Stephen Jones (Baby Bird)
Encyclopedia
Stephen Jones is an English
musician
and novelist.
, Jones became involved with an experimental theatre
company, Dogs in Honey, in Sheffield
in the late 1980s, writing songs for productions.
By 1994, Jones had written over 400 songs and gained a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music
. However, he was unable to gain a recording contract, and formed a plan to self-finance the release of a series of albums featuring his home demos, limited to 1,000 copies of each, under the name Baby Bird.
The first of these was I Was Born a Man
, released in August 1995 and positively received by the NME
.
with Huw Chadbourne (keyboards), Robert Gregory (drums), John Pedder (bass) and Luke Scott (guitar). Two further collections of demos were released, Bad Shave
and Fatherhood
(a fourth album, The Happiest Man Alive
was released in early 1996).
By the end of the year, a decent public following had been built up, as well as quite considerable excitement within the press and music industry. Babybird were signed to Echo Records
(a division of the Chrysalis Group
), and the first "proper" single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was eventually released in the summer of 1996, becoming a minor chart hit in the UK.
in October 1996, and was also one of the biggest selling singles of the year, going on to chart around the world. This remains the song for which Jones, and Babybird, are best known.
However, it presented a much more commercial face to the public in comparison to Jones' previous work. The early demo albums won Jones great credibility with those who heard them, but had not reached a wide audience (each one being a one-off pressing). Arguably, the commercial sound and success of "You're Gorgeous", which received massive exposure by comparison, made it hard for many to take Jones seriously as an indie artist. Essentially, what he was best at was no longer what he was best known for.
, a perhaps pointedly non-commercial selection.
Babybird returned in 1998 with There's Something Going On, preceded by a single, "Bad Old Man". The album was a modest success and was followed by further minor hits, "If You'll Be Mine" and "Back Together".
The 2000 album Bugged was well-received critically. However, sales were poor and the two singles from it, "The F-Word" (later the theme tune to a UK TV cookery show
of the same name) and "Out of Sight" barely dented the charts. Babybird were dropped by their record label soon after. A third single from the album "Fireflies/Getaway" was released on Animal Noise records, but sold few copies. The band subsequently split.
Between the two instrumental albums, Stephen collaborated with the Manchester
-based dance artist Aim
on a single, "Good Disease", and worked on an album of demo songs. This became the hip-hop
influenced Almost Cured of Sadness, on Sanctuary Records
. Again, Stephen was to score a critical success, but legal problems over samples delayed its release. It and the single "Friend" received little promotion and sold few copies.
In October 2005, a posting on the official Babybird website announced that the band had reformed. The subsequent album was called Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
.
. The album features "Cokeholes", which was released as a three track single on October 27, 2008.
"I'll just say that I Was Born A Man is the only record I've heard this year with lyrics worth remembering and music that's impossible to forget, because I'd rather you listen to it than me talking about it." - Melody Maker
"...whatever ultra-naff low-fidelity keyboard tinklings he undertakes; he carries with him incredibly touching pieces like Dead Bird Sings that create, in the middle of this tank top
of a record, an altogether different kind of sadness." - NME
"...unique, customised but never self-indulgent or irritatingly inaccessible. It's as off as it's beautiful, as rich as it's lo fi... imagine Ray Davies
emerging, blinking and bearded, Howard Hughes
like, after years in the darkness and you'll have some idea of the deeply, deeply English yet marvellously, utterly alien world of Baby Bird." - Melody Maker
"...a mixture of whimsy, egotism and madness with a good bit of talent stirred in...his puzzled world-view is unique. He fills the 20 tracks with strangenesses. Weirdly wonderful." - The Guardian
"Fatherhood is another unpredictable and magical journey through the thoughts of Stephen Jones, a man who is clearly in love with sweet melodies and the millions of ways you can fuck them up...you might find the whole experience as cigar-puffingly satisfying as becoming a dad." - The Independent
"...an oblique sadist of spectacular talent. The Happiest Man Alive has an entire central nervous system
of its own. It's a Frankenstein's monster
of an album, gruesome and miraculous, stitched together from what would appear to be fragments of a dozen different psyches lodged inside one head." - Melody Maker
"Halfway between songs and instrumentals, some of the tracks on Dying Happy just don't work at all, but some of them are riveting." - The Times
"The five albums in question form a song-cycle tracking the life-cycle from birth to death. The sheer wealth and diversity of music crammed into this tiny box makes it an absolute bargain." - The Independent
"The Original Lo-Fi should cement Baby Bird's reputation as one of the finest experimental pop artists of his time...Written, performed, and produced as only Stephen Jones is capable of, the songs compiled on The Original Lo-Fi are easily among the finest musical confections of a generation." - Allmusic
"This isn't the best introduction to Stephen Jones. Nonetheless, '1985-2001' is another interesting dispatch from the no-frills renaissance man
." - NME
"He was always an affecting songwriter as well as an extremely able band frontman, but it is these solo lo-fi tinkerings that really provide the keys to his soul. His latest LP is a delight, an effortless charmer on which the childlike sweetness of his voice perfectly serves 19 deceptively simple songs that together make a series of multi-textured gems." - The Times
"This vast collection of poignant, evocative instrumental work - like soundtracks for imaginary movies – reminds you why there was so much fuss about him." - Daily Telegraph
"Veering imperiously between maudlin monochrome and exuberant technicolor, he proves as adept with narrative and metaphor as he is with choruses and couplets." - The Times
"...maximalism
at its most memorable and unnerving. Find it." - I-D Magazine
"Nightmarish and weird, but unsettlingly compelling" - BBC
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and novelist.
