John's Children
Encyclopedia
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. Their 1967 single "Desdemona", a Bolan composition, was banned by the BBC
because of the controversial lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly". Their US record label delayed the release their album, Orgasm for four years from its recording date due to objections from Daughters of the American Revolution
.
John's Children were active for less than two years and were not very successful commercially, having released only six singles and one album. But they had a big influence on punk rock
and are seen by some as the precursors of glam rock
. In retrospect the band has been praised for the impact they had, and their singles have become amongst the most sought-after British 1960s rock collectables.
, near Leatherhead
, England, drummer Chris Townson
and singer Andy Ellison
formed a band called the Clockwork Onions, which later became The Few, and then The Silence. The Silence consisted of Townson and Ellison, with Geoff McClelland on guitar and John Hewlett on bass guitar. While performing in France in mid-1966, Townson met The Yardbirds
's manager Simon Napier-Bell
and invited him to come and see The Silence. Napier-Bell described them as "positively the worst group I'd ever seen", but still agreed to manage them. He changed their name to John's Children, dressed them up in white stage outfits and encouraged them to be outrageous to attract the attention of the press. He named the band after its bass player because he played so badly and Napier-Bell wanted to be sure the band would not fire him. Townson described their live acts as "theatre", "anarchy" and "deconstruction". They fought each other on stage, used fake blood and feathers, and they trashed their instruments. In general the band "whip[ped] the audience into a frenzy". They also often posed naked for the press, with flowers covering their private parts.
Napier-Bell signed John's Children to The Yardbirds's record label, Columbia Records
, an EMI
subsidiary, and they released their first single, "Smashed Blocked/Strange Affair" (released as "The Love I Thought I'd Found/Strange Affair" in the UK) in late-1966. Napier-Bell co-wrote "Smashed Blocked" with Hewlett, but because of his lack of confidence in the band's musical abilities, Napier-Bell used session musician
s on the recording. Allmusic described the single as a "disorienting piece of musical mayhem", but said it was "one of the first overtly psychedelic singles". To Napier-Bell's surprise "Smashed Blocked/Strange Affair" broke into the bottom of the US Billboard Hot 100
and reached local top ten charts in Florida and California. In early-1967 they released their second single, "Just What You Want – Just What You'll Get/But You're Mine", which also featured session musicians, plus a guitar solo from The Yardbirds's Jeff Beck
on the B-side. This one made it to the British Top 40.
The band's third single, "Not the Sort of Girl (You'd Like to Take to Bed)" was rejected outright by their UK label, which prompted the band to switch to Track Records
, publishers of artists like The Jimi Hendrix Experience
and The Who
. In the meantime, their US label, White Whale Records
asked for an album, and Napier-Bell and the group obliged, producing Orgasm. This was a fake live album they recorded in the studio with overdubbed
screams taken from The Beatles
's A Hard Day's Night
soundtrack. It was Napier-Bell's idea to give the album a "live" feel to make it seem like the band was very popular in England. But White Whale rejected Orgasm because of its title and pressure from Daughters of the American Revolution
. The label did, however, release it four years later in 1971.
In March 1967 Napier-Bell replaced guitarist McClelland with Marc Bolan
, another of his clients. Napier-Bell had Bolan, an acoustic guitarist, play electric guitar, and take on the role of
the band's singer/songwriter. Bolan composed and sang on the band's next single, "Desdemona", which was banned by the BBC
because of the controversial lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly". He also featured on several unreleased songs and BBC radio sessions, and contributed to the band's antics by whipping the stage with a chain.
as the latter's supporting act
. The Who were notorious for their own wild stage performances, which included smashing their instruments. John's Children pulled out all the stops and upstaged The Who with performances that included Bolan whipping his guitar with a chain, Townson attacking his drums, Ellison and Hewlett pretending to fight each other, and Ellison ripping open pillows and diving into the audience. In Düsseldorf
they caused a riot at the venue, and in Ludwigshafen they nearly prevented The Who from playing. The Who were not happy and John's Children were sent home mid-tour. According to Pete Townshend
, they were "too loud and violent".
