Kenickie
Encyclopedia
Kenickie were a four-piece rock band from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. The band were formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Lauren Laverne
(b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton
, Lauren's brother), lead guitarist and occasional vocalist Marie du Santiago (b. Marie Nixon) and bass guitarist Emmy-Kate Montrose (b. Emma Jackson). The band's name comes from their favourite character in the 1970s film Grease
.
punk
label Slampt
before signing to Saint Etienne
's EMI
subsidiary, EMIDisc. Kenickie registered in the UK Singles Chart
, their highest position being #24 with the single "In Your Car", which opened Top of the Pops
on the 10 January 1997 edition. Their debut album
At The Club
, peaked at #9 in the UK Albums Chart
in May 1997. In the summer of 1997, Kenickie were scheduled to play Glastonbury
; their set was postponed, due to rain, but took place later on the scheduled day.
After meeting them in New York, Courtney Love
said:
The band's second album, Get In
appeared in 1998. It was generally less well-received than its predecessor in the music press (although Melody Maker
rated it 8/10), and sold less well. Johnny X, who now referred to himself as Pete X, moved to guitar, with the live band augmented by Graham Christie (later of Data Panik
) on drums and Dot Allen on keyboards.
Kenickie disbanded on 15 October 1998 after a London Astoria
gig, where Lauren closed the night by saying "We were Kenickie ... a bunch of fuckwits".
, and released two singles before splitting up. Du Santiago is now a member of The Cornshed Sisters. Johnny X went on to record under the name J Xaverre
. He toured with Peter Brewis of Field Music
's new project 'The Week That Was' and went onto play in Frankie & The Heartstrings
. The band's one-time touring keyboard player Tony O'Neill
(known in the band as Elvis Wesley) is now an author, living in the United States
.
Lauren Laverne released one solo EP
, and sang on the 2000 Mint Royale
single, "Don't Falter", which reached #15 in the UK chart. Laverne also was an uncredited vocalist on The Divine Comedy
's 2004 single "Come Home Billy Bird" which reached #25 in the same chart. Since then she has presented various radio shows on radio station Xfm
, most notably the breakfast show, before quitting in April 2007. She has also moved into television, originally as a guest on early episodes of music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks
. She earned her own weekly spot on Channel 4
music show Planet Pop and became presenter, with Myleene Klass
, of ITV
music programme cd:uk
in 2005, and hosted Channel 4
's music show Transmission
with Steve Jones
in 2006 and 2007. She is currently lead host of BBC 2's The Culture Show and has her own daily radio show on BBC 6 Music
, as well as occasionally deputising for holidaying presenters on BBC Radio 2
. She now co-hosts a Channel Four show, Ten O'Clock Live, with David Mitchell
, Jimmy Carr
and Charlie Brooker
.
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher , known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer...
(b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton
Pete Gofton
Pete Gofton is a Sunderland-based musician and producer. Well known on the North East music scene, and has been involved with many artists either playing with them or producing.-History:...
, Lauren's brother), lead guitarist and occasional vocalist Marie du Santiago (b. Marie Nixon) and bass guitarist Emmy-Kate Montrose (b. Emma Jackson). The band's name comes from their favourite character in the 1970s film Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
.
History
Kenickie originally worked with NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
label Slampt
Slampt
Slampt was a record label set up in Newcastle, England in 1992.The label is perhaps best known for releasing Kenickie's early work. Slampt also released the debut single by Yummy Fur, a band who later featured Paul Thomson and Alex Huntley a.k.a. Alex Kapranos...
before signing to Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
's EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
subsidiary, EMIDisc. Kenickie registered in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, their highest position being #24 with the single "In Your Car", which opened Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
on the 10 January 1997 edition. Their debut 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...
