John Kennedy's '68 Comeback Special
John Kennedy - Vocals, Acoustic and Branding,
Smithy- Bass,
Peter Timmerman - Drums and Race Results,
Jeff Pope - Guitars and Cars,
Glenn Pye - Harps and Harmonies
Influences
John, Paul, George and Ringo, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley and Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, The Go-Betweens, The Sports, The Reels, Mental As Anything
Sounds Like
Elvis Costello, Edwyn Collins, John Wesley Harding
John Kennedy the musician, was a five year old in Liverpool the day the President
died. In Australia at the age of ten, he took the confirmation name of Francis
to complete the famous "J.F.K." moniker. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
The joke has long since worn off for him, but it still takes some explaining.
A young enthusiastic journalist once described John Kennedy as a humble genius. Kennedy is neither a genius nor particularly humble. He is the writer of many fine songs using a collection of pop, country, folk and rock influences to create the hydrid style he calls Urban and Western.
Kennedy formed his first band in Brisbane, Australia in ..80. His family had migrated from England in the mid-..6o’s and he was raised in the suburban wastelands on a diet of radio pop music. At the beginning of the 80..s, Kennedy brought his pop melodies and ideas to the flourishing post-punk Australian indie music scene. His name alone should have brought him commercial success. It didn..t,
but he continued to release a series of successful independent records.
The penchant for funny names continued with his first band "J.F.K. and the Cuban Crisis". "The Crisis" and his mid-80's Sydney band "John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong" became self-fulfilling prophecies. An invitation to perform at the inaugural Berlin Independence Days independent music conference in ..88 provided the incentive to leave Australia. In Berlin in the early '90's, Kennedy tried a more positive approach and formed "John Kennedy and the Honeymooners".
Despite the optimism, the honeymoon ended and Kennedy went on to perform as a
solo act.
Since Berlin he has lived and made music in Hong Kong, Holland and London; living
by the motto “Have Songs, Will Travel”. Kennedy returned to Sydney at the start
of the new millenium. With his new band, John Kennedy's '68 Comeback Special
he has a new album and label and lives once again in Sydney's inner-western suburbs.
A Typical Interview with John Kennedy
Typical question 1: Is John Kennedy your real name?
Answer: Yes.
Typical question 2: Your middle name doesn’t start with an "F" does it?
Answer: Yes.
Typical question 3: Where do you come from?
Answer: It..s a long story.
Typical question 4: Why do you call your music “Urban and Western”?
Answer: To give journalists a pigeonhole to put me into.
Typical question 5: Are you really the Elvis Costello of Australia?
Answer: No. I’m the Elvis Presley of Newtown.
John,it's Des the drummer from ,The Pits,Tex desdly & the Dum Dums & all the other early shit bands in Brisbane,how's things? do you still see Colin Bloxham...D
Please check out my latest CD release: Billy Don Burns THE BERLIN TAPES Outlaw-Country at its finest, a must for fans of Waylon, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe, etc.
</a