Notwithstanding John's Children's antics in Germany, Townson was later asked to replace Keith Moon
on drums near the end of The Who's UK tour in June that year after Moon had injured himself demolishing his drum kit on stage. With no time for rehearsal, Townson performed with The Who for five days, and did it so well, "most of the audience didn't realise it wasn't Keith". But The Who got their revenge on Townson for John's Children's "reckless behaviour" on the German tour: at the end of his last gig with them, they "blew [him] off the stage" with flash powder
.
in London on 29 April 1967. Bolan left in June 1967, after only four months with the band, following disagreements with the way Napier-Bell was producing the band's next single, "A Midsummer Night's Scene". The single was never released, but in its place the B-side of "Desdemona", "Remember Thomas à Becket" was re-recorded with new lyrics and released as "Come and Play with Me in the Garden". Bolan went on to form glam rock
band Tyrannosaurus Rex
(later T. Rex).
After Bolan left, Townson switched to guitar and former roadie Chris Colville took over on drums. John's Children recorded another single, "Go Go Girl", a Bolan composition he later recorded with Tyrannosaurus Rex as "Mustang Ford". John's Children also performed Bolan's "Mustang Ford" version of the song. The band released one more single, "It's Been a Long Time" (issued as an Andy Ellison solo single) and then embarked on a "disastrous" tour of Germany. Their last performance was at the Star-Club
in Hamburg, Germany (substituting for the Bee Gees
), after which they split up in 1968. Ellison went on to make several solo singles. before resurfacing in Jet
in 1974, along with drummer Chris Townson. Jet metamorphosed into Radio Stars
in the mid-Seventies.
John's Children reformed in the mid-Nineties with Boz Boorer
on guitar and former Radio Stars member Martin Gordon
on bass, performing gigs in the UK, Italy, Spain and the USA. In 1999, Ellison, Townson and Gordon were joined by guitarists Trevor White (a former member of Sparks
) and Ian Macleod (Radio Stars) to perform a selection of John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars repertoire, released as "Music for the Herd of Herring" and recorded in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.
With Gordon and Boorer, John's Children performed at the Steve Marriott
Memorial Event at the London Astoria
on 20 April 2001. Ellison, Hewlett and Townson plus guitarist Trevor White officially reformed John's Children in June 2006 and have been performing and recording occasionally ever since. Townson died in February 2008. Several compilation albums of John's Children's music have been issued retrospectively, some of which include previously unreleased material. An account of Napier-Bell's time with John's Children and Bolan is given in his 2005 book You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.
at Allmusic described John's Children as an "interesting, if minor, blip on the British mod and psychedelic
scene", but added that because they were better known for their "flamboyant image and antics" rather than the music they made, they "are perhaps accorded more reverence by '60s collectors and aficionados than they deserve". In a Chris Townson
obituary
published in The Independent
in February 2008, Pierre Perrone wrote that John's Children's live performances had "raw energy and power chords worthy of The Who
". Perfect Sound Forever
columnist Richard Mason said that John's Children "made a fine upstanding racket. Guitars and drums are thrashed within an inch of their lives; vocals are intoned with, one might hazard a guess, a grin on the face of the protagonist." Their lyrics were "generally disrespectful and crazed" and their music was "eccentric, loud, irreverent and to the point". Mason believes that musically the band was not as bad as generally perceived: "They sound as if they can actually play but would rather enjoy themselves, which is no mean feat." He said that they came from an era that is "for the most part misunderstood, either cloyingly romanticised or short-sightedly vilified", and today the story of John's Children is "relegated to a condescending historical footnote".
Despite having little success, John's Children were a heavy influence on punk rock
, with their shambolic stage presentation and headline-grabbing controversies. Allmusic called them "pre-glam rockers of sorts", and The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock said that John's Children "have claims to being [the] first-ever glam rock
band". Notwithstanding their brief tenure in the spotlight, the group went on to achieve a cult following that persists today. Their handful of singles have become amongst the most sought-after British 1960s rock collectables. A copy of their unreleased single, "A Midsummer Night's Scene" was auctioned in 2002 for £
3,700. Their controversial song "Desdemona" was covered by several bands, including punk rock band, The Jam
.
