Gatecrashing by Jona

In the late 1970’s I used to frequent a 2nd hand record stand on the Hilversum market every Saturday and the guy who ran it introduced me to a lot of good artists and groups.

One of those turned out to be a musician I had completely forgotten about: Jona Lewie…

I went home with 2 Stiff Records 7 inches; Stop The Cavalry and Big Shot - Momentarily, and played both a hell of a lot! Of course, it didn’t take long to score afterwards a copy of his big hit You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties…

Joan only recorded 2 albums for Stiff: On The Other Hand There's A Fist (1978) and Heart Skips Beat (1982), which I both dutifully purchased, excellent songs I thought. Unfortunately for Jona there were no more hits and that was the end of his career at Stiff.

Visiting record shops in various towns I did however manage to find more of his work, incl. his first album Gatecrasher on Sonet which was a 11 track collection of singles, some released under his own name, others as Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs With Jona Lewie. Then I discovered why I was vaguely familiar with his name, in 1977 he’d scored a minor hit with Come Away (a cover of Roberto Leaĺ’s Bate O Pe) and even appeared on Dutch television!

Another 45 I found was Cherry Ring with a non-album B-side: After We Swun, a very quirky blues track, utterly bonkers but brilliant!

Both Stiff albums and compilations of those tracks are still rereleased, especially Find Me In The Kitchen (used for a commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtLrVihFhQ ) and Stop The Cavalry (which has become a Christmas standard, despite that holiday being mentioned only once!).

Gatecrasher was never released on CD which was a shame to say the least…

BUT in 2020 Grapefruit Records released a 6 CD box set:

Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts – The Sonet Anthology of which Jona was a member as well and the last CD consisted of the entire Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs With Jona Lewie output! It even included that wacky B-side…

This made it possible to come up with an extended Gatecrasher collection for your listening pleasure!

 

Question: What's your favorite Jona Lewie (if any!) song?

Last (for now!) In A Series Of Firsts

First up is Let It Rock—a Dave Edmunds track with backing by Brinsley Schwarz. It’s the first track to see release with Dave playing with his longtime partner Nick Lowe.

Before they backed Bob Dylan, The Band backed Ronnie Hawkins as The Hawks—as they were billed on this excellent cover of Forty Days. Mark Knopfler’s first recording outfit wasn’t Dire Straits, but Brewer’s Droop who supply Roller Coaster.

In the halcyon days of 1967 J.J. Cale cut his very first version of After Midnight. A big hit for one of my favorites; Delbert McClinton, Given It Up For Your Love was first recorded by Jerry Williams. Many musos consider Rocket '88' to be the 1st Rock & Roll Song—which was recorded by Ike Turner’s cousin; Jackie Brenston With His Delta Cats (which included Ike among their number).

It’s been said that The Who are the world’s greatest cover band because when Pete Townshend lays down a demo, it’s completely fleshed out, as this first recorded attempt at Call Me Lightning illustrates.

The next three tracks are the original versions of songs covered by Elvis. Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle) by Memphis DJ & recording artist Rufus Thomas. Fever by Otis Blackwell (who also supplied The King with All Shook Up) and the first recorded version of Too Much by Bernard Hardison.

Demos are automatic firsts, & One Inch Rock is an acoustic demo by Marc Bolan before his success with T-Rex. While everyone’s heard MANDY a million times, comparatively few have heard Barry Manilow’s previously unreleased original “first take”. The version of Hello It's Me on Volume 3 is from The Nazz’s 1967 Audition Tape.

As Gregg Allman shares during this 1982 Letterman appearance the FIRST song he wrote & KEPT was Melissa. Thoughts Of You was an early demo by Sixpence None The Richer. The Shirelles’ Will You Love Me Tomorrow marked the first time a black female vocal group hit the #1 slot.

Dream Baby is an early recording by Cher under her FIRST moniker: Cherilyn. Rockabilly pioneer Barbara Pitman recorded this demo version of her best-known song; I'm Getting Better All The Time. Fans of Link Wray know that he became an instrumentalist because he lost a lung to tuberculosis during The Korean War—but not before he recorded the vocal track: If This Is Wrong.

Nick Lowe pops up again with his ‘78 Top Of The Pops appearance (I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass) which was his “first date” with future wife Carlene Carter. Future Blondie bassist Gary Valentine’s band The Know delivers I Like Girls.

Although it was a hit for Animotion, Obsession was first recorded by the duo who wrote it; Michael Des Barres & Holly Knight. The Doors’ Moonlight Drive in its earliest demo form has its own charm.

Known for his time with Hawkwind & Motörhead, Lemmy's FIRST Band was The Rockin' Vickers whose I Don't Need Your Kind was produced by the legendary Shel Talmy.

This live recording of Cocksucker is by Sniper—Joey Ramone's 1st band when he was known as Jeff Starship. Also in the band was future Blondie guitarist Frank Infante. And bringing it all home is a 1975 demo of their classic; Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue by The Ramones!