Richard Jobson (television presenter)
Encyclopedia
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and film-maker, best known as a television presenter, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Early life
Jobson grew up in BallingryBallingry
Ballingry is a small town, in Fife, close to the border with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population of 5,740 . The once separate villages of Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill, and Glencraig are now somewhat joined together as the part of the Benarty area...
, Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, the son of a miner and a worker at Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
, attending St. Columba's R.C. High School, Dunfermline
St. Columba's R.C. High School, Dunfermline
St Columba's High School is a six-year comprehensive Roman Catholic secondary school, located in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland.The School's rector is Mr Jim Mooney.-The Development of St Columba's:...
.
The Skids
He was formerly lead singer with the art-punk rockPunk 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...
group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, The Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
. Jobson's singing style with the Skids was highly distinctive, and he wrote the lyric
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
s, while Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson , born William Stuart Adamson, was an English-born Scottish guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, described by legendary music journalist John Peel as “Britain’s answer to Jimi Hendrix”...
wrote most of the music
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
.
Scared to Dance
Scared to Dance
-Bonus tracks :All tracks composed by Jobson/Adamson unless indicated otherwise.-Personnel:* Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar* Stuart Adamson — guitars / vocals* William Simpson — bass guitar / vocals...
, the first Skids 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...
, featured the hit 1979 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Into the Valley
Into the Valley
"Into the Valley" is a 1979 single by Skids, taken off their Scared to Dance album, and is their best known song, appearing on a number of punk rock and Scottish music compilation albums. It reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 24 March 1979...
", the group's most successful single. Jobson appeared on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's 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...
singing it. The album also featured "The Saints are Coming
The Saints Are Coming
"The Saints Are Coming" was the third single by the Scottish punk rock band Skids, featured on their 1979 debut album, Scared to Dance. The song became an international #1 hit when it was covered in 2006 by Green Day and U2...
" whose lyrics about storms and drowning came back to light after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. In September 2006 it was announced that Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
and U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
were to record a cover version
Cover version
In 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 the song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
for charitable purposes
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
. Jobson said that he had written the song about the death of a friend in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Much of Scared to Dance features local references, and also Jobson's fascination with the two world wars.
The fourth and final album by the Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
, Joy was almost entirely written by Jobson and Russell Webb
Russell Webb (musician)
Russell Webb is a New Wave bass guitarist who was member of bands like Slik, PVC2 , The Zones, The Skids, The Armoury Show and Public Image Ltd., and collaborated with Richard Jobson and Virginia Astley, and The Who.-Slik and PVC2:In 1977, future Ultravox and Live Aid face, guitarist and singer...
, as the other two band members had left, one of whom was Jobson's long time songwriting partner Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson
Stuart Adamson , born William Stuart Adamson, was an English-born Scottish guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, described by legendary music journalist John Peel as “Britain’s answer to Jimi Hendrix”...
who moved on to form his new band Big Country
Big Country
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife in 1981. They were most popular in the early to mid-1980s, but they still release material for a cult following...
.
Post-Skids
Though he later formed another 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...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
with Russell Webb and John McGeoch
John McGeoch
John Alexander McGeoch, , was a Scottish guitarist who played with a number of bands of the post-punk era, including Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Visage and Public Image Ltd....
called The Armoury Show
The Armoury Show
The Armoury Show was a New Wave band formed in 1983 by Richard Jobson on vocals, Russell Webb on bass guitar, John McGeoch on guitar and John Doyle on drums. Each member was known for being in a previously acclaimed band, as Jobson and Webb were in The Skids and McGeoch and Doyle in Magazine. The...
- named after a 1913 New York modernist art exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
, Jobson and Webb also became a vital part of the career of Virginia Astley
Virginia Astley
Virginia Astley is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. From the start of her songwriting career in 1980, Astley took her inspiration from many sources. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music...
, which began in 1980.
Webb co-produced
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...
her first album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure
From Gardens Where We Feel Secure is the title of the first Virginia Astley album issued on her own Happy Valley label and distributed by Rough Trade Records.The album was released in July 1983 and peaked at number 4 in the UK Indie Chart...
.
Both Astley and Jobson were recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
sessions for Les Disques Du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
, a Belgian record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and Jobson made several LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s for the label, usually of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
readings with Astley as his accompanist. At the same time the final Skids
The Skids
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and new wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson , William Simpson , Thomas Kellichan and Richard Jobson...
album Joy was released, Astley and Nicky Holland appeared as backing vocalist
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
s with Astley also playing flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
on the single "Fields".
Both artistes had found a common interest in the War Poets, a theme which was in evidence for Jobson's first album Ballad Of Etiquette and which bore a credit for "Virginia & Josephine" (Wells). This album was released in November 1981, and peaked on the UK indie charts at number 24. At the same time Astley, Nicky Holland and Kate St. John auditioned for Bill Drummond
Bill Drummond
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...
at the Zoo Club 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 they made their live debut.
Jobson was doing poetry readings at the Cabaret Futura Club, who issued an album on the Martyrwell label and which was engineered by Astley's brother Jon Astley
Jon Astley
Jon Astley is a British record producer who also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television commercial starring a pre-Friends cast member Matt...
