Jake Burns
Encyclopedia
Jake Burns is a singer and guitarist
, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers
.
covers band, Highway Star, which consisted of Burns, Gordon Blair
, Henry Cluney
, and Brian Faloon. Gordon Blair subsequently left the group to join Rudi
, and Ali McMordie
joined, about the time the band discovered punk.
They were briefly named The Fast, but as there was already a group of that name they changed it to Stiff Little Fingers, taken from the song of the same name that had appeared on Pure Mania, the 1977 album by The Vibrators
.
They recorded "Suspect Device" their first single in 1977. The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a cover depicting a cassette bomb, apparently causing great hilarity in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for another copy, as they'd thrown the first one in a bucket of water for fear that it was a real bomb.
A copy of the single was sent to John Peel
. He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal through Rough Trade.
entered the UK Albums Chart
as the highest new entry and, coincidentally, the first ever completely independent album on 21 February 1979, which also happened to be Burns' 21st birthday.
In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed to Chrysalis Records, and in 1980 released their second album, Nobody's Heroes. 1981's Go for It followed.
In 1981 Burns made his acting debut in an episode of the BBC
's Play For Today
series entitled Iris In The Traffic, Ruby In The Rain, written by Belfast-born poet and playwright Stewart Parker
, which also featured the rest of Stiff Little Fingers effectively playing themselves as 'The Band'.
In 1982 came a 4 song EP called £1.10 or Less and then their fourth studio album, Now Then...
(although their fifth album, as they had released a live LP, Hanx
, between Nobody's Heroes and Go For It). By this time they had diversified musically, and Now Then had an almost pop feel about it in places. This led some of their more hard core punk fans to feel alienated, and in the face of low sales and concert attendances, they broke up in 1983, when Burns said: "Our last LP Now Then was to my mind the best album we have made. But it is also unfortunately the best I think we will ever make. So I have decided to call it a day." The band later revealed the original split had been somewhat acrimonious, with bandmembers apparently having fistfights rather than talking through their differences.
. The band consisted of Burns on Vocals and Guitar, Steve Grantley
on drums, Sean Martin on bass guitar, and Pete Saunders
on keyboards. Big Wheel recorded a total of three singles, "On Fortune Street", "She Grew Up" and "Breathless". A compilation album, also called On Fortune Street, was released after the bands demise.
In 1987, Burns disbanded Big Wheel, and Stiff Little Fingers reformed, because they were "skint and wanted to make a bit of cash to get back to Ireland for Christmas". They released some live albums and did short tours towards the end of the 1980s, and by 1990 were thinking of reforming permanently.
(previously bass guitarist in The Jam
) in time to record 1991's Flags and Emblems
. In Britain, the single from this album, "Beirut Moon", was withdrawn from sale on the first day of release, allegedly because it criticised the government for not acting to free hostage John McCarthy
, who had been held in Lebanon
.
In 1993 Burns made what he described in the book Song by Song, as one of the hardest decisions of his life, and asked Henry Cluney to leave the band. The trio of Jake Burns, Bruce Foxton and Dolphin Taylor continued for the next four years, joined on live shows by either Dave Sharp
or Ian McCallum
.
. This same line-up recorded 2003's Guitar and Drum
.
Stiff Little Fingers are still performing and recording as of 2010, although Burns was the only member to be present in all line ups of the band.
As of 2010, Burns plays lead and rhythm guitar, and lead vocals, Ian McCallum
plays guitar
and does backing vocals, Ali McMordie
plays bass guitar and Steve Grantley
plays drums
, and is also on backing vocals.
On 27 March 2006 his solo
album
Drinkin' Again was released.
of The Selecter
, called 3 Men and Black. This involves Black touring with three male artists from the late 1970s, early 1980s doing acoustic versions of songs they are famous for, and talking a little about how they came to write the songs etc. The line up for the concerts is fairly fluid, and has included such people as Bruce Foxton
, J.J. Burnel
, Eric Faulkner
and Nick Welsh.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977, at the height of the Troubles. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they...
.
Career
Burns started off his career at school with a rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
covers band, Highway Star, which consisted of Burns, Gordon Blair
Gordon Blair
Gordon Blair is a Northern Irish musician, usually known as Gordy Blair.Blair started off his musical career as bass guitarist for Highway Star, the band that was to become Stiff Little Fingers. In 1976 he joined Belfast punk band Rudi, with whom he stayed for three years...
, Henry Cluney
Henry Cluney
Henry Cluney was a guitarist in Highway Star, the school band that became Stiff Little Fingers in 1977...
