Falcon Stuart
Encyclopedia
Falcon Stuart was a British photographer, retailer, filmmaker, and music producer associated with X-Ray Spex
, Adam and the Ants
, and Danielle Dax
amongst others.
in 1941, Stuart was the son of the sculptor Oscar Nemon
. He married Alice Hiller in 1982, while living in London
, and they had two sons. Falcon Stuart died in 2002.
studio. Stuart’s fashion shots were featured in Vogue
, Harper's Bazaar
and the national press, and exhibited at the Hampstead and Kingsway Galleries. He also drove a customised Mini
- with a tent on the roof - round the Mediterranean, on largely unmade roads, to photograph BP
’s oil installations.
During the 1960s
, Stuart opened The Bistrotheque, a bistro
with a resident DJ with partners in Victoria Street
in 1965, while setting up Splash Posters, which produced screen-printed posters, with another business partner. The all white Jumpahead boutique followed in 1967, where printed jersey and paper clothes could be seen through a seven-inch viewing slit cut in the blanked out window.
Subsequently enrolling at the London International Film School in 1969, Stuart became involved in underground film-making, winning the ‘Sucker’s Award’ at the first Wet Dream Film Festival in Amsterdam
in 1970. After graduating in 1971, Stuart remained underground and worked with Nic Rogue on a Glastonbury
shoot. He also directed, amongst others, films on Peter Blake
and Robert Altman
, a segment of the Dutch film Dreams of Thirteen, and finally Penetration, which explored the European hardcore scene of the early 1970s. Shown at Cannes
in 1974 – the first film of its genre – it was retitled French Blue for the American market, where it unexpectedly reached no. 18 in the Variety Top 50, grossing $15,000,000.
explosion of the mid 70’s. He originally produced Silly Billy, a feminist
reggae track for Mari Elliot
in 1976, but both careers shifted hugely after a seismic encounter with the Sex Pistols
:
Marian Elliot adopted the name Poly Styrene
, and formed the punk band X-Ray Spex
, with most of the band’s members living in Stuart’s Fulham
home. Stuart served as their producer
, manager
, and often photographer, and played a key role in helping create the band’s only album, Germ Free Adolescents
. He also promoted a twice-weekly gig at the Man in the Moon following the closure of The Roxy, where X-Ray Spex played, and where Kevin Rolland and Adam Ant
would launch their careers.
When X-Ray Spex disbanded, Stuart then helped effect the transformation of former punk Adam Ant
. Stuart mortgaged his house to fund new recordings and the fourteen-date sell-out ‘Ants Invasion’ tour from May to July 1980. This led to Adam and the Ants
being signed by CBS
for the No. 1 album Kings of the Wild Frontier
on 16 July 1980. Stuart and Ant parted company in 1981.
During the 1980s
Stuart remained active in the music business, managing and touring globally with the New Romantic
band Classix Nouveaux
, formed by former X-Ray Spex members Jak Airport and B.P. Hurding, as well as pop act Amazulu
, and Swedish rock pop band Trance Dance
, while also setting up the independent label Awesome Records, distributed by Rough Trade
and the Cartel. Danielle Dax
released the acclaimed albums Jesus Egg That Wept
, Inky Bloaters
and Cat-House on Awesome before signing to Sire Records
.
Stuart remained involved with the British music scene in the 1990s
, while also expanding East. Classix Nouveaux had been the first band to play in Poland
in 1982 after the Solidarity uprising as part of the ‘bread and circus’ policy of the government of the time, and in January 1992 he took Crunch to play at the Ms. Rock Europe festival at the Palace "Ukraine"
in Kiev
, and in Kharkov Prison. Other performers included most notably La Toya Jackson
, who played in Chernobyl itself for the ninth anniversary concert to commemorate the disaster
. Stuart also helped format and provide material for the music show Post, which aired twice weekly to 5 million Ukrainian viewers between 1993 and 1998, and a weekly Best British Video half hour on the Noviy Kanal, which ran for two years.
Stuart's archive has been donated to John Moores University in Liverpool
, where it will be available for public access from the autumn of 2011.
X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...
, Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
, and Danielle Dax
Danielle Dax
Danielle Dax is an experimental musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. She was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.- Biography :...
amongst others.
Personal Life
Born in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1941, Stuart was the son of the sculptor Oscar Nemon
Oscar Nemon
Oscar Nemon was a Croatian sculptor who was born in Osijek, Croatia, but eventually settled in England. He is best known for his series of more than a dozen public statues of Sir Winston Churchill.-Biography:...
. He married Alice Hiller in 1982, while living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and they had two sons. Falcon Stuart died in 2002.
Early Career
Having been influenced in his teenage years by American rock and roll 45s and London jazz clubs, Stuart moved rapidly from working for society photographer Tom Hustler, to having his own PimlicoPimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
studio. Stuart’s fashion shots were featured in Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
and the national press, and exhibited at the Hampstead and Kingsway Galleries. He also drove a customised Mini
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
- with a tent on the roof - round the Mediterranean, on largely unmade roads, to photograph BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
’s oil installations.
During the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, Stuart opened The Bistrotheque, a bistro
Bistro
A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical...
with a resident DJ with partners in Victoria Street
Victoria Street
Victoria Street is the name of several streets in various countries:In Australia:* Victoria Street, Kings Cross* Victoria Street railway station, New South Wales* Victoria Street, Melbourne, Victoria...
in 1965, while setting up Splash Posters, which produced screen-printed posters, with another business partner. The all white Jumpahead boutique followed in 1967, where printed jersey and paper clothes could be seen through a seven-inch viewing slit cut in the blanked out window.