Lo-fi period
After studying at Nottingham Trent UniversityNottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University is a public teaching and research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as a new university in 1992 from the existing Trent Polytechnic , however it can trace its roots back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design...
, Jones became involved with an experimental theatre
Experimental theatre
Experimental theatre is a general term for various movements in Western theatre that began in the late 19th century as a retraction against the dominant vent governing the writing and production of dramatical menstrophy, and age in particular. The term has shifted over time as the mainstream...
company, Dogs in Honey, in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in the late 1980s, writing songs for productions.
By 1994, Jones had written over 400 songs and gained a publishing contract with Chrysalis Music
Chrysalis Group
Chrysalis Group is a UK media company. It was founded by Chris Wright, who remains chairman and was listed the 1,000th richest person in the UK in The Times Rich List 2009...
. However, he was unable to gain a recording contract, and formed a plan to self-finance the release of a series of albums featuring his home demos, limited to 1,000 copies of each, under the name Baby Bird.
The first of these was I Was Born a Man
I Was Born a Man
I Was Born a Man was the first of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
, released in August 1995 and positively received by the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
.
Babybird the band
During the second half of 1995, Jones toured under the name BabybirdBabybird
Babybird are a British indie band formed in 1995. The band is fronted by Stephen Jones, who has also released records as a solo artist, using his own name.-Career:Jones had begun...
with Huw Chadbourne (keyboards), Robert Gregory (drums), John Pedder (bass) and Luke Scott (guitar). Two further collections of demos were released, Bad Shave
Bad Shave
Bad Shave was the second of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
and Fatherhood
Fatherhood (album)
Fatherhood was the third of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
(a fourth album, The Happiest Man Alive
The Happiest Man Alive
The Happiest Man Alive was the fourth of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995....
was released in early 1996).
By the end of the year, a decent public following had been built up, as well as quite considerable excitement within the press and music industry. Babybird were signed to Echo Records
Echo Records
The Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....
(a division of the Chrysalis Group
Chrysalis Group
Chrysalis Group is a UK media company. It was founded by Chris Wright, who remains chairman and was listed the 1,000th richest person in the UK in The Times Rich List 2009...
), and the first "proper" single, a full-band recording of "Goodnight", which had appeared in demo form on Fatherhood, was eventually released in the summer of 1996, becoming a minor chart hit in the UK.
"You're Gorgeous"
The second single, "You're Gorgeous", reached number 3 in the UK singles chartUK 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 ...
in October 1996, and was also one of the biggest selling singles of the year, going on to chart around the world. This remains the song for which Jones, and Babybird, are best known.
However, it presented a much more commercial face to the public in comparison to Jones' previous work. The early demo albums won Jones great credibility with those who heard them, but had not reached a wide audience (each one being a one-off pressing). Arguably, the commercial sound and success of "You're Gorgeous", which received massive exposure by comparison, made it hard for many to take Jones seriously as an indie artist. Essentially, what he was best at was no longer what he was best known for.
After "You're Gorgeous"
The album Ugly Beautiful was released to a warm reception, but was not the unmitigated critical triumph that some had anticipated from Babybird's first studio-recorded album. The album produced two more hit singles, "Candy Girl" and "Cornershop". Shortly after Ugly Beautiful, a fifth album of demos was released - Dying HappyDying Happy
Dying Happy was the fifth of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1996.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
, a perhaps pointedly non-commercial selection.
Babybird returned in 1998 with There's Something Going On, preceded by a single, "Bad Old Man". The album was a modest success and was followed by further minor hits, "If You'll Be Mine" and "Back Together".
The 2000 album Bugged was well-received critically. However, sales were poor and the two singles from it, "The F-Word" (later the theme tune to a UK TV cookery show
The F-Word
The F Word is a British food magazine and cooking show featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4...
of the same name) and "Out of Sight" barely dented the charts. Babybird were dropped by their record label soon after. A third single from the album "Fireflies/Getaway" was released on Animal Noise records, but sold few copies. The band subsequently split.