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
/mod rock band from Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, England that briefly featured future T. Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
frontman 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...
. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off a 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...
in Germany in 1967 when they upstaged the headliners. Their 1967 single "Desdemona", a Bolan composition, was banned by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
because of the controversial lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly". Their US record label delayed the release their album, Orgasm for four years from its recording date due to objections from Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
.
John's Children were active for less than two years and were not very successful commercially, having released only six singles and one album. But they had a big influence on punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and are seen by some as the precursors of glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
. In retrospect the band has been praised for the impact they had, and their singles have become amongst the most sought-after British 1960s rock collectables.
Inception
In 1965 in Great BookhamGreat Bookham
-Today:The village has a high street, located in Great Bookham, which is, as its name suggests, the larger of the two villages. It has two butchers, a family run fishmongers and two traditional greengrocers...
, near Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, England, drummer Chris Townson
Chris Townson
Chris Townson was a musician, illustrator and social worker. He was a founding member of the 1960s rock group John's Children, and a member of several other bands, including Jook, Jet and Radio Stars...
and singer Andy Ellison
Andy Ellison
Andrew "Andy" Ellison is a musician and vocalist best known as the frontman in John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars....
formed a band called the Clockwork Onions, which later became The Few, and then The Silence. The Silence consisted of Townson and Ellison, with Geoff McClelland on guitar and John Hewlett on bass guitar. While performing in France in mid-1966, Townson met The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
's manager Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
and invited him to come and see The Silence. Napier-Bell described them as "positively the worst group I'd ever seen", but still agreed to manage them. He changed their name to John's Children, dressed them up in white stage outfits and encouraged them to be outrageous to attract the attention of the press. He named the band after its bass player because he played so badly and Napier-Bell wanted to be sure the band would not fire him. Townson described their live acts as "theatre", "anarchy" and "deconstruction". They fought each other on stage, used fake blood and feathers, and they trashed their instruments. In general the band "whip[ped] the audience into a frenzy". They also often posed naked for the press, with flowers covering their private parts.
Napier-Bell signed John's Children to The Yardbirds's record label, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, an EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
subsidiary, and they released their first single, "Smashed Blocked/Strange Affair" (released as "The Love I Thought I'd Found/Strange Affair" in the UK) in late-1966. Napier-Bell co-wrote "Smashed Blocked" with Hewlett, but because of his lack of confidence in the band's musical abilities, Napier-Bell used session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s on the recording. Allmusic described the single as a "disorienting piece of musical mayhem", but said it was "one of the first overtly psychedelic singles". To Napier-Bell's surprise "Smashed Blocked/Strange Affair" broke into the bottom of the US Billboard Hot 100
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...
and reached local top ten charts in Florida and California. In early-1967 they released their second single, "Just What You Want – Just What You'll Get/But You're Mine", which also featured session musicians, plus a guitar solo from The Yardbirds's Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
on the B-side. This one made it to the British Top 40.
The band's third single, "Not the Sort of Girl (You'd Like to Take to Bed)" was rejected outright by their UK label, which prompted the band to switch to 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...
, publishers of artists like The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
and 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...
. In the meantime, their US label, White Whale Records
White Whale Records
White Whale Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lassiff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles....
asked for an album, and Napier-Bell and the group obliged, producing Orgasm. This was a fake live album they recorded in the studio with overdubbed
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
screams taken from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
's A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
soundtrack. It was Napier-Bell's idea to give the album a "live" feel to make it seem like the band was very popular in England. But White Whale rejected Orgasm because of its title and pressure from Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
. The label did, however, release it four years later in 1971.
In March 1967 Napier-Bell replaced guitarist McClelland with 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...