, and Brian Faloon. Gordon Blair subsequently left the group to join Rudi
Rudi
Rudi were a punk rock/power pop band from Belfast, Northern Ireland formed in 1975.-History:Rudi formed in 1975 as a covers band with members Brian Young, Ronnie Matthews, Graham Marshall, Leigh Carson and Gordon Blair, playing rock 'n' roll and glam rock hits. The band's name was taken from a...
, and Ali McMordie
Ali McMordie
Alistair Jardine "Ali" McMordie is a bass guitarist, who made his name with, and was a founding member of, Stiff Little Fingers...
joined, about the time the band discovered punk.
They were briefly named The Fast, but as there was already a group of that name they changed it to Stiff Little Fingers, taken from the song of the same name that had appeared on Pure Mania, the 1977 album by The Vibrators
The Vibrators
- Early career:The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his...
.
They recorded "Suspect Device" their first single in 1977. The single was packaged in the form of a cassette, with a cover depicting a cassette bomb, apparently causing great hilarity in the group, when one record company phoned them and asked for another copy, as they'd thrown the first one in a bucket of water for fear that it was a real bomb.
A copy of the single was sent to John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
. He played it repeatedly leading to a distribution deal through Rough Trade.
Inflammable Material to Now Then
Stiff Little Fingers' debut album, Inflammable MaterialInflammable Material
Inflammable Material is the 1979 debut album by the Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Jake Burns and Gordon Ogilvie; except where indicated#"Suspect Device" – 2:36#"State of Emergency" – 2:29...
entered the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
as the highest new entry and, coincidentally, the first ever completely independent album on 21 February 1979, which also happened to be Burns' 21st birthday.
In mid-1979, Stiff Little Fingers signed to Chrysalis Records, and in 1980 released their second album, Nobody's Heroes. 1981's Go for It followed.
In 1981 Burns made his acting debut in an episode of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Play For Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
series entitled Iris In The Traffic, Ruby In The Rain, written by Belfast-born poet and playwright Stewart Parker
Stewart Parker
James Stewart Parker was a Northern Irish poet and playwright.He was born in Sydenham, Belfast, of a Protestant working class family. While still in his teens, he contracted bone cancer and had a leg amputated...
, which also featured the rest of Stiff Little Fingers effectively playing themselves as 'The Band'.
In 1982 came a 4 song EP called £1.10 or Less and then their fourth studio album, Now Then...
Now Then...
-Chart Position:-Personnel:*Jake Burns - Vocals/Guitar*Dolphin Taylor - Drums*Henry Cluney - Guitar*Ali McMordie - Bass...
(although their fifth album, as they had released a live LP, Hanx
Hanx
Hanx! is a live Punk album by the band Stiff Little Fingers, released in 1980 . Originally intended for the American market to introduce the band before they toured there, it was subsequently released at a budget price in the UK as the band were concerned that a lot of their fans would insist on...
, between Nobody's Heroes and Go For It). By this time they had diversified musically, and Now Then had an almost pop feel about it in places. This led some of their more hard core punk fans to feel alienated, and in the face of low sales and concert attendances, they broke up in 1983, when Burns said: "Our last LP Now Then was to my mind the best album we have made. But it is also unfortunately the best I think we will ever make. So I have decided to call it a day." The band later revealed the original split had been somewhat acrimonious, with bandmembers apparently having fistfights rather than talking through their differences.
Jake Burns and the Big Wheel
After the breakup of SLF, Burns formed Jake Burns and the Big WheelJake Burns and the Big Wheel
Jake Burns and the Big Wheel were a band put together by former Stiff Little Fingers vocalist Jake Burns in 1983. The band consisted of Jake, Steve Grantley on drums, Sean Martin on bass guitar, and Pete Saunders on keyboards...
. The band consisted of Burns on Vocals and Guitar, Steve Grantley
Steve Grantley
Steve Grantley is a British drummer who plays for Stiff Little Fingers, and formerly The Alarm and RTZ Global. Between 1982 and 1987 he played drums for Jake Burns and the Big Wheel...
on drums, Sean Martin on bass guitar, and Pete Saunders
Pete Saunders
Peter "Pete" Saunders is an English keyboard player, born in Hammersmith, London. At 14 his family moved to Birmingham. At the age of 16, he joined Pub Theatre and wrote songs and performed with them...
on keyboards. Big Wheel recorded a total of three singles, "On Fortune Street", "She Grew Up" and "Breathless". A compilation album, also called On Fortune Street, was released after the bands demise.
In 1987, Burns disbanded Big Wheel, and Stiff Little Fingers reformed, because they were "skint and wanted to make a bit of cash to get back to Ireland for Christmas". They released some live albums and did short tours towards the end of the 1980s, and by 1990 were thinking of reforming permanently.