After Babybird
In the following years, Jones returned to where he had started - releasing albums of demos (under his own name) to a small but appreciative audience. This time round he produced two albums of instrumental music designed to help him develop a career in film music. Stephen Jones 1985-2001 was released in 2001, and Plastic Tablets came out in 2003. Stephen created the soundtrack for the film Blessed in 2004.Between the two instrumental albums, Stephen collaborated with the 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...
-based dance artist Aim
Aim (musician)
Aim is a British musician, DJ and producer, who was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Aim's sound is a blend of funky electronic music and hip hop beats, a sound which typified the Grand Central Records label...
on a single, "Good Disease", and worked on an album of demo songs. This became the hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
influenced Almost Cured of Sadness, on Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
. Again, Stephen was to score a critical success, but legal problems over samples delayed its release. It and the single "Friend" received little promotion and sold few copies.
In October 2005, a posting on the official Babybird website announced that the band had reformed. The subsequent album was called Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music is the fourth studio album by rock band Babybird released in 2006. It was the first album that they recorded after leaving Echo Records in 2000...
.
Death Of The Neighbourhood
Jones has recently been working on a new solo project entitled 'Death of the Neighbourhood' . The eponymous debut album, a 32 track 2-disc CD set was released on November 10, 2008 on ATIC RecordsATIC Records
ATIC Records is an independent record label formed by British musician, DJ and producer, Aim . He left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and started ATIC Records in June 2006....
. The album features "Cokeholes", which was released as a three track single on October 27, 2008.
Fiction
Stephen Jones has produced two works of fiction, The Bad Book in 2000 and Harry and Ida Swop Teeth (also the title of a Babybird b-side) in 2003. He also collaborated with DED Associates, who have designed many of his CD covers, on a 2000 art book Travel Sickness.Singles
- "Snake Caves" / "Lemonade Baby" (Gorgonzola Records, October 1995)
- "Drunk Car" (Easy! Tiger Records, July 1999)
Compilation tracks and guest appearances
- "Larry Bright" (on Mortal Wombat EPExtended playAn 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...
, Fierce Panda RecordsFierce Panda RecordsFierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass...
, October 1995) - "Alan Ladd" (on Volume 15, Volume Records, February 1996)
- "Plastic Diamond" (with All Seeing IAll Seeing IThe All Seeing I is an English electronic music group from Sheffield, comprising Dean Honer, Jason Buckle and DJ Parrot...
on Pickled Eggs and Sherbert, FFRR, September 1999)
Albums
- I Was Born a ManI Was Born a ManI Was Born a Man was the first of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
(Baby Bird Recordings, July 1995)
"I'll just say that I Was Born A Man is the only record I've heard this year with lyrics worth remembering and music that's impossible to forget, because I'd rather you listen to it than me talking about it." - 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...
"...whatever ultra-naff low-fidelity keyboard tinklings he undertakes; he carries with him incredibly touching pieces like Dead Bird Sings that create, in the middle of this tank top
Tank top
Tank top may refer to:* a type of sleeveless shirt worn by men and women * a sleeveless sweater, also known as a sweater vest * the plating forming the inner bottom of a ship hull...
of a record, an altogether different kind of sadness." - NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
- Bad ShaveBad ShaveBad Shave was the second of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
(Baby Bird Recordings, October 1995)
"...unique, customised but never self-indulgent or irritatingly inaccessible. It's as off as it's beautiful, as rich as it's lo fi... imagine Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
emerging, blinking and bearded, Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
like, after years in the darkness and you'll have some idea of the deeply, deeply English yet marvellously, utterly alien world of Baby Bird." - 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...
- FatherhoodFatherhood (album)Fatherhood was the third of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
(Baby Bird Recordings, December 1995)
"...a mixture of whimsy, egotism and madness with a good bit of talent stirred in...his puzzled world-view is unique. He fills the 20 tracks with strangenesses. Weirdly wonderful." - The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
"Fatherhood is another unpredictable and magical journey through the thoughts of Stephen Jones, a man who is clearly in love with sweet melodies and the millions of ways you can fuck them up...you might find the whole experience as cigar-puffingly satisfying as becoming a dad." - The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- The Happiest Man AliveThe Happiest Man AliveThe Happiest Man Alive was the fourth of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1995....
(Baby Bird Recordings, April 1996) #127
"...an oblique sadist of spectacular talent. The Happiest Man Alive has an entire central nervous system
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
of its own. It's a Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
of an album, gruesome and miraculous, stitched together from what would appear to be fragments of a dozen different psyches lodged inside one head." - 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...
- Dying HappyDying HappyDying Happy was the fifth of five albums of home-made recordings, released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird in 1996.It was originally a limited edition release, but is now available as part of the 2002 CD box set The Original Lo-Fi....
