Wilko Johnson With The Artists

Listening to Mick Farren's Vampires Stole My Lunch Money recently, an instantly recognizable guitar sound jumped from the speakers.  It could only be Wilko Johnson.  That got me to thinking about Wilko's other musical exploits after he left Dr. Feelgood.  He formed a band, the Solid Senders.  He joined Ian Dury & The Blockheads.  And he collaborated with a range of other performers.

I wasn't planning to do a Wilko compilation, especially after Koen made such a great one.  But the more I looked into Wilko's post-Feelgoods discography, the more interesting it got.

It's a pleasure to hear Wilko with other vocalists (including Ian Dury, Pearl Harbour, and Roger Daltrey), as well as playing with other guitarists (such as John Turnbull, Steve Hooker and Makoto Ayukawa).  Ayukawa's wife Sheena sings "Fujiyama Mama".  It's a shame that Johnny Thunders only sang on "Cool Operator" and didn't engage in a guitar duel with Wilko.  At least we get to hear Wilko and Wayne Kramer trade licks on "Walking Wounded" by The Mutants (not the SF Mutants, but an "all star band" assembled by Marco Pirroni's former Wolfmen collaborator, Chris Constantinou.) 

Wilko also played on a 1977 single by Celia & The Mutations (members of the Stranglers backing a female singer).  At a concert by The Stranglers and Friends in 1980 (while Hugh Cornwell was in prison) Wilko backed Phil Daniels on "Dead Loss Angeles". (Daniels played Jimmy in Quadrophenia and was the vocalist on Blur's "Parklife".)  In 2013, Wilko guested on a single by the Urban Voodoo Machine. And then he made an elpee with that geezer what was in The Who.

You can watch Wilko go through all his stage moves and facial expressions during a storming performance of "Sweet Gene Vincent" and "Blockheads" during Ian Dury's 1985 concert filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon. Wilko spent many years playing with bassist Norman Watt-Roy -- in the Blockheads, Solid Senders, and The Wilko Johnson Band.  Norman is also the bassist on the tracks with Pearl Harbour, Makoto Ayukawa, The Mutants, and Roger Daltrey.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: Dr. Feelgood's Jukebox, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2.