Bazooka Joe (band)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bazooka Joe
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active1970–1977
Past membersJohn Ellis
Danny Kleinman
Stuart Goddard
Arabella Weir
Dan Barson
Chris Duffy
Bill Smith
Robin Chaphekar
Mark Tanner
Pat Collier
Richard Cox

Bazooka Joe or Bazooka Joe and the Lillets were a British pub rock band formed by John Ellis and Danny Kleinman in 1970. They featured bass player Stuart Goddard, who would later change his name to Adam Ant.[1] Both Ellis and Goddard would go on to find success with The Vibrators and Adam and the Ants, respectively. Besides the later fame of their members, Bazooka Joe are primarily known as the band that headlined when Sex Pistols played their first concert[2] on 6 November 1975 at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Ant has since recounted how he left the band directly due to a dispute over Sex Pistols' performance, which he was the only member of the band to have enjoyed.[3]

The band's line-up was Danny Kleinman, Chris Duffy, Bill Smith, Robin Chaphekar and Mark Tanner. Another band member was Dan Barson.[4] His brother (Mike Barson) gained fame as the keyboardist for Madness. Pat Collier was also in the group for a while before being replaced by Goddard. Collier joined Ellis in The Vibrators (eventually being replaced by another future Ant, Gary Tibbs) and later became a record producer for The Wonder Stuff and Katrina and the Waves. The comedian Arabella Weir was one of the "Lillets" or backing singers of the band.[5][6]

Madness covered the Bazooka Joe song "Rockin' in A♭" on their debut album, One Step Beyond....[7]

References

  1. ^ "The rise and fall of Adam Ant". Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Q&A: Adam Ant on How to Be Truly Punk". 15 July 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  3. ^ Savage, Jon (2 June 2017). The England's Dreaming Tapes. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816672912. Retrieved 2 June 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "David Buckley interviews John Ellis". Chanoyurecords.com. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  5. ^ "Education: Passed/failed: Arabella Weir". Independent.co.uk. 22 January 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  6. ^ Reed, John (30 August 2014). House of Fun: The Story of Madness. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781783233342. Retrieved 2 June 2017 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Edwards, Terry (13 August 2009). Madness' One Step Beyond... Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781441119377. Retrieved 2 June 2017 – via Google Books.