Steve Jones (musician)
Encyclopedia
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones (born 3 September 1955) is an English
rock
guitarist
, singer and actor
, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock
band the Sex Pistols
.
icons like Roxy Music
and David Bowie
. He was an only child and his father, Don Jarvis, an amateur boxer, left when he was two years old.
Up to the age of twelve, he grew up in Hammersmith
with his young mother, who worked as a hairdresser, and his grandparents. He then moved to Benbow Road in Shepherd's Bush, with his fourteen criminal convictions and was the subject of a council care-order. He spent a year in a remand centre, which he says was more enjoyable than being at home, and has said that the Sex Pistols saved him from a life of crime.
and Wally Nightingale
in the early 1970s. The Strand were a precursor to the Sex Pistols, where Jones first learned to play guitar. After dropping Wally Nightingale in the mid 1970s, the band was known as The Swankers.
In 1975, Jones went on to co-found the Sex Pistols with Paul Cook
, Glen Matlock
, and later, John Lydon
. Jones is a self-taught guitar player, primarily playing Gibson Les Paul
electric guitars in his early years. His usual guitar was a cream coloured Gibson Les Paul Custom which, according to Filth and the Fury, he had stolen from Mick Ronson
at a David Bowie
concert, when he and his fellow Sex Pistols members posed as road crew members, stealing amplifers and other equipment. Bill Price
, the engineer on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
called Jones one of the tightest guitar players he has ever worked with, implying that his chord and note timing were precise and impeccable.
As well as lead guitar, he played many of the bass guitar parts on the Never Mind The Bollocks album, due to the inability of Sid Vicious
to play to a satisfactory standard in the studio. Glen Matlock
's playing appeared on the tracks recorded when he was still in the band. Jones also uses Hamer Sunburst double-cut guitars, and prefers the White Les Paul Custom as his primary guitar, as stated in the Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Sex Pistols video.
Jones became well known among fans for his "hanky on the head", and his perm
. He also shared Johnny Rotten's extreme dislike of Sid Vicious
' girlfriend, Nancy Spungen
. In an interview for The Filth and the Fury
, he referred to her as "that fucking horrible bird". When the Sex Pistols were interviewed by Bill Grundy
on the Today show on 1 December 1976, Jones openly swore at Grundy after being goaded to do so, causing much controversy and elevating the band's profile.
After the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978, Jones and drummer Paul Cook
co-founded The Professionals
. They released one album, but disbanded after a serious car crash while on tour in the US in 1981. The Professionals' debut album was I Didn't See It Coming
. Jones was also a member of Chequered Past (led by Michael Des Barres
) from 1982 to 1985. They released a self-titled album in 1984.
Jones performed alongside Sex Pistols bandmate Paul Cook on Johnny Thunders
's solo album So Alone
.
Siouxsie and the Banshees thought for a while to engage Jones after the departure of two of their original members. Rehearsals took place in early 1980, and Jones recorded the guitars parts on three songs of the album Kaleidoscope. The experience did not go further than a simple recording session.
Jones also played with Thin Lizzy
, Joan Jett
, Kraut
, Adam Ant
, Bob Dylan
, Iggy Pop
, Andy Taylor
, Megadeth
, Neurotic Outsiders
and had a solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s. His song "Mercy
", from the album of the same name, was used in a Miami Vice
episode called "Stone's War" and was featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. In 1989, he released his second solo album, titled Fire and Gasoline, which featured Jones on guitar and vocals, Terry Nails on bass, and drummer Mickey Curry
.
Jones was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Roseanne
. He had previously played a private detective in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
, and had a role in the 1981 film, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
.
In 1992 a project called Fantasy 7 (known as F7) was recorded, and remains officially un-released. They toured locally in Los Angeles and a few shows in South America featuring the late singer Mark McCoy.
In 1995, Jones played guitar on the self-titled and only album released by P
. The band featured Gibby Haynes
of the Butthole Surfers
and actor Johnny Depp
.
In 1996, Jones formed Neurotic Outsiders
, that featured himself on guitar and vocals, former Guns N' Roses
members Duff McKagan
and Matt Sorum
on rhythm guitar and drums, and John Taylor from Duran Duran
, on bass. They released a self-titled album in 1996. Also in 1996, he took time out to record guitar tracks for The Great Milenko
, an album by Insane Clown Posse
.