. Amongst a lot of strange-sounding and difficult music was the first ever recording by Kissing the Pink
Kissing the Pink
Kissing the Pink are a British dance/synth pop group from London, England. Members included Nick Whitecross, John Hall, George Stewart, Josephine Wells, Pete Barnett, Sylvia Griffin, Steve Cusack, and Simon Aldridge.-Career:...
, where the "Josephine" from "Ballad Of Etiquette" came from, and whom had been a music student in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
along with Virginia Astley.
For Crepescule's LP Fruits Of The Original Sin, Jobson performed a poem called "Homage To Marguerite Duras" with music by Astley.
He was married to Mariella Frostrup
Mariella Frostrup
Mariella Frostrup is a Norwegian-born journalist and television presenter, well known on British TV and radio, mainly for arts programmes. Her 'gravelly' voice was once voted the sexiest female voice on TV, and research to find 'the perfect voice' has indicated that Frostrup's voice is one of the...
from 1979 to 1984.
The mid 1980s saw Astley and Jobson do a Japanese tour to promote his album An Afternoon In Company. Much of Jobson's spoken word material for the Cocteau and Crépuscule labels has been reissued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
by the LTM
LTM
LTM Recordings is an independent record label founded in Britain in 1983, and best known for high quality, well-packaged reissues of artists and music from 1978 to the present day, as well as modern classical and avant garde composition...
label.
He has a daughter, Edieline Jobson.
Television and film career
After cutting another album Jobson entered his next career as a TV presenter, beginning with the Garden PartyGarden party
A garden party is a social gathering with food provided, in the open in a park or a garden. An event described as a garden party is usually more formal than other similar gatherings, which may be called just parties, picnics, barbecues, etc,...
on 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...
, to The Clothes Show
The Clothes Show
The Clothes Show is a British television show about fashion that can currently be seen weeknights on Really. It was formerly broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000.-BBC series :...
, before eventually becoming a presenter on Sky Television
Sky Television plc
Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated its four-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989...
. Jobson also appeared in an episode of Neighbours From Hell. In the 1990s he began a career as a film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. Jobson has directed a number of feature films including A Woman in Winter (2005), which shares its title with a track on the Skids album, The Absolute Game
The Absolute Game
-Strength Through Joy:All tracks composed by Skids.-2008 re-release:All tracks composed by Skids unless indicated otherwise.-Personnel:* Richard Jobson — vocals / guitar...
.
Director
- The Lion Inside (2011) (pre-production)
- The Somnambulists (2012) (post-production)
- The Skids Live (2010) (documentary)
- The JourneyThe Journey- Film and television :* The Journey , or El viaje, an Argentine film* The Journey , an American drama starring Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, and Jason Robards...
(2009) (short) - New Town KillersNew Town KillersNew Town Killers is a United Kingdom drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, starring James Anthony Pearson and Dougray Scott. New Town Killers follows two business men, portrayed by Dougray Scott and Alastair Mackenzie, who play macabre cat and mouse games with people from the fringes...
(2008) - CHEM087 (2006) (video short) (segment "Speed-Date")
- A Woman in Winter (2006)
- The PurifiersThe PurifiersThe Purifiers is a 2004 action film directed by Richard Jobson, and starring Dominic Monaghan.-External links:*...
(2004) - 16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol is a 2003 drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, based on his 1987 novel. The film is Jobson's first directorial effort, following a career as a television presenter on BSkyB and VH-1, and as the vocalist for the 1970s punk rock band The Skids. The cover of the DVD...
(2003)
Producer
- The Somnambulists (2012) (post-production)
- The Skids Live (2010) (documentary)
- A Woman in Winter (2006)
- The PurifiersThe PurifiersThe Purifiers is a 2004 action film directed by Richard Jobson, and starring Dominic Monaghan.-External links:*...
(2004) - 16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol is a 2003 drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, based on his 1987 novel. The film is Jobson's first directorial effort, following a career as a television presenter on BSkyB and VH-1, and as the vocalist for the 1970s punk rock band The Skids. The cover of the DVD...
(2003) - Heartlands (2002)
- Tube TalesTube TalesTube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other...
(1999) - Without Walls (1996)
- Just Another Day in London (1996)
Writer
- The Somnambulists (2012) (post-production)
- New Town KillersNew Town KillersNew Town Killers is a United Kingdom drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, starring James Anthony Pearson and Dougray Scott. New Town Killers follows two business men, portrayed by Dougray Scott and Alastair Mackenzie, who play macabre cat and mouse games with people from the fringes...
(2008) - A Woman in Winter (2006)
- The PurifiersThe PurifiersThe Purifiers is a 2004 action film directed by Richard Jobson, and starring Dominic Monaghan.-External links:*...
(2004) - 16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol16 Years of Alcohol is a 2003 drama film written and directed by Richard Jobson, based on his 1987 novel. The film is Jobson's first directorial effort, following a career as a television presenter on BSkyB and VH-1, and as the vocalist for the 1970s punk rock band The Skids. The cover of the DVD...
(2003) - Heartlands (2002)
Actor
- Your Cheatin' HeartYour Cheatin' Heart"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...
(1990) (TV series)
He also presented a late-night series in some 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...
regions called Hollywood Report. Katie Wagner worked as a reporter on the show. At some time, he presented an arts magazine programme called "01 for London".