Songwriter and performer Johnny Warman’s career has seen huge solo success and collaborations with Peter Gabriel and Ringo Starr. With Elton John describing Johnny as “The best human jukebox on the planet”, Jason Barnard finds out more about his remarkable 50 year musical journey.
Where are you originally from and how did you get into playing music?
I was born in Bethnal Green and as a child my mum always sang to me. Her dream was to become a singer as that was her passion but she gave up that dream to bring us up. We moved from Bethnal Green to Hackney where we were right next to Victoria Park and Well Street Common and that was our parklife. I always loved singing and especially being in the Choir at primary and secondary schools. I loved the way the voices weaved and the descant parts that really moved me musically and especially our music teacher Lionel Sawkuns was well ahead of his time. He enthused me and changed my life especially when our choir got noticed. We were chosen to sing in Pagliacci and Tosca with the greatest operatic voices in the world at that time, Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. We did a Royal Command Performance and I distinctly remember looking at all the red roses around the Royal Box as we were onstage rehearsing and I remember thinking I love this and I wonder if I can do something like this later in my life? and as young as we were? We were fearless singing in front of over 2000 people and I really loved it. Jeff Rich from Status Quo, who was 2 years younger than me, was there with me too. We would work together many times through our musical years and we still do.
You were a teen in the late 60s, did you see many memorable gigs at the time?
We were a poor family I guess but one life changing day the people who lived next door asked my mum if I wanted to go see The Beatles at The Finsbury Park Astoria. Of course my mum said yes he would love to go. But a year prior to that I was walking back from school and my mum always said to me come straight home. But I heard a sound that grabbed me so intently I had to find it. Like a lemming I stood transfixed in front of a red dansette record player on a small table. On it was a Beatles EP and the song playing was Love Me Do. I just had never heard something so mesmerising and for it to affect me in such a way as that? I never forgot it. My parents bought me an acoustic guitar and after three years teaching myself I had my most life changing experience (no pun intended) when I went to see Jimi Hendrix at The Saville Theatre with The Herd and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. I was mesmerized and completely blown away by the sound of the band. In that moment I knew I had to get an electric guitar.
Who were Bearded Lady?
They were originally called Elmo’s Fire. I joined them in 1970 as they came to my house where an old girlfriend Yvonne brought them and they asked me if I wanted to join their band. They played me a song called Rat Trap that I liked and I decided to give it a go.
I’ve heard Mickie Most was a fan. Why didn’t he sign you and the band?
Mickie Most really liked me personally. I think he saw the determination and intensity in me as I used to sit and wait outside his office with demos and to tell him about gigs. He was hugely instrumental in me developing one of my most successful songs Beat Patrol.
You had a Saturday night residency at London’s Marquee Club. What are your memories?
The Marquee at that time was the one venue that could change your life and catapult you into the public eye. I remember standing next to Freddie Mercury in The Ship pub which was in Wardour Street and very close to The Marquee. Freddie looked amazing in a skin tight black outfit with wings on the shoulders and nobody said a word but I could not take my eyes off of him as he was a proper rock star. Back then we did not have a clue that he was gay but he was living the part and we were in our jeans and stuff and my biggest regret was not talking to him. I got on with Jack Barry and Nigel who were all part of the Marquee Team and I managed to secure a residency and over the next few years it built up so much that we would have over 500 people or more. We were liked by Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and Gary Holton of The Heavy Metal Kids and Lemmy really liked us. Uriah Heep came to watch us and stole one of our song titles Kerb Crawler. But our biggest surprise was Chuck Berry who turned up but he never asked us to be his backing band!!! We would ram The Marquee and I would just connect with the audience and luckily we captured that performance and it was released 30 years later on Angel Air Records as ‘Bearded Lady The Rise and Fall’. The atmosphere was electric and it would get so hot on stage and I recall one gig where Long John Baldry was opening for us and the The Heavy Metal Kids. It was punk time and people were telling him to Fuck Off and I really felt for him but when we went on I could handle the audience and we were superb. Then The Heavy Metal Kids who were top of the bill did their thing. The last show we ever did we had The Jam opening for us and they struggled to get the audience who used to sit on the floor before the main band came on to stand up? But again we went on and smashed it. However, that night the band members of Bearded Lady all turned it in without telling me. And as a band we were so tight having played in Germany following The Beatles lead and continual gigging in the UK but their day jobs meant more to them?
How did you get signed to Youngblood and why was only Rock Star released?