Jones produced the self-titled debut albums of the Los Angeles based Buckcherry
and American Pearl
, released in 1999
and 2000
.
He participated in the Sex Pistols reunion concerts and currently resides in Los Angeles. He has since done some studio work, playing guitar on Lisa Marie Presley
's 2005 album, Now What
. Jones played lead guitar on two tracks. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
" which was originally recorded for The Ramones
tribute album We're a Happy Family but only appeared as a hidden track on Now What.
The Sex Pistols, including Jones, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 November and 10 November. This demand led to two further gigs being announced, making five in total. A further gig in Brixton on 12 November was followed by one at the MEN Arena in Manchester
on 17 November. The Glasgow S.E.C.C on 18 November completed the tour.
Jones has recently played with Hollywood United F.C.
, made up mainly of celebrities and former professional footballers.
In 2008, The Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival
as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace & Love Festival
in Sweden, and the Live at Loch Lomond Festival
in Scotland.
Jones' amp during The Sex Pistols in the 70's was a Fender Twin Reverb with Gauss Speakers, and while Glen Matlock was in the band Steve used an MXR Script Phase 90 pedal. The amp used on Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols was a silver face Fender Twin with stock speakers. He also used Music Man Amps during the mid 1977 Scandinavian tour. He used Fender cables. For the Sex Pistols' reunion in 1996, Steve switched to Marshall amps, which he still uses today.
, called 'Jonesy's Jukebox', on Indie 103.1 FM. The premise of the show was that the self-described "Sire of Wilshire" could do whatever he wanted (within FCC
rules), with no direction from station management. You can hear a snippet from the show in the opening scenes of the 2006 film, The Dog Problem.
Jones mixed an eclectic playlist, from his own collection of CDs, with rambling and often humorous interviews of guests from the entertainment industry. Jones kept an acoustic guitar in the studio and frequently performed stream of consciousness songs about the current topic of discussion. Notable guests included Johnny Ramone, Brian Wilson, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Gary Oldman and Sex Pistol's vocalist Johnny Rotten. Musical guests who visited would often perform songs with Jonesy on guitar.
Jonesys' producer (Indie 103.1 Music Director Mark Sovel) was dubbed "Mr. Shovel" and became a comic foil for Jones for the first three years of the show. Subsequently Jones also frequently interacted on-air with "Big Ed", his nickname for the second program producer Kevin Begley.
Indie 103.1 last broadcast Jonesy's Jukebox 14 January 2009; Indie 103.1 ceased to exist as a broadcast radio station on 15 January 2009. Jones was picked up by LA radio Station KROQ in October 2010 to continue his Jonesy's Jukebox segment.
In November 2009 he guested on BBC Radio's 6Music with five Sunday shows titled 'A Month of Sundays with Steve Jones', playing a mix of tunes from his childhood through to the current day. In December 2009, the show was revived ran via internet radio on IAmRogue.com, a website run by producer Ryan Kavanaugh
. This incarnation of the show ended in late March 2010.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, singer and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, best known as guitarist and founding member of the 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...
band the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
.
Childhood
Jones was born in Shepherds Bush. His early influences were Iggy & The Stooges, and glam rockGlam 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...
icons like Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. He was an only child and his father, Don Jarvis, an amateur boxer, left when he was two years old.
Up to the age of twelve, he grew up in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
with his young mother, who worked as a hairdresser, and his grandparents. He then moved to Benbow Road in Shepherd's Bush, with his fourteen criminal convictions and was the subject of a council care-order. He spent a year in a remand centre, which he says was more enjoyable than being at home, and has said that the Sex Pistols saved him from a life of crime.
Career
Jones co-founded The Strand (named after a Roxy Music song) with Paul CookPaul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
and Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale
Wally Nightingale, born Warwick Alan Nightingale in West Kensington, was an English musician. He was best known as the guitarist and founder of the band that eventually became the Sex Pistols. According to guitarist Steve Jones, Nightingale left the band in 1975 after Malcolm McLaren agreed to...
in the early 1970s. The Strand were a precursor to the Sex Pistols, where Jones first learned to play guitar. After dropping Wally Nightingale in the mid 1970s, the band was known as The Swankers.