, another of his clients. Napier-Bell had Bolan, an acoustic guitarist, play electric guitar, and take on the role of
the band's singer/songwriter. Bolan composed and sang on the band's next single, "Desdemona", which was banned by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
because of the controversial lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly". He also featured on several unreleased songs and BBC radio sessions, and contributed to the band's antics by whipping the stage with a chain.
The Who
In April 1967 Napier-Bell arranged for John's Children to tour Germany with one of Britain's premier rock groups, The WhoThe 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...
as the latter's supporting act
Opening act
An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...
. The Who were notorious for their own wild stage performances, which included smashing their instruments. John's Children pulled out all the stops and upstaged The Who with performances that included Bolan whipping his guitar with a chain, Townson attacking his drums, Ellison and Hewlett pretending to fight each other, and Ellison ripping open pillows and diving into the audience. In Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
they caused a riot at the venue, and in Ludwigshafen they nearly prevented The Who from playing. The Who were not happy and John's Children were sent home mid-tour. According to Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, they were "too loud and violent".
Notwithstanding John's Children's antics in Germany, Townson was later asked to replace Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
on drums near the end of The Who's UK tour in June that year after Moon had injured himself demolishing his drum kit on stage. With no time for rehearsal, Townson performed with The Who for five days, and did it so well, "most of the audience didn't realise it wasn't Keith". But The Who got their revenge on Townson for John's Children's "reckless behaviour" on the German tour: at the end of his last gig with them, they "blew [him] off the stage" with flash powder
Flash powder
Flash powder is a pyrotechnic composition, a mixture of oxidizer and metallic fuel, which burns quickly and if confined produces a loud report. It is widely used in theatrical pyrotechnics and fireworks and was once used for flashes in photography.Different varieties of flash powder are made from...
.
Breakup and legacy
John's Children played at The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream concert at the Alexandra PalaceAlexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
in London on 29 April 1967. Bolan left in June 1967, after only four months with the band, following disagreements with the way Napier-Bell was producing the band's next single, "A Midsummer Night's Scene". The single was never released, but in its place the B-side of "Desdemona", "Remember Thomas à Becket" was re-recorded with new lyrics and released as "Come and Play with Me in the Garden". Bolan went on to form glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band Tyrannosaurus Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
(later T. Rex).
After Bolan left, Townson switched to guitar and former roadie Chris Colville took over on drums. John's Children recorded another single, "Go Go Girl", a Bolan composition he later recorded with Tyrannosaurus Rex as "Mustang Ford". John's Children also performed Bolan's "Mustang Ford" version of the song. The band released one more single, "It's Been a Long Time" (issued as an Andy Ellison solo single) and then embarked on a "disastrous" tour of Germany. Their last performance was at the Star-Club
Star-Club
The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany that opened Friday 13 April 1962 and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the sixties, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 31 December 1969 and the building it occupied was...
in Hamburg, Germany (substituting for the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
), after which they split up in 1968. Ellison went on to make several solo singles. before resurfacing in 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:...
in 1974, along with drummer Chris Townson. Jet metamorphosed into 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...
in the mid-Seventies.
John's Children reformed in the mid-Nineties with Boz Boorer
Boz Boorer
Boz Boorer is a British guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group, The Polecats, and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey.-The Polecats:The band "Cult Heroes" was formed in 1977 by Tim Worman , Boz...
on guitar and former Radio Stars member Martin Gordon
Martin Gordon
Martin Gordon is an English musician, who plays bass guitar and piano.-Biography:Martin Gordon was born in Ipswich, and grew up Hitchin, Hertfordshire...
on bass, performing gigs in the UK, Italy, Spain and the USA. In 1999, Ellison, Townson and Gordon were joined by guitarists Trevor White (a former member of Sparks
Sparks (band)
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
) and Ian Macleod (Radio Stars) to perform a selection of John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars repertoire, released as "Music for the Herd of Herring" and recorded in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.