At The Club
At the Club
At the Club was the first album by Kenickie.-Track listing :# "In Your Car" – 3:45# "People We Want" – 3:25# "Spies" – 2:09# "How I Was Made" – 2:24# "Brother John" – 2:57# "Millionaire Sweeper" – 2:31# "Robot Song" – 4:39...
, peaked at #9 in 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...
in May 1997. In the summer of 1997, Kenickie were scheduled to play Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
; their set was postponed, due to rain, but took place later on the scheduled day.
After meeting them in New York, Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
said:
They're a big bunch of sex, that band Kenickie. They're a big, raw-boned bunch of fucking sex — all three of them and the boy. I hope they get good. I hope we're a good example to them, I hope this record's huge and then the big labels will start sniffing around and then those big fucking raw-boned sexy Newcastle [sic] girls will be huge and have Number Ones and there will be an AmazonAmazonsThe Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
planet the way I want it.
The band's second album, Get In
Get In (album)
-Track listing:# Stay in the Sun – 3:43# Lunch at Lassiters – 4:44# I Would Fix You – 4:32# 60's Bitch – 2:56# Run Me Over – 3:53# And That's Why – 2:56# Magnatron – 3:45# Weeknights – 4:48# Psychic Defence – 4:54# 5 Am – 4:00...
appeared in 1998. It was generally less well-received than its predecessor in the music press (although Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
rated it 8/10), and sold less well. Johnny X, who now referred to himself as Pete X, moved to guitar, with the live band augmented by Graham Christie (later of Data Panik
Data Panik
Data Panik were a Scottish rock band—Steven Clark , John Clark , Amanda MacKinnon , Stuart Memo and Graham Christie ....
) on drums and Dot Allen on keyboards.
Kenickie disbanded on 15 October 1998 after a London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
gig, where Lauren closed the night by saying "We were Kenickie ... a bunch of fuckwits".
After Kenickie
Du Santiago and Montrose went on to form a new band called RositaRosita (band)
Rosita was a band formed by Marie Du Santiago and Emmy-Kate Montrose, formerly one-half of the much-championed Kenickie in the immediate aftermath of Kenickie's split in October 1998...
, and released two singles before splitting up. Du Santiago is now a member of The Cornshed Sisters. Johnny X went on to record under the name J Xaverre
J Xaverre
__FORCETOC__J Xaverre is a Laptop folk band from Sunderland in the North-East of England. To all practical intents and purposes a solo effort from Pete Gofton, he has occasionally been joined by Lea Doherty on vocals and the King of Woolworths member Jon Brooks on keyboards &...
. He toured with Peter Brewis of Field Music
Field Music
Field Music are a band from Sunderland, England who formed in 2004. The band's core consists of brothers David and Peter Brewis , with Andrew Moore. Their line-ups have at times featured members of both Maxïmo Park and The Futureheads...
's new project 'The Week That Was' and went onto play in Frankie & The Heartstrings
Frankie & The Heartstrings
Frankie & The Heartstrings are a Sunderland-based indie rock band that formed in 2008. The band's debut album, Hunger was released on 21 February 2011, and debuted at #32 on the UK albums chart.-History:...
. The band's one-time touring keyboard player Tony O'Neill
Tony O'Neill
Tony O'Neill is a New York-based author. A one time musician with Kenickie , Marc Almond , The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Kelli Ali , O'Neill is also the author of several books including Digging The Vein 2006, Down and Out on Murder Mile 2008 and Sick City 2010.Digging the Vein was a novel...
(known in the band as Elvis Wesley) is now an author, living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Lauren Laverne released one solo EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, and sang on the 2000 Mint Royale
Mint Royale
Mint Royale is a big beat electronic music act from Manchester, England. They were originally founded by the duo Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997; the latter left the band in 2004, but Claxton continues to produce music using the Mint Royale name.-Career:...
single, "Don't Falter", which reached #15 in the UK chart. Laverne also was an uncredited vocalist on The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
's 2004 single "Come Home Billy Bird" which reached #25 in the same chart. Since then she has presented various radio shows on radio station Xfm
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
, most notably the breakfast show, before quitting in April 2007. She has also moved into television, originally as a guest on early episodes of music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
. She earned her own weekly spot on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
music show Planet Pop and became presenter, with Myleene Klass
Myleene Klass
Myleene Angela Quinn is an English singer, pianist, media personality and occasional model. She was formerly a member of the defunct British pop band Hear'Say.-Early life:...
