MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH, MASSES OF MUSIC TRIVIA

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Our Thoughts Go Out To Micky Jones's Family
And May He Rest In Peace

Micky Jones
June 7th 1946 ~ March 10th 2010
Welsh singer and guitarist with the legendary Welsh pychedelic, progressive rock, blues and country-rock band "Man", Micky Jones, has passed away peacefully at the age of 63. Sadly Micky has been in hospital over the last 5 years due to the re-occurrence of a brain tumour. He leaves behind a loving family and legacy in his son, George, who plays guitar in the current lineup of Man and with The Spectaculars.
Micky Jones
Charles Michael Jones from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales has played in every incarnation of the rock band Man until his illness in 2002 and again in 2005. In 1960, whilst still at school, Micky formed his first band The Rebels who played cover versions of the hits of the day, before he formed his first professional band The Bystanders in 1962. He adopted for the stage name of Mike Martin and later Mike Steel. They released eight singles, including "98.6" in February 1967, which featured in the 2009 film, The Boat That Rocked and "When Jesamine Goes", written by their manager Ronnie Scott and 60's pop star Marty Wilde who went under the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. The classic line up was Micky Jones-guitar, Ray Williams-bass, Jeff Jones-drums, Clive John-keyboards and Vic Oakley-vocals, but by 1968, the band, other than Oakley, wanted to change musical direction, to a more psychedelic/American west coast guitar sound, so Oakley was replaced by Deke Leonard and the band changed its name to Man. They were initially signed to Pye Records, for whom they recorded their first two albums, "Revelation" noted for the simulated orgasm on "Erotica", which received a UK ban, and "2 Ozs of Plastic with a Hole in the Middle". At this time, Man were also recording three demo sessions a week for Leeds Music, including Down the Dustpipe which they taught to Status Quo. Their manager, Barry Marshall of rock band Bitter Suite, obtained a new record contract with United Artists Records, for whom the band recorded the eponymous Man album, and got their media break when outperforming Soft Machine, Yes and Family at a concert in Berlin, but they continued to play on the continent, playing with the likes of Harkwind, Badfinger, and Frank Zappa. Man recorded the first of their three Peel Sessions on 29 August 1972, the others being 18 September 1973 & 31 October 1974. After Man played their farewell gig at Slough 's Fulcrum Theatre on December 16th 1976, Micky pusued a solo career, recording some demos with John McKenzie, Malcolm Morley and Derek Ballard. In 1978 he formed the Micky Jones Band, with Tweke Lewis on guitar, drummer Steve Dixon, Al McLaine on bass and keyboardist Steve Gurl. Micky worked on other projects with The Attack (1979-1980), Manipulator/The Acidtones (1980-1981), The Flying Pigs (1980-1982 & 1987), Mary Whitehouse Experience (1986-1990), The Penetrators (1991-2005), Contraband (1991-2005), The Valves (2004–2005), and both The Silverbirds, and The Amoebas. He has also made guest appearences with Total Beach Boys, George Jones Band, The Muffinmen and worked with the likes of John Cipollina, Peter Singh and Clodagh Rogers on The Two Ronnies. As well as all his projects, "Man" reformed in 1983, with Micky and Deke Leonard on guitars, their first studio album was The Twang Dynasty, which included the track "Fast and Dangerous" which was used on trailers for Paul Whitehouse’s Fast Show. Throughout Micky and Man's history they had a stunning 409 releases on 71 labels, in 24 countries. In 2002 Micky was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had to take time off for treatment. A true trooper till the end in 2004 Micky was back with Man and his other projects but tragically the following year his health deteriorated again due to the re-occurrence of his brain tumour and so sadly Micky remained in hospital for the next 5 years where he passed away peacefully ... Rest In Peace.
John Burtenshaw is currently writing a book about the life of this amazing but sometimes sadly over-looked musician Micky Jones. Any information please email john.burtenshaw1@ntlworld.com

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Our Thoughts Go Out To Mark Linkous's Family
And May He Rest In Peace

Mark Linkous
1962 ~ March 6th 2010
Sadly, Mark Linkous multi-musician, singer songwriter of Sparklehorse, has taken his own life. Tragically the talented 47 year old musician shot himself in the heart while in Knoxville, Tennessee. He leaves behind his wife Teresa, his parents, and three brothers.
Mark Linkous
American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist born in Arlington, Virginia, celebrated for his beautiful, haunting and melancholy music; he graduated from high school in the early 1980s and moved to New York City, where he co-founded the band Dancing Hoods. They released a self-titled EP in 1984, followed by their debut album "12 Jealous Roses" in 1985. In 1988 "Baby's Got Rockets", a single from their "Hallelujah Anyway" album, became a college radio hit. Mark and the band relocated to Los Angeles, but broke up shortly after their move. He moved back to Virginia, and formed the alternative rock band Sparklehorse, releasing their first album, "Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot" in 1995. In 1996, while touring Europe with Radiohead, Mark accidentally overdosed on a combination of anti-depressants, valium, alcohol, and heroin in a London hotel room. A potassium build up in his body caused his heart to stop for several minutes, which left him wheelchair-bound for six months, and he had surgery seven times to save his legs. Despite the ordeal, he and Sparklehorse went on to record five more albums, the last being "In the Fishtank" in September 2009. Four of their albums.. "Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot", "Good Morning Spider", "It's a Wonderful Life", and "Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain" charted in the UK. Mark was also known for his collaborations with artists such as Thom Yorke, David Lowery, Vic Chesnutt, Daniel Johnston, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips, Iggy Pop, Dangermouse, Nina Persson, Kurt Wagner, Gruff Rhys, James Mercer, Dave Fridmann, Joan Wasser, John Parish, Adrian Utley, Sol Seppy, Christian Fennesz, David Lynch, Frank Black, Suzanne Vega, Jason Lytle, Julian Casablancas and he also established the Static King Studio in Hayesville, North Carolina. Mark had recently completed most of the work for a new Sparklehorse album and was in the process of moving to Knoxville and setting up a new studio to complete the album.
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