1. What sort of
music was you into and who were your influences?
Talking Heads, Blondie, The Ramones were what I was listening to and my
biggest single influence was and still is Jimi Hendrix.
2. How did you
get into punk (if you did) and what was its influence on you? If not what
did you think of it?
I was in some pretty rubbishy rock bands prior to punk and the energy
generated by punk was just irresistible to a hyperactive drummer. It’s
lasting influence on me was that I became focussed on my political
convictions.
3. Were you in
any bands previously and who were they?
Erm..I..er…mumble, mumble… Seriously, I was in some real rank bands before
The Wasps that had names like Elysium. I was in a good blues band called
Sam Apple Pie though.
4. How did you
come to join The Wasps?
I used to be in a band with Steve the bass player and he recommended me.
5. What did you
know about the previous members of the band and why they left as you came
into a band with only one member left?
Steve was still on the band when I joined, only to be kicked out about a
month later. The other original members I knew vaguely from the
Walthamstow music scene.
6. What was
your expectation when you joined The Wasps and where did you see the band
going?
Well, they’d just signed to RCA and I thought I’d really landed on my
feet. I thought we would be taking punk to a different level and we would
be huge (I was still thinking like an old rocker). I certainly didn’t
expect to be recording songs to be entered into the Eurovision song
contest!
7. Were The
Wasps actively gigging? How were the gigs going down?
There was a hiatus during the period the new band were rehearsing, but we
started gigging after about two months. We were fine but nervous and we
seemed to be gigging as support act to non-punk acts.
8. What sort or
reaction from the crowd. Were they asking for the older tunes?
General indifference – I got the impression most people had never heard of
us.
9. I get the
impression that The Wasps was Jesses show. Is this a fair comment? How
much influence did he exert?
That’s more than fair comment; it’s a statement of fact. Jesse had
complete control over image, material and how we played our instruments. I
mention this without bitterness, but it was a case of “my way or the
highway”. I certainly didn’t object to this as Jesse was (and maybe still
is) an extremely talented composer and singer from whom I learnt a great
deal. He was also very funny and as we were both from north London we
shared a similar sense of humour.
10. You joined
the Wasps as they were jumping the punk ship. What direction was the band
heading?
Pop/punk, no question. Jesse’s plans were world domination (in a purely
musical sense you understand) and he felt punk was now a hindrance to that
end.
11. RCA must
have pulled the plug fairly quickly on the band. Why was this? Did RCA
support the band at all?
It wasn’t a huge contract and as 'Rubber Cars' bombed they were quite
happy to see the back of us. Most of the gigs we did were showcases for
new record companies which was pretty dispiriting. I didn't play on the
Rubber Cars single but did do some overdubs on it after John left so that,
technically I could appear on the single sleeve.
12. What do you
remember about The John Peel session you did?
Mainly that 'Rubber Cars' was a complete balls-up. Prior to the recording,
A Certain Member Of The Band had set up a metronome so that we would be
tempo-perfect for each track, and despite my protestations that it was too
slow, A Certain Member Of The Band complained that it was too slow to sing
it properly! Sessions at the Beeb are notoriously tight for time and by
then it was too late and I got the blame. Tch!
13. Best
memories of The Wasps
Going into big recording studios and being treated with respect by the
engineers. Oh, and the parties.
14. Worst
memory of The Wasps
Playing at a big children’s bash at Hyde Park which was bad enough in
itself, but to compound it, the event was visited and sponsored by the
Queen. Pretty galling for a republican.
15. How did all
end?
It just sort of fizzled out as Jesse decided he wanted a solo career.
16. What did
you do afterwards?
Immediately afterwards I played on Jesse’s solo stuff and after that I
joined X-Ray Spex. When Polly left we became Agent Orange but never got
that elusive recording contract. I played in Modern Romance for a bit
(blush) who I also knew from the Walthamstow days (they used to be the
Leyton Buzzards). Very, very briefly I was with Transvision Vamp.
Nowadays, like a lot of musicians, I’m one of those charlatans who works
in new media.
18. You then
all rejoined up as 'the 1'. What sort of music did you play?
With regard to your question about the 1, it was…well, punky pop.
19) Did you do any
demos?
We did do loads of demos as The Wasps, and these were eventually pushed
out as the 1 and then eventually Jesse Lynne-Dean demos (I think these
days it would be called recycling).
Jesse's publisher was EMI and one of the songs "Boyfriend" was put forward
to some TV presenter who agreed to do it as a Eurovision hopeful (it
didn't get selected). In order to save on session musicians, they got us
to do it. Another version appeared as the B side on Jesse's solo single
"Do It". Wreckless Eric was supposed to do backing vocals but he was so
much the worse for wear that he only got credited with handclaps.
Hope this scurrilous gossip
is useful to you.
See ya
Tim
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