bands of the same name, founded by identical twin brothers, Michael
Michael Aston
Michael Aston, born August 22, 1957, is the founder and current leader of the U.S. version of Gene Loves Jezebel.In 1989 he left Gene Loves Jezebel due to his unhappiness with the direction of the band and strained relations with his twin brother, Jay. Moving to California, Michael started The...

 and Jay Aston (born John Peter Aston).

Early years: 1980-1989

Originally called Slav Aryan, Gene Loves Jezebel began in 1980 with the Aston brothers, guitarist Ian Hudson and a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...

. The Astons grew up in Porthcawl
Porthcawl
Porthcawl is a town on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, 25 miles west of the capital city, Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, making the move to London in 1981. With a new home, and shortly thereafter, the new name, the trio with bassist Steve Radmall and drummer James Chater (quit Winter 1982/3), played several live shows and were signed by Situation Two
Situation Two
Situation Two, aka Situation 2, was a record label created in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of the larger Beggars Banquet label. At the time, Beggars Banquet records were distributed by WEA Records; so, to appeal to the indie audience and to get releases into the indie charts, the Situation Two...

. In May 1982, the label released Gene Loves Jezebel's demo single Shaving My Neck. The band then added bassist Julianne Regan
Julianne Regan
Julianne Regan is an English singer, song writer, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboard player. She is best known for being the lead singer of the band, All About Eve.- Early life :...

 followed, briefly, by a keyboardist, Jean-Marc Lederman
Jean-Marc Lederman
Jean-Marc Lederman is a Belgian keyboard player and producer. He has worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Belgian rock band Streets, and Front 242, and with other artists including Julianne Regan and Alain Bashung.His main projects are The...

. Regan left within a year to form All About Eve
All About Eve (band)
All About Eve were a British rock/pop band. The creative core consisted of the Coventry born Julianne Regan , and the Huddersfield born Andy Cousin , with other members changing over the years...

, leaving Ian Hudson briefly playing bass until Stephen Marshall joined. This line up went on to perform some 100 gigs and recorded the first album Promise, along with their first John Peel Session and the B-side Stephen. Peter Rizzo joined in 1984. Gene Loves Jezebel underwent a dozen or so line up changes between 1981-1985.

The band released two more singles in 1983 before Promise peaked at number 8 in the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...

. In 1984, the group recorded a John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

 radio session for BBC and toured America with fellow Welsh artist John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....

. The second album, Immigrant, was released in mid-1985. However, during an agonizing American tour for Immigrant, founding member Ian Hudson left the band and was replaced by former Generation X
Generation X (band)
Generation X was a British punk rock band, formed on 21 November 1976 by Billy Idol, Tony James and John Towe.-History:...

 and Chelsea
Chelsea (band)
Chelsea are an English punk rock band, formed in London in 1976.Three of the four original band members went on to help found Generation X. More than two decades after its release, "Right to Work", Chelsea's debut single, was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all...

 guitarist James Stevenson
James Stevenson (musician)
James Stevenson is a UK punk / rock guitarist, at one time appearing with The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel, Generation X and Chelsea.-Music career:...

 (who later also played rhythm guitar on tour with The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

).

During 1986, the group moved its contract to Situation Two's parent company, Beggar's Banquet Records and distribution rights in US to Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

. The subsequent promotion increased pop-chart success for the group. The single Sweetest Thing briefly hit the Top 75 in UK and the album Discover reached number 32 in UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

. At this time, the group also found heavy rotation on college and countercultural radio stations across America. The band had slowly turned their attention to dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

. The slick and catchy guitar hooks of singles Desire and Heartache leapt to #6 and #72, respectively, on Los Angeles' 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...

 station, KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...

. Later that year, former Spear of Destiny member Chris Bell became the band's fifth drummer.

Gene Loves Jezebel's fourth album, The House of Dolls, was released late in 1987 and yielded the singles, 20 Killer Hurts and The Motion of Love, which grazed the U.S. pop charts. Motion of Love was the band's biggest UK hit single, reaching number 56. The third single from The House of Dolls, Suspicion, for the first time surfaced on The Billboard Hot 100. Despite rising mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....

 success, the new pop-oriented direction proved to be too polished and commercial for Michael Aston, who left during the recording of the album and only appears on two songs, leaving Jay Aston as the main songwriter.

Split and brief reunion: 1990-1997

While Michael went solo, the rest of the band continued as Gene Loves Jezebel, which Michael was not happy about, and recorded two albums, Kiss of Life in 1989
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

, followed by Heavenly Bodies. The band's highest-charting American single emerged in August 1990 when Jealous, the major single from Kiss of Life, reached #68 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #1 on its Modern Rock chart. Three years later, Jay Aston and company released Heavenly Bodies, which did well in Europe and on American college radio. Unfortunately, the group's American label folded one year later, and, after a few more live shows, so did Gene Loves Jezebel.

While Jay performed occasional acoustic shows under his own name, Michael played with members of Scenic, then formed a new band called the Immigrants (re-named Edith Grove) and later released a primarily acoustic solo album, Why Me, Why This, Why Now. Michael and Jay began working together again that same year, and recorded two songs with Stevenson, Bell and Rizzo for a GLJ best-of compilation, released in September 1995.

