| Dates connected with James: | 1987 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer |
Hugh Jones produced the first version of Strip-mine that the band recorded in spring 1987 at Rockfield Studios near Newport.
Category Archives: Person
Travis, Geoff
| Dates connected with James: | 1987-1990 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Record Label Manager |
Geoff Travis was head of Rough Trade Records and initially got involved with James as an intermediary between the band and Sire as the relationship got fraught during the recording of second album Strip-mine. He later released the original version of Sit Down and Come Home in 1989 on Rough Trade. The band recorded Gold Mother for Rough Trade, but after Travis told Tim they were unlikely to sell more than 20-30,000 copies, the band asked to buy the record back from Rough Trade, who were on the brink of financial ruin, and sign to a major label with the album.
Norton, Gil
| Dates connected with James: | 1991 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer / Engineer |
Gil Norton was the engineer on James’ debut album Stutter in 1986 before producing Pixies and later being chosen for production duties on the 1991 re-recording of Sit Down that went to number 2 in the UK singles charts.
Kaye, Lenny
| Dates connected with James: | 1986 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer |
Lenny Kaye was producer of James’ first releases on Sire – the Chain Mail (Sit Down EP) single and their debut album Stutter. He was famous as the guitarist in Patti Smith’s band and therefore had an obvious attraction to work with for Tim.
Stein, Seymour
| Dates connected with James: | 1985-1988 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Record Label Manager |
Seymour Stein was head of Sire Records that signed James in 1985 and released their two album Stutter and Strip-mine through their Blanco Y Negro offshoot. Previously known as the man who signed Madonna and Talking Heads and released Patti Smith’s first single, his credentials had impressed the band prior to signing.
Lifewave
| Dates connected with James: | 1984-1988 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Meditation Group |
Lifewave were the meditation group founded by John Yarr that Jim and Tim (along with Jim’s first wife Jennie and Tim’s girlfriend Martine) joined in 1985.
Nagle, Chris
| Dates connected with James: | 1983 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer |
Chris produced the band’s debut EP Jimone at Stockport’s Strawberry Studios.
Smith, Patti
| Dates connected with James: | |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Singer |
The American singer Patti Smith was Tim’s first inspiration musically. He first heard Horses whilst boarding at Shrewsbury School on the night he was told his father was in hospital and might not make it through the night. Her lyrics made a connection that stayed with him and in 2005 he performed at Royal Festival Hall at her request as part of the Meltdown Festival.
Orange Juice
| Dates connected with James: | 1980s |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band |
Orange Juice were a band that massively influenced early James (and previous incarnations). They had a number of albums in the early 1980s, the best known probably being Rip It Up. It’s rumoured that their singer James Kirk was part of the reason James chose that name. They were the band that Model Team supported in Sheffield when Tim first joined the band as a dancer in 1982.
Dingel, Max
| Dates connected with James: | 2013- |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer |
After working with The Killers and White Lies, Max Dingel was brought into produce La Petite Mort and Girl At The End Of The World.
Kirby (Peter Carney)
| Dates connected with James: | 1980 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Singer |
Peter Kirby Carney was the lead singer of Venereal And The Diseases when they were due to play their first gig at Eccles British Legion in 198o supporting Controlled Anger. He failed to turn up so Jim had to step in and take on the lead singer role. The set was curtailed after three songs when a drunk Jim started shouting words off a random bits of paper.
Wilson, Anthony (Tony) H
| Dates connected with James: | 1982-2007 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Record Label |
Anthony H Wilson was a TV presenter and set up Factory Records in the 1970s and The Hacienda in 1982. He signed James to the label where they released their first two singles and continued to support them even after James left Factory.
He died in August 2007 which Tim announced to a gig in Edinburgh before dedicating the first play ever of Bubbles to him. They later dedicated the whole Hey Ma album to him as someone who had the courage to make a difference.
Watch Mike Garry & Joe Duddell’s tribute to Tony Wilson featuring a number of prominent Mancunians, including Larry Gott.