Flags and Emblems
Ali McMordie decided he could not commit the time to tour full-time or record, and so left, being replaced by Bruce FoxtonBruce Foxton
Bruce Foxton is an English rock and roll musician who is best known as the bass player in punk rock bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.-Biography:...
(previously bass guitarist in The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
) in time to record 1991's Flags and Emblems
Flags and Emblems
Flags and Emblems is the fifth studio album by the band Stiff Little Fingers, released in 1991 .-Track listing:#" Long Way to Paradise " #"Stand Up and Shout" #"Each Dollar a Bullet"...
. In Britain, the single from this album, "Beirut Moon", was withdrawn from sale on the first day of release, allegedly because it criticised the government for not acting to free hostage John McCarthy
John McCarthy (journalist)
John Patrick McCarthy CBE is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis...
, who had been held in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
In 1993 Burns made what he described in the book Song by Song, as one of the hardest decisions of his life, and asked Henry Cluney to leave the band. The trio of Jake Burns, Bruce Foxton and Dolphin Taylor continued for the next four years, joined on live shows by either Dave Sharp
Dave Sharp
Dave Sharp is an English guitarist who co-founded, along with Mike Peters, the Welsh punk rock band The Alarm.-Early career:...
or Ian McCallum
Ian McCallum
Ian McCallum is a Scottish guitarist. Born in Kenton, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England he now lives in Los Angeles. He started writing and touring in the early 1980s. He plays guitar for Stiff Little Fingers, and is also a recording artist in his own right.He is a fan of Lindisfarne, and in fact...
.
Get a Life
In 1994 they released Get a Life in the UK, releasing it in the U.S. in 1996. By the end of 1996 Taylor left due to family commitments, to be replaced by Steve Grantley, who had previously been the drummer with Jake Burns and the Big Wheel.Tinderbox to Guitar and Drum
The trio of Burns, Foxton and Grantley recorded 1997's Tinderbox album, with help from Ian McCallum who joined as a full time member for 1999's double album And Best of All...Hope StreetHope Street (album)
Hope Street is the eighth studio album recorded by Stiff Little Fingers, released in 1999 .-Track listing:UK VersionDisc One Hope Street#"Hope Street" – 3:33#"Tantalise" – 3:18...
. This same line-up recorded 2003's Guitar and Drum
Guitar and Drum
Guitar and Drum is the ninth studio album recorded by Stiff Little Fingers, released in 2004.- Track listing :#"Guitar & Drum" – 3:11#"Strummerville" – 3:19#"Can't Get Away With That" – 3:16...
.
Stiff Little Fingers are still performing and recording as of 2010, although Burns was the only member to be present in all line ups of the band.
As of 2010, Burns plays lead and rhythm guitar, and lead vocals, Ian McCallum
Ian McCallum
Ian McCallum is a Scottish guitarist. Born in Kenton, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England he now lives in Los Angeles. He started writing and touring in the early 1980s. He plays guitar for Stiff Little Fingers, and is also a recording artist in his own right.He is a fan of Lindisfarne, and in fact...
plays guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and does backing vocals, Ali McMordie
Ali McMordie
Alistair Jardine "Ali" McMordie is a bass guitarist, who made his name with, and was a founding member of, Stiff Little Fingers...
plays bass guitar and Steve Grantley
Steve Grantley
Steve Grantley is a British drummer who plays for Stiff Little Fingers, and formerly The Alarm and RTZ Global. Between 1982 and 1987 he played drums for Jake Burns and the Big Wheel...
plays drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, and is also on backing vocals.
On 27 March 2006 his solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Drinkin' Again was released.
3 Men and Black
Since 2001, Burns has also been involved in a side project with Pauline BlackPauline Black
Pauline Black in Romford is a British singer, actress and author most notable as the lead singer of The Selecter. Black was born to an Anglo-Jewish mother and Nigerian father. She was adopted by a white middle-aged couple and given the name Pauline Vickers...
of The Selecter
The Selecter
The Selecter are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially diverse line-up. Their lyrics featured themes connected to politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat...
, called 3 Men and Black. This involves Black touring with three male artists from the late 1970s, early 1980s doing acoustic versions of songs they are famous for, and talking a little about how they came to write the songs etc. The line up for the concerts is fairly fluid, and has included such people as Bruce Foxton
Bruce Foxton
Bruce Foxton is an English rock and roll musician who is best known as the bass player in punk rock bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.-Biography:...
, J.J. Burnel
Jean-Jacques Burnel
J. J. Burnel , is a Franco-English musician producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist with the British rock band The Stranglers.-Life and career:...
, Eric Faulkner
Eric Faulkner
Eric Faulkner is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a member of the Scottish pop band, the Bay City Rollers....
and Nick Welsh.