In 1975, Jones went on to co-found the Sex Pistols with Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
, Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
, and later, John Lydon
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
. Jones is a self-taught guitar player, primarily playing Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
electric guitars in his early years. His usual guitar was a cream coloured Gibson Les Paul Custom which, according to Filth and the Fury, he had stolen from Mick Ronson
Mick Ronson
Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...
at a David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
concert, when he and his fellow Sex Pistols members posed as road crew members, stealing amplifers and other equipment. Bill Price
Bill Price (record producer)
Bill Price is a producer and engineer famed for his work with The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Guns N' Roses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Nymphs and The Waterboys....
, the engineer on Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is the only studio album by the highly influential and controversial English punk rock band The Sex Pistols...
called Jones one of the tightest guitar players he has ever worked with, implying that his chord and note timing were precise and impeccable.
As well as lead guitar, he played many of the bass guitar parts on the Never Mind The Bollocks album, due to the inability of Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
to play to a satisfactory standard in the studio. Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
's playing appeared on the tracks recorded when he was still in the band. Jones also uses Hamer Sunburst double-cut guitars, and prefers the White Les Paul Custom as his primary guitar, as stated in the Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Sex Pistols video.
Jones became well known among fans for his "hanky on the head", and his perm
Permanent wave
A permanent wave, commonly called a perm, involves the use of chemicals to break and reform the bonds of the hair. The hair is washed and wrapped on a perm rod and waving lotion is applied with a base. This solution creates a chemical reaction that softens the inner structure of the hair by...
. He also shared Johnny Rotten's extreme dislike of Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
' girlfriend, Nancy Spungen
Nancy Spungen
Nancy Laura Spungen was the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Spungen has been the subject of controversy among music historians and fans of the Sex Pistols.-Early life:...
. In an interview for The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury
The Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.-About the film:The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released in British cinemas on 15...
, he referred to her as "that fucking horrible bird". When the Sex Pistols were interviewed by Bill Grundy
Bill Grundy
William "Bill" Grundy was an English television presenter and former host of Today, a regional news programme broadcast on Thames Television...
on the Today show on 1 December 1976, Jones openly swore at Grundy after being goaded to do so, causing much controversy and elevating the band's profile.
After the Sex Pistols broke up in 1978, Jones and drummer Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
co-founded The Professionals
The Professionals (band)
The Professionals were an English punk rock band in the late 1970s and early 1980s formed by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer and Paul Cook after that band's demise.-Career:...
. They released one album, but disbanded after a serious car crash while on tour in the US in 1981. The Professionals' debut album was I Didn't See It Coming
I Didn't See It Coming
I Didn't See It Coming was the only album by punk rock band The Professionals to be released in the band's lifetime. It was first released by Virgin Records in 1981...
. Jones was also a member of Chequered Past (led by Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres
Lord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert...
) from 1982 to 1985. They released a self-titled album in 1984.
Jones performed alongside Sex Pistols bandmate Paul Cook on Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
's solo album So Alone
So Alone
So Alone is a 1978 album by Johnny Thunders, then leader of The Heartbreakers and formerly lead guitarist for the New York Dolls.After recording L.A.M.F. with the Heartbreakers, Thunders returned to the studio and recorded his first true solo album, So Alone...
.
Siouxsie and the Banshees thought for a while to engage Jones after the departure of two of their original members. Rehearsals took place in early 1980, and Jones recorded the guitars parts on three songs of the album Kaleidoscope. The experience did not go further than a simple recording session.
Jones also played with Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
, Kraut
Kraut
Kraut is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as a derogatory term for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II. Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional German and central European food.- Etymological...
, Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor (guitarist)
Andy Taylor is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station....
, Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
, Neurotic Outsiders
Neurotic Outsiders
Neurotic Outsiders was a supergroup founded in 1995, consisting of Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The very first line-up featured Billy Idol and Steve Stevens , but they were soon replaced by Jones and Taylor...
and had a solo career in the 1980s and early 1990s. His song "Mercy
Mercy (Steve Jones album)
Mercy is a 1987 hard rock album by Steve Jones. It was the first solo album from Jones, a former member of the Sex Pistols. The single Mercy was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was also featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album.-Track listing:#"Mercy" – 5:04#"Give It Up"...
