| Dates connected with James: | 1980s |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band |
The Teardrop Explodes were the first band that Jim Glennie saw live, taken by his friend Paul Gilbertson when he was 14 to the Russell Club in Hulme.
Category Archives: Person
Morrissey
| Dates connected with James: | 1983-1992 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Musician |
Morrissey was lead singer of The Smiths and is still a revered solo artist. He personally invited James to support them on the 1984 Irish tour and the 1985 Meat Is Murder UK tour.
He fell out with the band after they turned down the chance to tour America with The Smiths. Once James became successful in 1990, he wrote a song called We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful which referenced the Sit Down video. When James replaced Morrissey last minute at Glastonbury 1992, they jokingly paid homage by opening their set with a cover of it, the NME describing it as the first time a Morrissey song had been sung in tune.
James Headquarters
| Dates connected with James: | 2007- |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Management / Social Media |
A mysterious character that runs James’ social media under the name James Headquarters (although the current Facebook profile is James Withington). Provides information to fans via unofficial channels and helps sort out the mess made by the official shop, ticket agencies and everybody else.
Yeadon, Ron
| Dates connected with James: | 2010s-2017 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Backing Vocals, Percussion |
Backline technician, touring vocalist and musician, and photographer of the band who has become more prominent with the band on tour. Supporting vocals, percussion and guitar on The Girl At The End Of The World tour. Ron left the band in December 2017 as it was announced he and his wife were expecting a child.
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Klimowicz, Alex
| Dates connected with James: | |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Vocals |
Klimowicz became the band’s second lead singer after Kirby’s no-show at the Eccles show. He specialised in Bowie covers but did not last very long in the role.
Kirk, James
| Dates connected with James: | |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Guitarist with Orange Juice, Influence |
Guitarist with Orange Juice, favourites of Jim, Paul and Tim. They gave James many support slots in the early eighties including some of their first shows outside Manchester. It is rumoured that part of the reason James got the name they did was in deference to Kirk, who was idolised by Paul Gilbertson.
Inspiral Carpets
| Dates connected with James: | 1989 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band, Vocals |
Organ-driven band from Manchester who supported James in March 1989 and were to enjoy success later with This Is How It Feels and four Top 10 albums on Mute Records. They provided the chant-like backing vocals on Gold Mother. The band reformed in 2011 and their guitarist Graham Lambert often tours with James as the promoter’s rep from SJM Concerts.
Ingram, Jennie
| Dates connected with James: | |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Vocals |
Ex-girlfriend of Gavan who joined the band initially on backing vocals, but did lead vocals at some shows before Tim was introduced. Despite her sacking, she joined Lifewave with and married Jim in 1984 and had two children, Gemma and Jake.
Hawkes, Chesney
| Dates connected with James: | 1991 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band |
One-hit wonder with his song “The One And Only” which kept James off the number 1 spot for four weeks when Sit Down sat at number 2. Chesney was apparently a James fan and apologised profusely when he met the band at Top of the Pops.
Happy Mondays
| Dates connected with James: | 1988 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band |
Factory band from Manchester that went on tour with James in the autumn of 1988 and were a major player in the Madchester scene before splitting up in 1993, only to reform rather unspectacularly in 1999. The Mondays are credited with introducing James to the possibilities of a more dance-influenced sound with their signature tune Wrote For Luck.
Hague, Stephen
| Dates connected with James: | 1996 |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Producer |
Hague was enlisted as the producer for the Whiplash album to give it a more commercial edge in late 1996, he had previously worked with both Blur and the Pet Shop Boys. He reportedly asked Tim to change his lyrics to one of the songs, something no-one had dared do previously.
Gretton, Rob
| Dates connected with James: | |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Band Manager at Factory Record |
Gretton was New Order’s manager and a major player in Factory Records when James were recording for them. As a massive James fan, he arranged support slots with New Order in the early days and tried desperately to keep James at Factory when they announced they were planning to leave.