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Well after Plod then what? 70s funk of course. Targets formed in London in
1978 and basically played everywhere and got nowhere. "You're everywhere
and no where baby, in your hippy hat…" Jeff beck expressed the sentiment,
but they lived it. The band were actually really good, and managed to
get Island Records interested, but in terms of culture they looked like
a USA band playing pubs in London. Main men in the final line up were
Chris Constantine (vocals, guitar) John Wilkinson (guitar) Norman Marsh
(drums) and Mike Fitzsimons (bass) and of course BJC… another guitarist.
That's another thing. They had too many guitarists!.
Targets imploded when Punk came along. So were re-invented as
The Papers,
a punk/reggae anti everything protest outfit. Yeah. BJC became the lead
singer and the whole thing tightened up. Beards were dispensed with, suits
appeared and half mast ties. Two years later they had a deal with Maison
Rouge studios (Robin Black/ Jethro Tull) a publishing deal, and at last,
a single out that went steaming up the indie charts. "How Many More" featuring
none other than Ronald Reagan, it was expertly produced by Tony Tavener
. It got rave reviews and a lot of airplay and a USA film crew flew in
to capture the band live.. Melody Maker journalist Paul Strange reckoned
The Papers were the next big thing. So did they.
What happened? A few things.
Gus Dudgeon arranged to record them live. Single number two "Reggae on
the Radio" became a radio station anthem and they played a mass of "green
festivals" as the headline band, especially Rougham Fair in Norfolk. A
third single "The only one I see" was loved by the critics, and remains
a really amazing track The band got even better with the addition of Bernie
Hadley on sax and occasionally Jennie Gerathy on Vocals but…… somehow
it fizzeled out before the big moment arrived. Fashion I guess. Musicians
that don't keep an eye on fashions get left behind.
Eventually three albums appeared: "The Papers-early recordings", "Roxy
Plays the Wild Card" featuring most of the Maison Rouge sessions, and
a live album recorded at Thorham Magna green fair in 1984. While the recording
quality on the live album is not great the atmosphere is electric. Well
worth getting a copy. The band are also featured on a 2001 compilation
of British Ska, released by Captain Oi! So Norman Marsh (drums) headed
for the Westcountry, John Wilkinson (guitar) started a studio and a dance
outfit (GMT) in Brighton and Mike Fitzsimons (bass) joined The Phiranhas,
a successful Band with a number one single (Zambizi?) to their name. Sometime
later Mike Fitzsimons joined The
Bluehearts, a Brighton country outfit
as a pedal steel player. GMT got a deal with MCA and blew the cash on
hash …. and the a first album. Their best track was God Made Trouble.
The Album remains unreleased.
BJC? Well he tried for a deal with Arista. Got to the final stages and
they ran out of cash. So he also headed west (too many cowboy film when
young?) and ended up in Exeter, where he wrote lots of songs and produced
an album with Bob Smith. Bob had just returned from Italy where CBS had
relesed his first single "Too much to Me". It's a weird album. Bob wrote
the music and BJC had a stab at the lyrics. A madman in Birmingham loved
it all and sent it out worldwide. It's called "Snow and Rain". For bizarre
reasons it seems to have attracted an audience of 6 to 12 year olds. Best
Track? Spirit man rocks along with the energy of Plod, but my fav is "Where
is The captain,?" a sort of pre rap rap about, well, The Captain.
BJCs next project was Dream Ticket Alien so what? with William Lewis and
Jeff Nichols. Certainly the best example of BJC's guitar playing is available
here (apart from PLOD) especially on the lead track "Do What I tell you".
He plays the end solo and its just stunning. DreamTticket Alien so what?
were inventive, combining a sort of synth based sound with rock and great
lyrics, written by Lewis. They pioneered video projection sync sound,
playing a few gigs in the West of England and achieved some fame with
radio play in the states. The album "Someone calls out your Name" is still
available.
Then along came Kan Kan. Now this was wild. Gillian Webster (vocal, keyboards)
Jane Quail (vocals keyboards) Simon Crowe (drums) and Tony Bayliss (cittern)
and BJC (Guitar Vocals and Bass). It was a sort of folk meets reggae meets
jazz and it almost worked. Since Simon had been the drummer with The Boomtown
Rats, Kan kan attracted a good bit of attention. They produced one album,
simple title: Kan Kan. Best track here is Run away, written by BJC, and
originally recorded by Jennie Gerathy with The Papers in 1984. Another
great guitar solo from BJC adds the sparkle.
Family stuff brought this adventure to an end. Simon Crowe and Tony Bayliss
now play in a Scottish pipe band; Jiggerypipery. BJC went on to form "Now
Pisces Now" with Gillian Webster, producing one album, "Look About". That
gets us up to 2000…
Since then BJC has worked with Bob Smith again and occasionally re-formed
The Papers, with Norman Marsh and Mike Fitzsimons. He has also recently
completed a solo album project "the edge of the world" based around his
always remarkable guitar playing. The album has just been (2005) picked
up in the states by a big marketing company, so maybe at least one member
of The Mighty Plod will get the accolades they all deserve. Stensa. 2005
Contact for copies of albums: Fitzsimons1@hotmail.com
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