With Gordon and Boorer, John's Children performed at the Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
Memorial Event at the London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
on 20 April 2001. Ellison, Hewlett and Townson plus guitarist Trevor White officially reformed John's Children in June 2006 and have been performing and recording occasionally ever since. Townson died in February 2008. Several compilation albums of John's Children's music have been issued retrospectively, some of which include previously unreleased material. An account of Napier-Bell's time with John's Children and Bolan is given in his 2005 book You Don't Have To Say You Love Me.
Reception and influence
Music critic Richie UnterbergerRichie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
at Allmusic described John's Children as an "interesting, if minor, blip on the British mod and psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
scene", but added that because they were better known for their "flamboyant image and antics" rather than the music they made, they "are perhaps accorded more reverence by '60s collectors and aficionados than they deserve". In a Chris Townson
Chris Townson
Chris Townson was a musician, illustrator and social worker. He was a founding member of the 1960s rock group John's Children, and a member of several other bands, including Jook, Jet and Radio Stars...
obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
published in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
in February 2008, Pierre Perrone wrote that John's Children's live performances had "raw energy and power chords worthy of 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...
". Perfect Sound Forever
Perfect Sound Forever (magazine)
Perfect Sound Forever is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever (est. 1995) is one of the longest-running online-only music magazines . Along with Michael Goldberg's Addicted to Noise Perfect Sound Forever...
columnist Richard Mason said that John's Children "made a fine upstanding racket. Guitars and drums are thrashed within an inch of their lives; vocals are intoned with, one might hazard a guess, a grin on the face of the protagonist." Their lyrics were "generally disrespectful and crazed" and their music was "eccentric, loud, irreverent and to the point". Mason believes that musically the band was not as bad as generally perceived: "They sound as if they can actually play but would rather enjoy themselves, which is no mean feat." He said that they came from an era that is "for the most part misunderstood, either cloyingly romanticised or short-sightedly vilified", and today the story of John's Children is "relegated to a condescending historical footnote".
Despite having little success, John's Children were a heavy influence on punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, with their shambolic stage presentation and headline-grabbing controversies. Allmusic called them "pre-glam rockers of sorts", and The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock said that John's Children "have claims to being [the] first-ever glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band". Notwithstanding their brief tenure in the spotlight, the group went on to achieve a cult following that persists today. Their handful of singles have become amongst the most sought-after British 1960s rock collectables. A copy of their unreleased single, "A Midsummer Night's Scene" was auctioned in 2002 for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3,700. Their controversial song "Desdemona" was covered by several bands, including punk rock band, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
.
Line-up
- Andy EllisonAndy EllisonAndrew "Andy" Ellison is a musician and vocalist best known as the frontman in John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars....
: vocals (b. 5 July 1946, FinchleyFinchleyFinchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
, North LondonNorth LondonNorth London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
) - Geoff McClelland: guitar (b. 1947)
- 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...
: guitar (replaced McClelland, March 1967) - John Hewlett: bass guitar (b. 1948)
- Chris TownsonChris TownsonChris Townson was a musician, illustrator and social worker. He was a founding member of the 1960s rock group John's Children, and a member of several other bands, including Jook, Jet and Radio Stars...
: drums/guitar (b. 24 July 1947, BatterseaBatterseaBattersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, South West LondonSouth West (London sub region)The South West is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of London Borough of , Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth. The sub region was established in 2008. The south west has a population of 1,600,000 and is the location...
– d. 10 February 2008) - Chris Colville: drums (only at live-appearances)
Black & White album
The 2011 album Black & White features the following line up:- Andy Ellison
- Chris Townson
- Boz BoorerBoz BoorerBoz Boorer is a British guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group, The Polecats, and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey.-The Polecats:The band "Cult Heroes" was formed in 1977 by Tim Worman , Boz...
- Martin GordonMartin GordonMartin Gordon is an English musician, who plays bass guitar and piano.-Biography:Martin Gordon was born in Ipswich, and grew up Hitchin, Hertfordshire...