", from the album of the same name, was used in a Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
episode called "Stone's War" and was featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album. In 1989, he released his second solo album, titled Fire and Gasoline, which featured Jones on guitar and vocals, Terry Nails on bass, and drummer Mickey Curry
Mickey Curry
Michael Timothy Curry is an American drummer. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Tom Waits, The Cult, Steve Jones and...
.
Jones was a guest star in an episode of the television sitcom Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
. He had previously played a private detective in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas about the British punk rock band Sex Pistols....
, and had a role in the 1981 film, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is a 1981 film about three teenage girls, played by Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter, who start a punk band. Shot in British Columbia, Canada, the film also featured Ray Winstone, Christine Lahti, ex-Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, along with...
.
In 1992 a project called Fantasy 7 (known as F7) was recorded, and remains officially un-released. They toured locally in Los Angeles and a few shows in South America featuring the late singer Mark McCoy.
In 1995, Jones played guitar on the self-titled and only album released by P
P (band)
-Personnel:*Gibby Haynes - vocals*Johnny Depp - guitar, bass*Sal Jenco - percussion*Bill Carter - guitar, bass-Additional musicians:*Ruth Ellsworth-Carter - keyboards*Flea - bass*Steve Jones - guitar*Andrew Weiss - Moog, guitar*Chuck E. Weiss - washboard...
. The band featured Gibby Haynes
Gibby Haynes
Gibson Jerome "Gibby" Haynes is an American musician, radio personality, and painter, and the lead singer of the group Butthole Surfers.-Early life and career:...
of the Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
and actor Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
.
In 1996, Jones formed Neurotic Outsiders
Neurotic Outsiders
Neurotic Outsiders was a supergroup founded in 1995, consisting of Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The very first line-up featured Billy Idol and Steve Stevens , but they were soon replaced by Jones and Taylor...
, that featured himself on guitar and vocals, former Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
members Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum
Matthew William Sorum is an American rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses and supergroup Velvet Revolver , which is comprised in part of former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Slash .-Early career :Matt Sorum was born Matthew William...
on rhythm guitar and drums, and John Taylor from Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, on bass. They released a self-titled album in 1996. Also in 1996, he took time out to record guitar tracks for The Great Milenko
The Great Milenko
The Great Milenko is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, released on June 25, 1997, by Hollywood Records, in association with Psychopathic Records...
, an album by Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
.
Jones produced the self-titled debut albums of the Los Angeles based Buckcherry
Buckcherry
Buckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...
and American Pearl
American Pearl
American Pearl was a hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released one studio album through Wind-up Records in 2000 and toured internationally before disbanding two years later.-History:...
, released in 1999
Buckcherry (album)
Buckcherry is the eponymous debut album by the rock band Buckcherry. It was released on April 6, 1999 by DreamWorks Records. "Lit Up", "For the Movies", "Dead Again", and "Check Your Head" were released as singles...
and 2000
American Pearl (album)
American Pearl is the eponymous, sole studio album by the Los Angeles hard rock band of the same name. Released on August 22, 2000, it featured the singles "If We Were Kings" and "Free Your Mind." The track "Automatic" was featured on the Scream 3 soundtrack...
.
He participated in the Sex Pistols reunion concerts and currently resides in Los Angeles. He has since done some studio work, playing guitar on Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley is an American singer and songwriter, also known as the "Princess of Rock and Roll". She is the only child of Elvis Presley, and daughter of Priscilla Presley.-Early life:...
's 2005 album, Now What
Now What
Now What is the second album from American singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley. It was released on April 5, 2005 in the United States and Canada, and is available in both unedited and edited versions. Singles from the album are Dirty Laundry and Idiot. As of November 2, 2005, the album has...
. Jones played lead guitar on two tracks. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
"Here Today and Gone Tomorrow" is a song written by Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, Joe Harris, Marshall "Rock" Jones, Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks, Dutch Robinson, Clarence "Satch" Satchell, and Gary Webster of the Ohio Players' for their 1968 album Observations in Time.David Bowie performed this track...