The brothers were reconciled in the mid-1990s, writing some new songs together, and sharing a house in Los Angeles. They initially used Michael's band from the Why Me album era to back them up. In 1997 Michael organized a tour for the brothers under the name "The Pre-Raphaelite Brothers", the idea being to perform Gene Loves Jezebel material and material from each of the brothers' solo careers, with a new set of musicians, although the financial incentives of touring under the band identity meant that they performed under the Gene Loves Jezebel name. A new Gene Loves Jezebel album was planned, but Jay insisted that the other members of the band from prior to the tour were involved rather than the LA musicians, which Michael agreed to.

The album VII was recorded and a US tour undertaken to support it, but the brothers' reconciliation was short-lived. Towards the end of the tour, a dispute over how the profits from the tour would be shared out (Michael keeping most of the money as he had organized the tour) led to a fight between the two brothers and the tour was finished without Michael.

Two Gene Loves Jezebels: 1997-present day

Although Michael had again left the band, he began performing with the band from the earlier US tour using the Gene Loves Jezebel name. According to Michael, he refused to be pushed out of the band after all of the work he put into the reunion. When Jay and the band returned to the UK, they released VII without the three tracks that Michael had sung on.

In October 1997, Jay sued Michael over rights to the name "Gene Loves Jezebel", and after a protracted court battle, Jay eventually dropped the lawsuit. Jay Aston then continued using the name, and Michael subsequently trademarked the "Gene Loves Jezebel" name in the United States, while Jay owns the UK trademark.

Since the late 90s there have been two versions of Gene Loves Jezebel, causing confusion among fans. Michael leads the US version of the band and has toured both the US and the UK supporting releases such as Love Lies Bleeding (1999), Giving Up the Ghost (2001) and Exploding Girls (2003). Jay Aston leads the UK version of the band, also featuring James Stevenson
James Stevenson
James Stevenson may refer to:*James Stevenson , American actor*James Stevenson , English cricketer*James Stevenson , artist and author of children's books*James Stevenson...

 and Pete Rizzo, and has toured both the US and the UK extensively as well to support releases such as Accept No Substitutes (2002),The Thornfield Sessions (2003) and The Anthology, Vols. 1-2 (2006).

On February 15, 2008, a lawsuit was filed by Michael Aston in California's Central District Court, against "Chris Bell, James Stevenson, Jay Aston, John Aston, Libertalia Entertainment and others" for trademark infringement. In a posting on their MySpace page on 25 September 2009, Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel announced that an agreement had been reached with Michael Aston regarding the use of the name "Gene Loves Jezebel": Jay Aston's band will be known as "Gene Loves Jezebel" in the UK and "Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel" within the US; Michael Aston's band will be known as "Gene Loves Jezebel" in the US and "Michael Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel" in the UK. The settlement agreement has been posted on Michael's Gene Loves Jezebel website.

Jay Aston contributed vocals to the cover of Rolling Stones' "Midnight Mile" on the 2010 album, Small Distortions, by the Belgian music-project La Femme Verte, assembled by ex-Kid Montana
Kid Montana
Kid Montana began as an alter-ego for Belgian musician Jean-Marc Lederman in 1981. He released an EP entitled Statistics Mean Nothing When You Get On The Wrong Plane in early 1982. Following this he was joined by American singer Dudley Kludt for the remainder of the groups life-time...

 member Jean-Marc Lederman
Jean-Marc Lederman
Jean-Marc Lederman is a Belgian keyboard player and producer. He has worked with numerous bands including Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Belgian rock band Streets, and Front 242, and with other artists including Julianne Regan and Alain Bashung.His main projects are The...

.

In 2011 Michael Aston contributed vocals on a new version of "Desire (Come And Get It)", a single released by Argentinian DJ/Producer/Musician Electronic Fair.

On Nov 16, 2011, Jay Aston and James Stevenson appeared on stage at the Brixton Accademy London with the Smashing Pumpkins to perform the song 'Stephen'.

Albums

Year Title UK Indie Chart Position UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

October 1983
1983 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...

Promise
Promise (Gene Loves Jezebel album)
Promise is the debut album by British gothic rock act Gene Loves Jezebel. Released in 1983, it reached a peak of number 8 on the charts there.-Track listing:#Upstairs 3:18#Bruises 3:38...

#8
June 1985
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...

Immigrant
July 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...

Discover #32
October 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

The House Of Dolls #81
July 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...

Kiss Of Life²
June 1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....

Heavenly Bodies²
November 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....

In the Afterglow (live)
1997
1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...

VII²
1999
1999 in music
-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....

Love Lies Bleeding¹
2001
2001 in music
See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....

Giving Up The Ghost¹
2003
2003 in music
-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...

Exploding Girls¹
2003
2003 in music
-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...

The Thornfield Sessions²

Singles

Year Title UK Indie Chart Position
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...

UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

US Chart Position
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

May 1982
1982 in music
This is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....

"Shaving My Neck"
May 1983
1983 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...

"Screaming for Emmalene" #18
September 1983
1983 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...

"Bruises" #7
April 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...

"Influenza (relapse)" #11
June 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...

"Shame (Whole Heart Howl)" #14
June 1985
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...

"Cow" #9
November 1985
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...

"Desire" #4
March 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...

"Sweetest Thing" #75
June 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...

"Heartache" #71
October 1986
1986 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...

"Desire (Come and Get It)"
August 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

"The Motion Of Love" #56
December 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

"Gorgeous" #68
January 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

"Every Door" (withdrawn)
January 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

"The Motion of Love" #87
August 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...

"Jealous"² #1
December 1990
1990 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...

"Tangled Up In You"²
May 1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....

"Josephina"²
1999
1999 in music
-Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia....

Survive This EP (promo only)¹

¹ Michael Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel
² Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel

External links

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