(Baby Bird Recordings, November 1996)
"Halfway between songs and instrumentals, some of the tracks on Dying Happy just don't work at all, but some of them are riveting." - The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- The Original Lo-FiThe Original Lo-FiThe Original Lo-Fi is a CD box set compiling five albums of home-made recordings released by Stephen Jones under the name Baby Bird between 1995 and 1997, plus a sixth CD , consisting of additional material recorded during the 1990s.-CD one :#"Blow It To The Moon"#"Mans Tight Vest"#"Lemonade...
(Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, November 2002)
"The five albums in question form a song-cycle tracking the life-cycle from birth to death. The sheer wealth and diversity of music crammed into this tiny box makes it an absolute bargain." - The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
"The Original Lo-Fi should cement Baby Bird's reputation as one of the finest experimental pop artists of his time...Written, performed, and produced as only Stephen Jones is capable of, the songs compiled on The Original Lo-Fi are easily among the finest musical confections of a generation." - Allmusic
Singles
- "Goodnight" (Echo RecordsEcho RecordsThe Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....
, June 1996) #28 UK - "You're GorgeousYou're GorgeousYou're Gorgeous is a song by the British band Babybird released as a commercial single in 1996.- Reception :The song remains Babybird's biggest hit and the track that the band are best known for...
" (Echo Records, September 1996) #3 UK - "Candy Girl" (Echo Records, February 1997) #14 UK
- "Cornershop" (Echo Records, May 1997) #37 UK
- "Bad Old Man" (Echo Records, April 1998) #31 UK
- "If You'll Be Mine" (Echo Records, July 1998) #28 UK
- "Back Together (remix)" (Echo Records, February 1999) #22 UK
- "The F-Word" (Echo Records, March 2000) #35 UK
- "Out of Sight" (Echo Records, May 2000) #58 UK
- "Getaway" / "Fireflies" (Animal Noise, September 2000)
- "Lighter N Spoon" (popup records Hamburg, April 2008)
Compilation tracks
- "Bad Twin" (on The Avengers OSTSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, Atlantic RecordsAtlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, August 1998)
Albums
- Ugly Beautiful (Echo RecordsEcho RecordsThe Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....
, October 1996) #9 - There's Something Going On (Echo Records, August 1998) #28
- Bugged (Echo Records, June 2000) #104
- Best of Babybird (Echo Records, February 2004)
- Between My Ears There's Nothing But Music (Echo Records, September 2006 and popup records Hamburg, February 2008)
- Ex-Maniac 2010
Singles
- "Good Disease" (with Aim, Grand Central RecordsGrand Central RecordsGrand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, UK. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae . Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store...
, June 2002) - "Friend" (Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, June 2003)
Compilation tracks
- "We Make All the Flowers Grow" (with Luke Scott on Total Lee, a Tribute to Lee Hazelwood, City Slang Records, June 2002)
Albums
- Stephen Jones 1985-2001 (Easy! Tiger Records, October 2001)
"This isn't the best introduction to Stephen Jones. Nonetheless, '1985-2001' is another interesting dispatch from the no-frills renaissance man
Renaissance Man
Renaissance Man is a 1994 comedy film, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar, and Ed Begley, Jr. It also features Mark Wahlberg in one of his earliest roles....
." - NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
- Almost Cured of Sadness (Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, March 2003)
"He was always an affecting songwriter as well as an extremely able band frontman, but it is these solo lo-fi tinkerings that really provide the keys to his soul. His latest LP is a delight, an effortless charmer on which the childlike sweetness of his voice perfectly serves 19 deceptively simple songs that together make a series of multi-textured gems." - The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- Plastic Tablets (Delf Music, September 2003)
"This vast collection of poignant, evocative instrumental work - like soundtracks for imaginary movies – reminds you why there was so much fuss about him." - Daily Telegraph
Stephen Jones fiction
- The Bad Book (IMP Fiction, London, March 2000)
"Veering imperiously between maudlin monochrome and exuberant technicolor, he proves as adept with narrative and metaphor as he is with choruses and couplets." - The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- Travel Sickness (Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, September 2000)
"...maximalism
Maximalism
The term maximalism is sometimes associated with post-modern novels, such as by David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon, where digression, reference, and elaboration of detail occupy a great fraction of the text....
at its most memorable and unnerving. Find it." - I-D Magazine
- Harry and Ida Swop Teeth (IMP Fiction, London, April 2003)
"Nightmarish and weird, but unsettlingly compelling" - 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...
External links
- Bad Pages fansite
- September 2006 interview of "Babybird" (Stephen Jones) by Jane GazzoJane GazzoJane Gazzo is an Australian television presenter, radio presenter, performance and club DJ, television personality, voice artist, and music journalist....