We did our own demo of a song called “RockStar” written by me and it was loved by Miki Dallon who we sent the demo to. He booked us into Pye Recording Studios but could never capture the magic of our demo. Eventually our demo was put out with his name on it.
How much promotion did you get at the time?
Zero springs to mind but we got a great review from Caroline Coon.
Can you tell me about the new “The Rise And Fall Of …” compilation?
This is a collection that starts with our one and only single “RockStar” and goes through our most memorable songs. It includes a live section from one of our finest Marquee performances and the crowd are electric and hanging on my every word Fred Sherriff shows just how great he was as a lead guitarist and Chris Peel on bass was on fire. Years later in a phone call he told me he realised just how foolish he had been but I was on a mission and I had things to do. One plus thing is that Cherry Red Records called me and asked about the song “Up in the Air” as they thought it was amazing for its time. They asked if they could use it on their latest new compilation “OH! YOU PRETTY THINGS” Glam Queens and Street Urchins 1970-1976. I am very proud to be on that.
What led you to get signed as a solo artist at Ringo Starr’s Ring O’Records?
I was determined to make it in the music business. I now realised I could only count on myself to do this and I would become a solo artist. So I did some new demo’s and touted them around and I contacted Barry Anthony who worked at Ringo Records and they were played to Ringo and he loved them.
How did your solo sound compare with Bearded Lady?
When Bearded Lady finished Punk and New Wave was starting off and although I thought a lot of it was not that great I loved the energy. Paul Harding the drummer from X RAY SPEX, who came to watch Bearded Lady at The Marquee, told me that watching Bearded Lady was what gave him the inspiration to join a band. I formed a three piece band as I loved the Jimi Hendrix set up and the power of the new wave scene gave me a new found opportunity of playing my guitar on my own.
Did you get much contact with Ringo?
We became very close for a long long time and just after I signed to Ringo he was approached by Sun Valley Wine Company. He was the first Beatle to do an advertisement and he was not in bad shape but he was not fit and I was into running and in great shape. But over a few weeks I got him up to running 2 miles and as we became closer I met Maureen his lovely wife and all his children Zak Lee and Jason and I went to parties with them. I was introduced to Bruce Grakal, Ringo’s Lawyer who would become his manager when Ringo and his old manager Hilary Gerrard parted company. I had a great meeting with Neil Aspinall and as the Beatles roadie back in the day he would go on to run Apple Records. When I first met Zak at their home in Winkfield he was 13 years old and he asked me if I wanted to see his drum kit? And of course I said yes I would. Then together Maureen and Zak pulled back these huge sliding doors and there in its majesty was Keith Moon’s Pictures of Lily Kit and it was huge. I think it was so fitting when Zak was asked to join The Who as the circle was complete and Keith had also bought Ringo the 30 foot dinosaur that stood in the gardens at Tittenhurst Park. I was really friendly with Ringo and he asked me to go to Monaco where he had a beautiful apartment in the Rocabella buildings for many years and that is where we wrote Don’t Go Where The Road Don’t Go, The Runaways, After All These Years and Everyone Wins. It was a fantastic hot and very productive 2 weeks. I remember meeting Barbara Bach who was delightful and kept in touch. But eventually Ringo moved to the USA and my contact to Ringo was through Graham Hill who was Ringo’s accountant. He passed away a year or so back and I cannot reach him now but he was always the kindest and lovely guy.
Johnny: This is a telegram from Ringo and Hilary his manager then wishing me luck for the claunch of HOURGLASS at The Hamburg Planetarium. The shot on the toilet is me at John Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park Studio as the acoustics were so good for the recording of “Laughing Academy” and I had to take my trousers off to stop my guitar sliding off my leg.
What are your recollections of recording your solo debut ‘Hour Glass’?
It was a totally unique experience. I first signed to Ringo Starr in 1976 and made Hour Glass at Tittenhurst Park where John Lennon recorded Imagine and it was a fantastic experience as I played on the same piano that he wrote Imagine on. When I first arrived at the studio I walked up to the front door where on each side were the busts that were on the Sergeant Peppers Sleeve Cover and there was a crushed blue Bentley that had belonged to John and there was a glass pane over the top of the front door with the inscription by Yoko Ono that said ” This is not here.” In the house were John and Yoko plugs everywhere and the room where he videoed some of his hits were exactly the same. I slept in their bed that had a huge circular mirror 6 feet above the bed and it was all magical to me as we were very poor where I grew up in Bethnal Green. I remember jamming with Ringo, just the two of us with him on his Beatles Kit and me playing Marc Bolans Black Les Paul that Marc had given to Ringo and we played for about 45 minutes in the open air on a hot sunny day! Pure Magic. Working with the string players on War of the Worlds was amazing and experimenting with vocal effects and just trying different things was exhilarating. The album was finally released by RCA 2 years later and by that time Ringo Records was winding down but I have great memories.
