"way back when, beyond recall, a golden age...", in part inspired by the portsmouth sinfonia, alberto y lost trios paranoias, the snivelling shits, max wall, the faust tapes, and watney's red barrel, to sink but a few, joe formed a band, the motivators (from whom the prefects mk ii borrowed both the song 'barbarellas' and joe), played a few gigs, changed line-ups, recorded a single, 'torment' (written by erstwhile genius legs akimbo), which was never released, and went solo, amongst other things.
for information's sake: the prefects were formed in 1976 in anne moreton's shed by rob lloyd, p.j.royster and joe crow, complete with signature style of impossible tempos, either too fast or too slow, according to attitude. the joke was that, at the time, robert was toying with changing his surname to 'perfect'. geddit? due to a clash of tiny, budding, teenage egos, joe dropped out temporarily, albeit still writing and arranging material with the band.
then there was the nightingales and 'idiot strength', which is a whole other history, subsequent to which cherry red records (persuaded by then a&r-man 'mad' mike alway) released 'compulsion'/'absent friends', joe's solitary solo effort. as a single it sold zilch, but the former track did end up on a compilation or two and managed to travel internationally, thence gaining him some kind of odd, cult notoriety. later on, martin l. gore, kingpin of depeche mode, covered 'compulsion' on his 'counterfeit' e.p., which also went world-wide. the indifference to joe's hyper-minimalist oeuvre was now on a global scale so, it seeming like a good idea at the time, he capitalised and retired, performing only rarely and wilfully avoiding releasing anything.
"common sense is the sum total of prejudices one arrives at by age eighteen", to quote somebody quoting einstein.
he last performed live at the little civic in wolverhampton on friday, may 11th, 2007, in between the nightingales and hotpants romance. joe's favourite colour is obsidian, he's a taurus and a pantheistic solipsist, apparently. his version of johnny cash's "i walk the line" is not only an homage to the big man himself, but also to john cale (another 'j.c.') and the velvet underground.
the 'coincidence' e.p. is available in shops now and also via mail order from big print records.
also available, the 'pillows and prayers' boxed set from cherry red records, featuring both sides of joe crow's 1982 7" vinyl single 'compulsion' c/w 'absent friends'.
cherry red records are also threatening to re-release reproduction editions of early 7-inch singles, which will include 'compulsion'/'absent friends', for which joe has contributed fresh sleeve notes.
lots more news to tell but nothing to say till all is confirmed. keep your eye on the sparrow!