" which was originally recorded for The Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
tribute album We're a Happy Family but only appeared as a hidden track on Now What.
The Sex Pistols, including Jones, played a gig for the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols at the Brixton Academy on 8 November 2007. Due to popular demand, two further gigs were announced on 9 November and 10 November. This demand led to two further gigs being announced, making five in total. A further gig in Brixton on 12 November was followed by one at the MEN Arena in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on 17 November. The Glasgow S.E.C.C on 18 November completed the tour.
Jones has recently played with Hollywood United F.C.
Hollywood United F.C.
Hollywood United is an American amateur soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1988, the team plays in Region IV of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.-Origins:Hollywood United...
, made up mainly of celebrities and former professional footballers.
In 2008, The Sex Pistols appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...
as the headlining act on the Saturday night, the Peace & Love Festival
Peace & Love
Peace & Love is the largest festival in Sweden and the only one with an outspoken message of Solidarity, Diversity and Understanding, which runs through the whole event. It started in 1999 and is located in Borlänge, Sweden...
in Sweden, and the Live at Loch Lomond Festival
Live at Loch Lomond
Live at Loch Lomond, Scotland's newest festival, took place in the grounds of Balloch Country Park on the 4 & 5 August 2007.Nearly 30,000 people were there over the two days and, although it rained all day on Sunday, it didn't stop people going to the concerts, seeing performances from Dirty Pretty...
in Scotland.
Equipment
For The Sex Pistols in the seventies he used a Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway at first to get a "Johnny Thunders" feel and sound. Then Malcolm McLaren gave Steve Sylvain Sylvain's 1974 White Gibson Les Paul Custom with the 2 pin up girl stickers on it, which Sylvain used during the final years of The New York Dolls. He also used a 1954 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom stocked with a P90 pickup in the bridge and an Alnico pickup in the neck, and Sunburst Gibson Firebird. In the late 90's, Steve was offered free Burny Les Paul Customs, straps, picks and cables if he played their guitar. They made 2 models for him which he used on the 2002-2003 North American Piss Off Tour. At around 2005 he went back to using Gibsons, but has still been seen playing his Burny. Gibson finally put out a "Steve Jones Inspired Les Paul Model" to the exact specs of his original White Les Paul Custom.Jones' amp during The Sex Pistols in the 70's was a Fender Twin Reverb with Gauss Speakers, and while Glen Matlock was in the band Steve used an MXR Script Phase 90 pedal. The amp used on Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols was a silver face Fender Twin with stock speakers. He also used Music Man Amps during the mid 1977 Scandinavian tour. He used Fender cables. For the Sex Pistols' reunion in 1996, Steve switched to Marshall amps, which he still uses today.
Jonesy's Jukebox
In February 2004, Jones began hosting a daily radio program in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, called 'Jonesy's Jukebox', on Indie 103.1 FM. The premise of the show was that the self-described "Sire of Wilshire" could do whatever he wanted (within FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
rules), with no direction from station management. You can hear a snippet from the show in the opening scenes of the 2006 film, The Dog Problem.
Jones mixed an eclectic playlist, from his own collection of CDs, with rambling and often humorous interviews of guests from the entertainment industry. Jones kept an acoustic guitar in the studio and frequently performed stream of consciousness songs about the current topic of discussion. Notable guests included Johnny Ramone, Brian Wilson, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Gary Oldman and Sex Pistol's vocalist Johnny Rotten. Musical guests who visited would often perform songs with Jonesy on guitar.
Jonesys' producer (Indie 103.1 Music Director Mark Sovel) was dubbed "Mr. Shovel" and became a comic foil for Jones for the first three years of the show. Subsequently Jones also frequently interacted on-air with "Big Ed", his nickname for the second program producer Kevin Begley.
Indie 103.1 last broadcast Jonesy's Jukebox 14 January 2009; Indie 103.1 ceased to exist as a broadcast radio station on 15 January 2009. Jones was picked up by LA radio Station KROQ in October 2010 to continue his Jonesy's Jukebox segment.