, of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
music programme cd:uk
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...
in 2005, and hosted Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's music show Transmission
Transmission (TV series)
Transmission is a British television programme broadcast on Channel 4, offering live performances and interviews of famous music artists that ran for three series between 2006 and 2007...
with Steve Jones
Steve Jones (presenter)
Stephen Ashton "Steve" Jones is a Welsh television presenter. Jones is primarily known in the UK as presenter of T4. Internationally, he is known as the host of The X Factor USA.-Early life:...
in 2006 and 2007. She is currently lead host of BBC 2's The Culture Show and has her own daily radio show on BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
, as well as occasionally deputising for holidaying presenters on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. She now co-hosts a Channel Four show, Ten O'Clock Live, with David Mitchell
David Mitchell (actor)
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
, Jimmy Carr
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr is an English-Irish comedian and humourist. He is known for his deadpan delivery and dark humour. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television....
and Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
.
Albums
| Title | Release date |
Label | 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... |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the Club At the Club At the Club was the first album by Kenickie.-Track listing :# "In Your Car" – 3:45# "People We Want" – 3:25# "Spies" – 2:09# "How I Was Made" – 2:24# "Brother John" – 2:57# "Millionaire Sweeper" – 2:31# "Robot Song" – 4:39... |
1997 | EMIdisc | 9 |
| Get In Get In (album) -Track listing:# Stay in the Sun – 3:43# Lunch at Lassiters – 4:44# I Would Fix You – 4:32# 60's Bitch – 2:56# Run Me Over – 3:53# And That's Why – 2:56# Magnatron – 3:45# Weeknights – 4:48# Psychic Defence – 4:54# 5 Am – 4:00... |
1998 | EMIdisc | 32 |
| The John Peel Sessions | 2000 | Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.... |
- |
Singles and EPs
| Info | Track listing |
|---|---|
Catsuit City EP Year: 1995 Format: 7" Label: Slampt |
|
|
Skillex EP Year: 1995 Format: 7" / CD Label: Fierce Panda UK Chart Position:
|
|
|
"Punka" Year: 1996 Format: 7" / CD / Cassette Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #43
|
|
|
"Millionaire Sweeper" Year: 1996 Format: 7" / CD / Cassette Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #60
|
|
|
"In Your Car" Year: 1997 Format: 7" / 2xCD Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #24 |
|
|
"Nightlife" Year: 1997 Format: 7" / 2xCD Label: emidisc UK Chart Position: #27 |
|
|
"Punka" (re-issue) Year: 1997 Format: 7" / 2xCD Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #38 |
|
|
"I Would Fix You" Year: 1998 Format: 7" / 2xCD / Cassette Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #36
|
|
|
"Stay In The Sun" Year: 1998 Format: 2xCD / Cassette / 12" Label: Emi Disc UK Chart Position: #43 |
|
Other releases
- "Walrus" (demo) (on Signal Vs Noise compilation - 1994)
- "Hey, Punka" (on Laugh Hard at the Absurdly Evil compilation - 1995)
- "Rebel Assault" (on Elastic Jet Mission compilation - 1995)
- "Gary II" (on the Camden Crawl compilation - 1995)
- "Come Out 2Nite" (live) (on Phoenix The Album compilation - 1997)
- "It Started With a Kiss" (feat. Errol Brown) (on Come Again compilation - 1997)
Miscellaneous songs
Other songs performed on radio sessions included:- Un-named Acoustic Song
- "Letter To Memphis" (coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a Pixies track)