John Perkins

Writer/producer, John Perkins has been in the music business for many years and has worked in close association with many artistes on InterMet's seven record labels. Most notable bands he's been part of include The Romantics, Pure Silk, along with Indi Hawkes & The White Eagle Band.
John is originally from Hereford but like many he moved away to the big cities out of necessity "My first professional music years" says John, "were spent in Dawnwind with co-writer Jon Harflett, and we were under the same management as groups like Blonde On Blonde and UFO and eventually released an album called "Looking Back On The Future" on the Amron label - now listed in Record Collecters Guide at $105 (Shame I'm not getting the money)."
Around that time (1976) he met and teamed up with his subsequently long time friend Vicky Murray Jones and initially went through some name changes and varying line ups before recording as Pure Silk and the resulting single was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in 1984, which got airplay on many stations in the UK. Sadly, Vicky recently lost a long battle with cancer (see John's Blogs).
In 1990 he teamed up with Vicky's son Simon and his own sons to form The Romantics (European version - unaware of the American band with same name) and the album Mon Amie spawned a single "Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder" which got airplay all over Europe, most notably on BBC Radio One, and other BBC Network stations in Scotland and Ireland, and Atlantic 252 along with lots of local stations".
Then another Romantics single & video followed called "The Wonder Behind Your Eyes" but this time with only two (Simon and John) on the road. There followed another spell where JP got busy in the studio and The Romantics went on to the back burner. He explains, "In a rest from that, I begun compiling tracks I had written for an album with the working title "Lonely Heart", but hit on the idea of using versions recorded by the various friends who had covered my songs to become a various artistes compilation album."
Following that he met with his now long time music partner Barbara McDonald and you can hear them at Barbara McDonald's page and the debut album is available at iTunes and on CD at CD BABY . Following up with recording their now long awaited second album the pair travelled to Nashville in 2000 to record with Andrew Gold, who produced and played on one of their biggest hits so far. 'Marie Elena' hit the top of the mp3.com charts when that site was at the height of it's popularity. They have since continued in the background with the rest of that album, whilst beset with all sorts of hold ups from 9-11 to sickness. Meanwhile John has continued working with other projects including the solo tracks you will hear at this page as new tracks are added.Find the music for purchase at Soundclick.com/johnperkins and hear more in this player
His production work and songwriting with Barbara McDonald, are also getting great reviews for a film soundtrack song '64 Crayons,' which was recorded for the movie 'Portraits Of Sari' directed by Daniel Magro. (see blogs and trailer at McDonald-Perkins Band page) . This film is raising funds and public awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Every now and then a special song comes along and you could wish to produce a recording of it. JP just has the pleasure at this time of producing an album by Tim Prince - The first preview track is posted on his page today and features Sophie Edwards, Barbara McDonald, Tim Welch, Jimmy Chambers and John Perkins in supporting roles on Tim's wonderful song "Say Another Word." Be sure to check it out.
Just before Christmas JP was in central London surrounded by all the lights and the glitz of western world riches and was struck by the plight of the homeless sleeping in shop doorways and wherever they could find some shelter from the cold. Hit by what he called the oscenity of it all, he returned to his hometown of Hereford with all the images for a song about the situation. He met up with Roger Toye, who was also thinking about an earlier situation - the nativity. So, taking the title 'No Room At The Inn' they pooled their thoughts and the result was the new song posted here. A 44 yr old man we knew recently died of hypothermia. We have dedicated the song to him and all others sharing the same risks on our city streets.
NO ROOM AT THE INN
Visit IMMG Video Channel on myspace TV
JP's friend Val (aka Double Thumb) is now recording and working with us and we are delighted to give myspace TV an exclusive introductory live performance of a track from her forthcoming album, 'Nocturne.'
Val (aka Double Thumb) - Departure
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We also added a new revised version of 'All My Christmases' (A JP composition)
Other artists produced by JP and available at iTunes include: Colette Nicholls - Waiting For An Angel
The Tulips - Three Days Without Sleep Or A Cigarette
Indi Hawkes and The White Eagle Band - Best of
You may prefer to have the CD in your hands though so check these out:
album