The History:Deep in the mists of time the island of Jersey was a happy place that rang out with song and dance tunes crafted by the local inhabitants and played on ormer shell bouzoukis strung with plaited cow hair and the haunting sound of the broccoli multi pipe. It was a time of great artistic endeavour and whose influence was felt far beyond the confines of this small island. Legend has it that the Greek muses and their rivals in Rome put aside their differences to learn the secrets of early song writing and performance from the early Beans. But like all good things it would soon come to pass that the era and the rich cultural gifts would be lost for centuries.Slowly but surely an evil cloud overtook the island and greed and jealously manifested itself in the blood sapping Vraic Wars. The Vraic Wars pitted east against west in the collection of Vraic. Severe restrictions merely encouraged further rivalry and slowly but surely the halcyon days when original music flowed from every able bodied islander was lost forever.Many years passed with all that the tired and traumatised locals could look forward to listening to were tribute bands and copy bands playing ‘foreign’ tunes that held no joy or relevance.Of course from time to time the genes of the original Bean music makers would struggle to the surface and briefly make an appearance, but none were strong enough to survive and regain the excitement and respect that was due. An example being the good but short lived “A band call ooooâ€. Or some such name that is now largely forgotten except for the few lost souls that hang around the sites of the long gone watering holes of the Demi or the Deep.Then in the mid 70’s something strange started to happen. Excavation has identified the remains of a new force that started to align musical drinking associates on an inevitable collaboration which would eventually lead to the, until now unexplained phenomena, of “the band with the Jersey name that sounds like another band which isn’t from Jerseyâ€.Although barely at its conception the courtship and mating process was clearly visible. Music from bands such as Matt Vinyl and the Undercoats, Three Must Be Queers, C’est Fromage, Shooting Butts, Red Tape, Hardened Heroes, Juz Bizarre and the Jersey Youth Orchestra all spawned musicians with a common denominator. They knew and loved how to write original music from the homelands of the far flung parishes of the island. Music that had long been hidden was now starting to emerge from their jeans. (The exception being the JYO who were generally considered a tribute band).At last the fallout from the blood sapping Vraic Wars was, through the wonders of natural selection, evolving a new race of inventive troubadours. As the seventies progressed through incarnations of Back in Omar’s Moustache are Fab* and the hugely influential Two Dogs at It, the island witnessed the birth, if not the conception of “the band with the jersey name that sounds like another band which isn’t from Jerseyâ€. Low down in the running order few who witnessed events such as the Barge Aground Festivals realised the influence their music would have on those present and on those not yet even born or those who were not born whose own were not born.Competition was stiff with hosts of tribute bands seeking to strangle the pubescent talent that was clearly a threat to the established order. There were inevitably casualties; however nature looked kindly on the emerging pioneers. Very soon the hardcore of Del Mation, Che Woo Wah, Red Setter, Al Sation, Jack Russel and Rock Viler emerged from the debris to form the hardcore co operative.The band quickly determined a set of life enhancing values that have stood the onslaught of time:keep it original
keep it live
keep it acoustic
learn three chords really well
if you cant play it after 5 pints its too complicated
Slowly but surely their fame spread and spawned many off shoot bands (see below). Bookings followed bookings and the band now outlives many of the venues where they once appeared. A major step forward in 1998, when under the guidance of the band, an album was released. A unique album: All tracks were composed by the band but were performed by 14 different bands all of which included 5 members of the band. The album title was the now legendary: ‘Sergeant Pipons Lonely Hearts Club Band’.Generation after generation progressively discovered, grew up with and loved to the music. Schools promoted the music in a renaissance of the joyous times that had all been lost in the distant past. And once again the sounds were heard not only here is the island but across the globe. Reports from near and far, from England to Finland, from France to Spain, from India to Australia and even Guernsey steadily trickle into the bands archives.A second album followed a similar approach of writing and performance but which of course rendered the first album no longer unique. A small set back which, although a shock at the time, the band quickly reacted to and recovered mostly intact. The second album being the now infamous: ‘Hedley Stardust and the Spider Crabs from La Mare’.As the band now starts to hit the third generation of the rebirth, plans are afoot to continue. Progress has been fast. Despite the unparalleled success it brought, but never afraid of a challenge, the rule book was thrown out of the window, retrieved and re written. After much agonising that threatened the very core of the music a startling new set guidelines were eventually adopted:keep it original
keep it live
keep it acoustic
learn three or four chords really well
if you cant play it after 7 pints its too complicatedGod bless Del, Che, Red, Al, Jack and Rock and long may ‘the band with the Jersey name that sounds like another band which isn’t from Jersey’ provide the soundtrack to the ups and downs of our fragile lives.