I’ve heard you met David Bowie around that time.
I knew Laurie O’Leary through my uncle and he was the manager of The Speakeasy Club in Margaret Street and he invited me to come down anytime I liked? It was great because The Stones, The Who, Elton John, Jeff Beck would all be in there and nobody bothered them. And this night I sat at what was called “The Top Table” as Laurie told me to sit there and in walked David Bowie and I just could not take my eyes off of him as he just looked amazing. He was friendly accommodating and gave me great advice and an autograph for my sister which she still treasures and I think I fell in love with him and we danced and it was an experience I will never forget. They played one of his hits and I said what are you gonna do now Dave? Jump up on the table? He smiled and said “No, this is where I take my leave” and I shook his hand and thanked him and he was gone and I sat back and pinched myself. After another hour I decided it was time to go and on the way out of the club there was an upside down coffin on the right hand side and as I passed it a voice said “Goodnight John”. I turned and it was David Bowie and his entourage still waiting for their cab? I smiled and thanked him again for his advice. I then walked all the way home to Hackney as it had been such a great night.
Was it the collapse of Ring O’Records that led you to form Three Minutes?
No as I stated, when I left Bearded Lady I realised I would play the guitar and sing and adding another guitarist did not enter my head. Nothing was going to stop me and I just loved the idea of a three piece. I hooked up with Jeff Rich who would eventually play with Status Quo for many years and Paul Martinez who would eventually play with Led Zeppelin. So my choice of musicians was always brilliant.
What led you to be signed with Rocket Records, and similarly to Ringo, did you much contact with Elton John?
I got in touch with Sally Aitkins who worked for Rocket Records and again they came and watched me perform and really liked my demos. Now John Reid was always fun but I would keep him at an arm’s length away from me for obvious reasons. I knew Judie Tsuke through Rhino Edwards who has always been my mate, and Elton took them on tour to give them exposure but my first release made number 9 in the Australian Charts and my album did over a 150,000 copies worldwide. So I thought that maybe he would help get me more exposure. There was a party at Rocket Records and I was invited and turned up looking like a real rock star and I had never met Elton John before. He was in the lift with his entourage stopping in between floors and sniffing cocaine up their noses and I have never been a fan as I preferred to keep myself in shape. Suddenly the lift door opened and someone must have told him who I was as we had never met before. He came toward me looking out of it and said to his hangers on “This guy sells more records than me in Australia?” and then walked away and I thought “What a dickhead”. We are 4 years apart in age and I think he felt threatened? But drugs do mess people up but I will always be grateful to Rocket Records for being able to make my 2 greatest albums “Walking Into Mirrors” and “From The Jungles To The New Horizons” so far.
Was it a conscious decision to go back as a solo artist rather than a band to record your ‘Walking Into Mirrors’ LP?
Most definitely, after 7 years of focusing all my attention on getting Bearded Lady noticed and into the public eye, and the way the other guys just gave up after achieving so much for their day jobs? I was determined to make it as a rock star in the music business and that was what “RockStar” the Bearded Lady single was all about. I relished the idea that as a solo artist everything would fall on me as I knew exactly what I wanted to do as I sourced out Jerry Marotta and agreed terms and on December 8th the day we started the album John Lennon was shot dead. I remember Jerry and Hugh Padgam arguing and Hugh shouting out “It would never have happened in our Country”. So not a great start and then Jerry said to me “If I think your stuff is a pile of shit I will let you know? But I understood that he was just angry and after the first day we had laid down 4 tracks with just guitar vocals and drums. Jerry phoned Tony Levin and said “You gotta work with this guy” which made me feel great. When we went to Electric Lady Land studios for more overdubs using Tony Levin, Jerry had told me about Larry Fast and so he was brought into the circle and working at this amazing studio was my thank you to Jimi Hendrix for blowing me away as a 16 year old and changing my life. We were in Electric Lady Land Studios with Foreigner who were making Foreigner 4, and Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I met Mutt Lang and Thomas Dolby and my album was all coming together and it was so exciting! We then moved to The House of Music Studios in New Jersey where I met Meatloaf and Southside Johnny and The Astbury Dukes.
