Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes

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Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes
Origin Edinburgh, Scotland
Genres Indie pop
Years active1985–1990
LabelsNarodnik, Velocity, Avalanche
Past membersAndrew Tully
Angus McPake
Fran Schoppler
Margarita Vasquez-Ponte
Kevin McMahon
Stuart Clarke
Bruce Hopkins
John Robb
Michael Kerr
Dave Evans

Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes were a Scottish band formed from around, and within, the Edinburgh indie pop scene of the mid-1980s. The band had a distinctive guitar-jangle sound with male and female vocals. [1] The band took their name from Elvis Presley's stillborn twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley. [2]

Contents

History

The original members of the band were Andrew Tully (guitars/vocals), Eric Webster and Angus McPake (bass guitar), Fran Schoppler (vocals), Margarita Vasquez-Ponte (drums), Kevin McMahon (guitars), and Stuart Clarke (guitar). Tully and Vasquez-Ponte were also members of Rote Kapelle, a band that was active from 1985–1988. [1]

This initial line-up recorded the first two singles, "Splashing Along" and "The Rain Fell Down" (described by one reviewer as a "pop gem that's not to be missed") [3] on Narodnik Records. With the departure of McMahon and Clarke, Bruce Hopkins and John Robb (not the Manchester writer) were drafted in for third single, the Billy the Whizz EP; these being replaced on a more permanent basis by Michael Kerr (of Meat Whiplash). [1] Next release was a flexi-disc featuring the track "Hank Williams Is Dead" along with a track by The Fizzbombs, a side-project of Margarita and Angus, along with Ann Donald of The Shop Assistants. Moving to Velocity Records, the band released two more well-received singles, "The Adam Faith Experience" and "You'll Never Be That Young Again", followed by first album, A Cabinet of Curiosities, which collected the tracks released to date. [1]

In 1989, Robb left to join The Darling Buds, and the band returned in 1990 with single "Grand Hotel", a reference to the IRA bombing of Brighton's Grand Hotel, the venue for the Conservative Party conference. Tully described this as a "fuck Thatcher and fuck the IRA for not killing her when they had the chance" song. [4] The album Nixon followed, and in October 1990, they released their final single, the Hold Me Now EP.

Schoppler released a solo album, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 in 2000, recorded with Mick Cooke of Belle & Sebastian and Roy Hunter. [5]

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C.:"The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, ISBN   0-86241-913-1
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lazell, Barry (1998) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN   0-9517206-9-4, p. 97
  3. ↑ Smith, Jerry (1987) "Jesse Garon and the Deperadoes 'The Rain Fell Down'", Underground, April 1987, p. 19
  4. ↑ Press release for A Cabinet of Curiosities
  5. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN   1-84195-335-0, p. 383
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