You've Got Male

Happy 60th birthday to Johnny Male, born this day in 1963.

 

Your reaction to this may be, "who?!", whilst wondering why I didn't post instead about Kirsty MacColl, John Prine, Midge Ure, heck even Martin Kemp, who all share a birthday on 10th October.

 

Well, have a root around in your record collection and you may find that you have plenty of records on which Johnny appears as band member, guitarist, vocalist and/or songwriter...

As far as I can tell, things kicked off with Metro Trinity, a duo with Jez Williams (later of Sub Sub and Doves), who released a split 7" with Inspiral Carpets and one standalone single, Die Young, both in 1987. Michael Furey is the closing song on the 4-track 12" single.

 

A couple of years later, Johnny formed Soul Family Sensation with Guy Batson and Jhelisa Anderson and nearly cracked it with I Don't Even Know If I Should Call You Baby in 1991. The single came with a bunch of Marshall Jefferson remixes but ultimately didn't become the smash hit that it deserved.

 

Whilst Jhelisa did find chart success with The Shamen, Johnny hooked up with indie dance act Airstream, who generated some interest, particularly with the Andrew Weatherall remix of Follow Through in 1991. Their sole album, Ricky Tick, was a misspelt nod to the Riki Tik bar in London, which Johnny co-owned. I'll Dream Of You was their penultimate single in 1992.

Undeterred by the departure of Jhelisa, Johnny and Guy's partnership continued, shortening the name from Soul Family Sensation to Sensation and releasing an album, Burger Habit, in 1993. I first discovered them via the single Beautiful Morning - Johnny's front and centre on vocal duties - which came with a pair of, er, sensational remixes by Fluke.

Male and Batson's songwriting has extended to other artists, one of my favourites being a co-write with Sarah Cracknell on this gem of a single from Saint Etienne's 1994 album Tiger Bay.

Johnny also reunited with Metro Trinity partner Jez Williams (along with Andy Williams and Jimi Goodwin) to write this rather fine single by Sub Sub, also 1994.

Chart success finally came Johnny's way when he joined Republica in 1994. Things exploded a couple of years later with a re-release of Ready To Go. The video for that one still induces nosebleeds when I watch it, so here's Drop Dead Gorgeous from 1996 instead. I think it's a better song and you get to see Johnny giving it some on the guitar, too. Johnny is still performing with Republica, though I don't think they've released new material since their second album, 25 years (!) ago.

In 1998, Thurston Moore released Root, which featured 25 reworkings and 'transformations' of guitar pieces which he'd recorded in New York the previous year. Amongst the eclectic selection was cheapglue, featuring - you guessed it - Johnny Male.

 

The band, comprising Male, Guy Batson, Henry Priestman and Pete Smith, released one album in 2002 called Sexyhorses, plus a few singles and promos. Song titles include Herr Madonna, Failed With Flying Colours and Absolutely No Point In Anything Anymore featuring Emilíana Torrini. Oh, and a lovely song called You Just Won Me Over reuniting Male and Batson with Sarah Cracknell.

Apart from the ongoing live gigs with Republica, I've not been able to find a lot more about Johnny's songwriting and performing in the past decade, but I did unearth another gem, which he co-wrote with Pete Smith and Cerys Matthews for her second album Never Said Goodbye in 2006. Open Roads was released as a single the same year and I've discovered Cerys performing the song at Rhos-y-Gilwen in Pembrokeshire, circa 2008.

 

Not a bad CV, all things considered.

 

Have a good one, Johnny!