Subsequently enrolling at the London International Film School in 1969, Stuart became involved in underground film-making, winning the ‘Sucker’s Award’ at the first Wet Dream Film Festival in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1970. After graduating in 1971, Stuart remained underground and worked with Nic Rogue on a Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
shoot. He also directed, amongst others, films on Peter Blake
Peter Blake
Peter Blake may refer to:*Peter Blake , British pop artist*Peter Blake , New Zealand yachtsman*Peter Blake Scottish-born actor...
and Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, a segment of the Dutch film Dreams of Thirteen, and finally Penetration, which explored the European hardcore scene of the early 1970s. Shown at Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 1974 – the first film of its genre – it was retitled French Blue for the American market, where it unexpectedly reached no. 18 in the Variety Top 50, grossing $15,000,000.
Music
Experience in writing and producing film soundtracks positioned Stuart to play a key role in the New WaveNew Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
explosion of the mid 70’s. He originally produced Silly Billy, a feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
reggae track for Mari Elliot
Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene was the stage name of Marianne Joan Elliott-Said , a British musician, songwriter and singer, most notably in the pioneering punk rock band X-Ray Spex.-Early life:...
in 1976, but both careers shifted hugely after a seismic encounter with the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
:
Marian Elliot adopted the name Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene was the stage name of Marianne Joan Elliott-Said , a British musician, songwriter and singer, most notably in the pioneering punk rock band X-Ray Spex.-Early life:...
, and formed the punk band X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...
, with most of the band’s members living in Stuart’s Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
home. Stuart served as their producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, manager
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
, and often photographer, and played a key role in helping create the band’s only album, Germ Free Adolescents
Germ Free Adolescents
Germ Free Adolescents is the debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex. It contained the UK hit singles: "The Day The World Turned Day-Glo" , "Identity" and "Germ Free Adolescents" which reached No. 18 in November 1978.The album received wide acclaim upon its release...
. He also promoted a twice-weekly gig at the Man in the Moon following the closure of The Roxy, where X-Ray Spex played, and where Kevin Rolland and Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
would launch their careers.
When X-Ray Spex disbanded, Stuart then helped effect the transformation of former punk Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
. Stuart mortgaged his house to fund new recordings and the fourteen-date sell-out ‘Ants Invasion’ tour from May to July 1980. This led to Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
being signed by CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for the No. 1 album Kings of the Wild Frontier
Kings of the Wild Frontier
Kings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
on 16 July 1980. Stuart and Ant parted company in 1981.
During the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
Stuart remained active in the music business, managing and touring globally with the New Romantic
New Romantic
New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...
band Classix Nouveaux
Classix Nouveaux
Classix Nouveaux were an English 1980s new wave band. They had number one hits in Poland, Portugal, the former Yugoslavia, Israel, Iceland, and other countries...
, formed by former X-Ray Spex members Jak Airport and B.P. Hurding, as well as pop act Amazulu
Amazulu (band)
Amazulu were a British ska / pop band from the 1980s. Composed of five females and one male, they achieved success in the UK charts with four top twenty hits - the biggest of these being "Too Good to Be Forgotten" in 1986.-Early days and success:...
, and Swedish rock pop band Trance Dance
Trance Dance
Trance Dance were formed in Sweden in 1985 as a seven-piece group consisting of Ben Marlene , Pelle Hökengren , P.J. Widestrand , John Stark , Sören Johanssen and the sisters Susanne and Yvonne Holmström . Ben Marlene had previously been in the Finnish group French Kiss, who existed between 1982...
, while also setting up the independent label Awesome Records, distributed by Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
and the Cartel. Danielle Dax
Danielle Dax
Danielle Dax is an experimental musician and producer most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. She was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.- Biography :...
released the acclaimed albums Jesus Egg That Wept
Jesus Egg That Wept
Jesus Egg That Wept is the second solo album by Danielle Dax, a British experimental musician and former member of The Lemon Kittens. It was originally recorded and released in 1984 on the Awesome Records label...
, Inky Bloaters
Inky Bloaters
Inky Bloaters is the third solo album by Danielle Dax, a British experimental musician and former member of The Lemon Kittens. It was originally recorded between 1985 & 1987, and released in 1987 on the Awesome Records label. This was the last album by Dax released on the Awesome label before...
and Cat-House on Awesome before signing to Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
.
Stuart remained involved with the British music scene in the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, while also expanding East. Classix Nouveaux had been the first band to play in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1982 after the Solidarity uprising as part of the ‘bread and circus’ policy of the government of the time, and in January 1992 he took Crunch to play at the Ms. Rock Europe festival at the Palace "Ukraine"
Palace "Ukraine"
National Palace of Arts "Ukraina" or Palace "Ukraina" is one of the main venues for official events along with Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine. The venue is a state company administered by the State Directory of Affairs....
in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, and in Kharkov Prison. Other performers included most notably La Toya Jackson
La Toya Jackson
La Toya Yvonne Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, television personality, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, activist and former model. She is the fifth child of the Jackson family...
, who played in Chernobyl itself for the ninth anniversary concert to commemorate the disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
. Stuart also helped format and provide material for the music show Post, which aired twice weekly to 5 million Ukrainian viewers between 1993 and 1998, and a weekly Best British Video half hour on the Noviy Kanal, which ran for two years.
Stuart's archive has been donated to John Moores University in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where it will be available for public access from the autumn of 2011.