There was an English astronomer called Colin Pilkington who really loved my music and he was part of the UK team that crash landed a spacecraft on Mars and he was going to put my song “Martian Summer” on his next attempt but sadly he passed away but they have named Pilkington Point on Mars in his honour. I have tried to contact NASA and Elon Musk to see if I can get it out there which would really be amazing.
How did Peter Gabriel get involved?
Often at the Townhouse Peter Gabriel would call up to speak to his band members and ask what they were doing and I guess he was intrigued? One day I answered the phone and we spoke about what I was doing and I just asked him if he would like to sing on the album? He said that he would but after a week or so we all forgot about it? Until I answered the phone again and it was Peter saying that he was on his way and we had not even discussed what track he would sing on? But instinctively I knew that it had to be “Screaming Jets” especially as me and Peter were similar ages. I remembered watching our TV at home and seeing on our black and white screen images of girls caught in a napalm attack with their skin hanging off their backs in Vietnam and it was burned into my memory. He recalled it too and the whole experience working with him I will never forget. He offered suggestions and when he put the chant on at the end “Screaming Jets” it really took off.
‘Screaming Jets’ was a huge single. What are your memories of that period?
It was so exciting as I was being asked to go sing and perform on TV and do gigs in Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Belgium and Spain as well as thinking about a follow up album? And I was doing all this myself as I never had a manager which may have helped. This was all with hindsight as so much was going on I did not have time to think.
Was there pressure to repeat the success for ‘From The Jungle to the New Horizons’.
To be absolutely honest I did not feel any pressure as I was focusing on doing what I was born to do and loving it. I had some amazing songs in the pipeline From the Jungles to the New Horizons was my take of mans jump from Apeman to Spaceman. On United The State of America I foresaw 9/11 some 18 years before it happened “You are the envy of the World, their eyes are upon you and they’re watching every move that you make? It will always be this way? They’re watching so closely now waiting for your first mistake! And China’s Moving West where for thousands of years they kept all their secrets safe inside The Great Wall. But eventually they would have to look outside of their wall and to become a great contender as a Superpower.
Sadly “From The Jungles To The New Horizons” did not sell as well as “Walking Into Mirrors” and apart from paying for the recordings and sleeve designs, Rocket did little to support me or even get me on any tours.
For the rest of the 80s many of your songs were recorded and were hits for other artists. Which covers are you most proud of?
I loved Starship’s version of “Here Comes The Beat Patrol”. It takes me back to Mickie Most who was standing behind me at RAK Records. I was out of my contract and he had always believed in me and I was strumming my guitar and singing the words to Beat Patrol. He said to me “You should keep on with that song. It’s a hit!” and he wasn’t wrong as it got me my first Gold Disc for 500,000 sales. But we could never agree terms as he always wanted too much but I loved him dearly.
What did you focus on in the 1990s?
I focused on live performance as I thought that I could earn more money as, like everyone, I had bills to pay. I had been screwed out of half my royalties which really was mortifying.
Can you tell me about The Mods?
I was asked by Don Black the promoter to put together a superstar band to support Steve Ellis at The Steve Marriott Memorial Concert. I called in Spike Edney from Queen on keys, Rhino Edwards from Status Quo on bass, Steve Byrd from Zzebra and Kim Wilde on lead guitar, and Johnny Marter on drums as all these guys played in my band. The Mods was especially formed to play this gig and to back Steve Ellis. I remember Steve’s face when we did the two rehearsals as I don’t think he could believe just what we were doing and how it was sounding. And despite Paul Weller, Liam Gallagher, Peter Frampton and all the other musicians, this was without doubt the finest band that played that day with Steve Ellis and myself on vocals. That’s probably why our four tracks open up the Steve Marriott Memorial Concert.
Have you written and recorded much music over the last decade?
Not as much as I would like to have done as live performance took over. But I have at least 150 cassettes with songs on that I have to go through and I am certain that I will find a few gems in there. I recently got back in touch with Peter Bliss who I first wrote songs with in the late eighties and I got back in touch with him and he sent me one of the first tracks we wrote called “Save Me”. It was so good we are pitching it for covers so please watch this space.
What are your plans for the next year?
I wish to return to more live performance and much more song writing as these are the two areas I am really best at.
More information can be found at: johnnywarman.com