In November 2009 he guested on BBC Radio's 6Music with five Sunday shows titled 'A Month of Sundays with Steve Jones', playing a mix of tunes from his childhood through to the current day. In December 2009, the show was revived ran via internet radio on IAmRogue.com, a website run by producer Ryan Kavanaugh
Ryan Kavanaugh
Ryan Kavanaugh is an American film producer and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Relativity Media.- Early life :...
. This incarnation of the show ended in late March 2010.
Partial discography
- MercyMercy (Steve Jones album)Mercy is a 1987 hard rock album by Steve Jones. It was the first solo album from Jones, a former member of the Sex Pistols. The single Mercy was used in a Miami Vice episode called "Stone's War" and was also featured on the Miami Vice II soundtrack album.-Track listing:#"Mercy" – 5:04#"Give It Up"...
(MCAMusic Corporation of AmericaMCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
, 1987) - Fire and GasolineFire and GasolineFire and Gasoline is a heavy metal album released in 1989 by British musician Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. The album featured Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses on the song I Did U No Wrong and Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe on We're No Saints....
(MCA, 1989)
Partial filmography
- The Great Rock 'n' Roll SwindleThe Great Rock 'n' Roll SwindleThe Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas about the British punk rock band Sex Pistols....
(1980) - Punk and Its Aftershocks (1980)
- D.O.A.D.O.A. (1980 film)D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage is a 1980 rockumentary film directed by Lech Kowalski about the origin of punk rock. The rockumentary takes interview and concert footage of some of punk rock's earliest bands of the late seventies scene...
(1980) - Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous StainsLadies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous StainsLadies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is a 1981 film about three teenage girls, played by Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter, who start a punk band. Shot in British Columbia, Canada, the film also featured Ray Winstone, Christine Lahti, ex-Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, along with...
(1981) - RoseanneRoseanne (TV series)Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
(1994) One Episode - MascaraMascaraMascara is a cosmetic commonly used to enhance the eyes. It may darken, thicken, lengthen, and/or define the eyelashes. Normally in one of three forms—liquid, cake, or cream—the modern mascara product has various formulas; however, all contain the same basic components of pigments, oils, waxes, and...
(1999) - Four Dogs Playing Poker (2000)
- The Filth and the FuryThe Filth and the FuryThe Filth and the Fury is a 2000 rockumentary film about the Sex Pistols directed by Julien Temple.-About the film:The Filth and the Fury is the second movie Julien Temple made about The Sex Pistols. His first effort was The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which was released in British cinemas on 15...
(2000) - 25 Years of Punk (2001)
- Classic Albums: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (2002)
- Hooligans & Thugs: Soccer's Most Violent Fan Fights (2003)
- Punk: Attitude (2005)
- PlayedPlayedPlayed is a 2006 crime film produced by Caspar von Winterfeldt, Nick Simunek and Mick Rossi, executive produced by John Daly, co-produced by Nigel Mead and Lenny Bitondo, written by Sean Stanek and Mick Rossi and directed by Sean Stanek...
(2006) - The Dog ProblemThe Dog ProblemThe Dog Problem is a 2006 comedy film directed and written by Scott Caan and was produced by Thousand Words Films.Along with Caan, the film stars Giovanni Ribisi, Lynn Collins, Kevin Corrigan, Sarah Shahi, and Mena Suvari...
(2006) - CutlassCutlass (short film)Cutlass is a short drama film which was filmed in 2007, written and directed by Kate Hudson.-Plot:Little Lacy , a big music fan, discovers a great but expensive guitar in a music shop. She's very excited by the guitar, and asks her mother, Robin , to buy it...
(2007) - Amazing Journey: The Story of the WhoAmazing Journey: The Story of The WhoAmazing Journey: The Story of The Who is a 2007 documentary by Murray Lerner and Paul Crowder of English rock and roll band The Who. The film features new interviews with band members Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Kenney Jones, and Pete Townshend, as well as Sting, The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Eddie...
(2007)
External links
- Steve Jones
- Kick Down the Doors - Cook 'n' Jones website
- Jones write-up in BlackBook magazine
- http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/jones_steve_1_/bio.jhtmlSteve Jones biography on the website of VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
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