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Mick Jones (The Clash)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mick Jones | |
|---|---|
 Mick Jones during his time with Big Audio Dynamite (NYC, 1987)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Geoffrey Jones |
| Born | 26 June 1955 Brixton, South London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock Punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Guitarist |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Label(s) | CBS Records, I.R.S. Records, Radioactive Records |
| Associated acts |
The Clash, General Public, Big Audio Dynamite, Carbon/Silicon |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster |
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Mick Jones (born Michael Geoffrey Jones, 26 June 1955, Brixton, South London, England) was the lead guitarist and a vocalist of the British band, The Clash, until his dismissal in 1983. He has had subsequent careers as the frontman of the bands Big Audio Dynamite and Big Audio Dynamite II.
In recent years, Mick Jones has been touring with fellow punk rock icon Tony James, using the moniker Carbon/Silicon, and has released four demo CDs of original material between 2002-2006.[1]
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Jones was born in Brixton to a Welsh father and a Russian Jewish[2] mother. He spent much of his early life living with his grandmother, Stella, in Wales. Jones went to art school, because "[he] thought that's how you get into bands and stuff". [3]
"I used to follow bands around. I followed Mott the Hoople up and down the country. I’d go to Liverpool or Newcastle or somewhere—sleep on the Town Hall steps, and bunk the fares on the trains, hide in the toilet when the ticket inspector came around. I’d jump off just before the train got to the station and climb over the fence. It was great times, and I always knew I wanted to be in a band and play guitar. That was it for me". [4]
He started gaining recognition as a guitarist in the early 70s with his glam rock band, The Delinquents. A short time later, he met Tony James and formed the proto-punk London SS. By 1976, the band had broken up and remaining members Jones, Paul Simonon and Keith Levene were seeking a new direction.[5]
When he was 21, he (and Paul Simonon) saw Joe Strummer singing in a pub and asked Strummer to join their new band. Jones said in an interview in 1979 for the NME: "With Joe I could see he was a great performer saddled with a duff band." Simonon later thought of the name of the band (The Clash) by looking at the Evening Standard.
Jones played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs from the band's inception until he was fired by Strummer and Simonon in 1983. Jones' lack of punctuality played a major role in his dismissal from the band; he would frequently abandon rehearsals and gigs.
For his time with The Clash, Jones, along with the rest of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.[1]
After his expulsion from The Clash, Jones was briefly a founding member of General Public. However, by the time that band's debut album appeared, Jones was no longer an official band member, although he did play guitar on many of the album's tracks.
Leaving General Public behind, in 1984 Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite (often shortened to B.A.D.) with film director Don Letts, who had directed various Clash videos and later the Clash documentary Westway to the World. The band's debut album This Is Big Audio Dynamite was released the following year, with the song "E=MC²" getting heavy rotation in dance clubs, and both singles "Medicine Show" and "E=MC2" charting in the UK Singles Chart.
For Big Audio Dynamite's second album, No. 10 Upping St., Jones reunited with Strummer. Together, the two wrote several songs on the album, including "Beyond the Pale", "V. Thirteen", and "Sightsee M.C."; Strummer also co-produced the album. Their reunion did not last long, and following that collaboration, the two did not work together again for some time.
Big Audio Dynamite's third album, Tighten Up, Vol. 88, featured cover art painted by the ex-Clash bassist, Paul Simonon. Shortly following its release, Jones developed pneumonia and spent several months in hospital.[2] After his recovery, Jones released one more album with Big Audio Dynamite, Megatop Phoenix, before reshuffling the line-up, renaming the band Big Audio Dynamite II and releasing The Globe album.
In 1991, Jones was featured on Aztec Camera's song "Good Morning Britain", with Roddy Frame.
The band's line-up was reshuffled again in 1994, and they released the album Higher Power under the name Big Audio. In 1995, a greatest hits album, Planet B.A.D. was released as well as a studio album called F-Punk under the original Big Audio Dynamite name. A further album, Entering a New Ride was recorded in 1997, but was only released on the internet due to disagreement with Radioactive Records, their then record label. One more "best of" collection, called Super Hits, was released in 1999.
In 2002, Jones teamed up with his former London SS colleague, Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik member, Tony James to form a new band named Carbon/Silicon. The band has toured the United Kingdom and has performed a number of anti-fascist benefit concerts; they have also recorded three albums: A.T.O.M, Western Front and The Crackup Suite which were available online for free. Their first real release was The News EP. The band encourage their fans to share their music on P2P networks, and allow the audio and video taping of their shows. Their first song, "MPFree" is an anthem for P2P file sharing [3].
Jones has also become an occasional producer. He was at the controls for the London based band The Libertines debut album Up The Bracket. The CD was critically well received, both in the UK and U.S. Jones stayed on to produce the band's second and final album, eponymously titled The Libertines. He also produced Down In Albion, the debut album of former Libertines lead singer and guitarist Pete Doherty's new group Babyshambles.
Jones is also credited with contributing guitar and vocals to "Mal Bicho," the lead track of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' album Rey Azucar.
He recently provided the score for Nick Mead's film, Dice Life - the Random Mind of Luke Rhinehart, a contemporary dance film created by Nick Mead and Wayne McGregor, featuring Luke Rhinehart, author of The Dice Man.
At the NME Shockwave 2007 awards, Jones took to the stage and performed with Primal Scream.[4]
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
- Jones produced the 1982 Theatre of Hate album "Westworld", editing snippets of film dialogue into the songs, a technique he was to develop further with Big Audio Dynamite.
- Jones has a cameo appearance in the 2003 film Code 46, singing the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in a karaoke club.
- Jones could be seen in the video for the Babyshambles and friends cover of The Clash song, "Janie Jones", which was recorded for the Strummerville foundation.
- In 2006, Jones was seen in the music video for the Johnny Cash song, "God's Gonna Cut You Down".
- Big Audio Dynamite's "E=MC2" is generally credited as the very first song to use a sampling technique.
- Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of The Clash play the two police officers in the video for Big Audio Dynamite's "Medicine Show".
- Revolution Rock
- Big Audio Dynamite Fan Site
- Carbon/Silicon Official Website
- Official Carbon/Silicon Fan Site
- onemickjones.com
- ^ http://myspace.com/carbonsiliconinc
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0428851/bio
- ^ Westway to the World documentary
- ^ http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/the-clash
- ^ The Delinquents & The London SS
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| Joe Strummer · Mick Jones · Paul Simonon · Topper Headon Nick Sheppard · Keith Levene · Pete Howard · Terry Chimes · Vince White · Rob Harper |
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| Studio albums | The Clash · Give 'Em Enough Rope · London Calling · Sandinista! · Combat Rock · Cut the Crap |
| Compilations and lives | Black Market Clash · The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 · Clash on Broadway · The Singles · Super Black Market Clash · From Here to Eternity: Live · The Essential Clash · Singles Box · The Singles (2007) |
| Related articles | Discography · Punk rock · The 101ers · London SS · Public Image Ltd · Big Audio Dynamite · Havana 3am · The Latino Rockabilly War · The Pogues · The Mescaleros · The Libertines · Carbon/Silicon · The Good, the Bad and the Queen |