Singles
- "Smashed Blocked" (Napier-BellSimon Napier-BellSimon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
/Hewlett) / "Strange Affair"- (UK A-Side title: "The Love I Thought I'd Found"; Germany B-Side: "Just What You Want..." USA: Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The 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...
and local (Florida) Top-10s; backing by L.A. session musicianSession musicianSession musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s) (UK: Columbia (EMI) DB 8030, October 14, 1966, USA: White WhaleWhite Whale RecordsWhite Whale Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lassiff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles....
, December 1966, Germany: Polydor 59069, 1967)
- (UK A-Side title: "The Love I Thought I'd Found"; Germany B-Side: "Just What You Want..." USA: Billboard Hot 100
- "Just What You Want – Just What You'll Get" (Hewlett, TownsonChris TownsonChris Townson was a musician, illustrator and social worker. He was a founding member of the 1960s rock group John's Children, and a member of several other bands, including Jook, Jet and Radio Stars...
, EllisonAndy EllisonAndrew "Andy" Ellison is a musician and vocalist best known as the frontman in John's Children, Jet and Radio Stars....
, McClelland) / "But She's Mine"- (A-side: backing by English session musicianSession musicianSession musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s; Jeff BeckJeff BeckGeoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
guests on B-side) (UK: Columbia (EMI) DB 8124, February 3, 1967)
- (A-side: backing by English session musician
- "Desdemona" (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...
) / "Remember Thomas à Becket"- (Bolan on A-side, McClelland on B-side) (UK: TrackTrack RecordsTrack 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...
604 003, 24 May 1967; Germany: Polydor 59 104)
- (Bolan on A-side, McClelland on B-side) (UK: Track
- "Midsummer Night's Scene" (Bolan) / "Sara Crazy Child" (full length) (Bolan) (release cancelled)
- (UK: TrackTrack RecordsTrack 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...
604 005, June 1967)
- (UK: Track
- "Come and Play with Me in the Garden" (Ellison, Hewlett)/ "Sara Crazy Child" (edited) (Bolan)
- (Bolan plays on B-side only) (UK: TrackTrack RecordsTrack 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...
604 005, 14 July 1967; Germany: Polydor 59 116)
- (Bolan plays on B-side only) (UK: Track
- "Go Go Girl" (Bolan)/ "Jagged Time Lapse" (Hewlett, McClelland)
- (A-side is version of Bolan's "Mustang Ford" and features Bolan on guitar, B-side from remaining recordings with Geoff McClelland) (UK: TrackTrack RecordsTrack 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...
604 010, 6 October 1967; Germany: Polydor 59 160; Greece: International Polydor 244)
- (A-side is version of Bolan's "Mustang Ford" and features Bolan on guitar, B-side from remaining recordings with Geoff McClelland) (UK: Track
- "It's Been A Long Time" / "Arthur Green" (B-side only, Andy Ellison solo single)
- (UK: TrackTrack RecordsTrack 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...
604 018, December 1967)
- (UK: Track
Albums
- Orgasm (White WhaleWhite Whale RecordsWhite Whale Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lassiff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles....
September 1970, projected release: 18 March 1967) - Music For the Herd of Herring – (John's Children/Jet/Radio Stars - live) 2001, Radiant Future RecordsRadiant Future RecordsRadiant 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...
(REVP001CD) - Black & White (Acid JazzAcid Jazz RecordsAcid Jazz is a record label based in east London. It takes its name from acid jazz, a genre of jazz music. Alternative version states that the genre itself was named after the record label...
AJXCD 234, June 6, 2011)
Compilations
- A Midsummer Night's Scene – 1988, Bam Caruso (MARI 095 CD)
- Smashed Blocked! – 1997, NMC (Pilot 12)
- Jagged Time Lapse – 1997, NMC (Pilot 18
- John's Children (EP) – 1999, Trash (LARD 20 07 99)
- The Complete John's Children – 2002, NMC (Pilot 118)
Notable other releases
- "Incredible Sound Show Stories Vol.5 – Yellow Street Boutique"
- (A Sampler featuring songs recorded by "The Silence")