jonny fun-vox/keys | dillon-stuff | murphy-stuff

emerging from the cultural vacuum of post-industrial wearside, jonny fun and school-mates were always going to be contenders. their own peculiar brand of electro-cheese pulled little commercial weight but at least their parents liked them. fun's ego problems soon destroyed the band, but their seminal debut, the makem latino hybrid 'cum (wassy) grano salis' remains a tragically overlooked mid-90's gem.

jonny fun-vox/guitars/keys

it is probably true to say the concept always existed in the sick recesses of fun's mind, but it was only when back in edinburgh that he had the audacity to sculpt a band based on his alter-ego. initially unable to find friends the original jf&th line-up was just the man himself, now able to strum as well as plonk.

frank butcher-guitar | greg-drums | martin fyles-vox/guitar | stephen riley-bass

at the time, the most original artists to come out of southport since marc almond. now no-one gives a shit, including the band themselves. pop fact: the band reformed for a one off special, under the moniker recycle to russia. inspired.

rob 'bertie' peacock-conceptual genius

always more of a concept than a band. like gorillaz, only without the nifty cartoons or the music.

miscellaneous-multi-instrumentalists | jonny fun-keys

then, as now, not averse to whoring his services out, fun found himself guesting for established edinburgh giggers, dust, on studio work and occasional live sets in the leith area. a later name change found them easily-confusable with a deodorant for 'problem perspiration'.

jonny fun-vox/keys/guitar | laura 'lozza' cutmore-vox/keys/guitar

for a while they were very nearly almost the new everything but the girl. an a&r feeding frenzy accompanied their legendary teviot wine bar gig, live bootlegs of which now sell for upwards of 13p. in hindsight possibly a mistake to be named after how long they thought it would take sunderland to win the league.

martin fyles-vox/guitar | stephen riley-bass

winners of best duo named after a line from 'silence of the lambs' at the 1996 brit awards.

jonny fun-vox/guitar | rob 'bertie' peacock-harmonica

a short-lived but productive meeting of great songwriting minds occasioned by being very very pissed on the funster's last night in edinburgh. see hidden track on jf&th 'three years on'.

jonny fun - vox/guitar/keys | mambo - vox/guitar / jonny fun - vox/guitar/keys | the other john - guitar/bass/vox

speech therapy brought dr. fun together with his first hesitation, northern electric with his second. over the period 1996-1999, the man wasn't fussy who he plied his trade with. geography posed problems for the fledgling super-group, with mambo shacked up in glasgae, and the other john in newcastle upon tyne whilst fun rotted in washington cd. at some point in these crazy, hazy years though it seems the hesitations went plural, even if gigs weren't exactly forthcoming. some of the rare recordings from the period reveal a rougher edge to their sound and greater subtlety in the lyrical bitterness. the band certainly benefited from the creative input of some decent musicians.

rob 'bertie' peacock-bass | jamie ward-vox | sandy patterson-guitar

when lou reed-esque singer-songwriter patterson tired of solo touring, he recruited uni mates, ward and peacock, to fill out his sound. although none of them could play anyway, it might have helped if they'd realised earlier how easily an 'o' can be changed to an 'a'. as it was the band was pretty much still-born. by the time patterson started dating ward's ex-girlfriend, the show was well and truly over. patterson and ward did eventually take to the stage at the same arse gig as jf&th. people were polite enough not to request a refund.

bronagh & caroline-vox | james-keys | jonny fun, dom & q-vox/guitar/bass | andy & the other john-drums

another of fun's endless 'side-projects', this funky sheffield collective wowed crowds at a number of hallamshire venues. chiefly a covers band, they come as a welcome relief to those sick of hearing (no)fun's angst-ridden dirges. the hesitation number 'weekend in sheffield' was penned during one hazy weekend after a beermonkeys at which gig the other john appears on drums.

jonny fun-producer of cheese | martin peter fyles-poet of a generation | rob 'bertie' peacock-spiritual guru

if all were right in the world, this band would exist. it doesn't. nevertheless, they have their band photo on the web-site and what the hell, it fills up space.

jonny fun - guitar/keys/vocals | guests - vocals/guitar/keys/bass/chime bars/melodica/glock/egg/eggcetera

pretty much jf&th as it appears to be. various appearances by mambo and john. other perfomances by honorary... hesitators: will, steph, caroline, tr?, big monster love, paul o'reilly, lilian, andy league, sara glock, staff glock.

jonny fun-lesser producer of cheese | martin peter fyles-even more of a poet of a generation | rob 'bertie' peacock-ethereal guru

remember when we said it could never happen? well, it did. in drogheda 2003. under the fantastic name of 'the godber assembly' the three genie laid some smackin' tracks, but failed to release them. this was a good thing. they did record the legendary 'she hangs on every word i say' and all three shook their fists at love during the recording. sadly, that weekend, bertie tried to drown himself in a washing machine and the boyne. he failed. we live to fight another day.

jonny fun-stella box | martin peter fyles-guitar | rob 'bertie' peacock-kazoo solo on 'push-it' | ste 'chat show host' riley-bass

a coming together of much beer, music and the unknown. bertie's neighbours appreciated our 72 hour cellar stella music marathon they came to applaud us at 3 a.m., or tell us to stop. ah cannae mind which.

jonny fun-right hand action | martin peter fyles-guitar | rob 'bertie' peacock-more right hand action | ste 'chat show host' riley-bass

the neighbours' complaints of the runs drove us to open, yes, open the cambridge folk festival. there are some photos to prove it, but i'm not quite sure where they are right now. we made sure we opened as we didn't want to be too drunk if we headlined. perhaps sometime in the future.

birdman-guitar | the doctor-drums | martin fyles-vox/guitar | stephen riley-bass

following the fanastic reception of the bums at cambridge folk festival, there was no alternative but to recycle to russia.

big monster love - guitar/keys/vocals

little big tunes from BML. he is from north county dublin and you can hear all about it. he has played various instruments for jf&th and jf has reciprocated. BML has also tried his hand in the glockenspiel alliance.

jonny fun - stuff | andy league - stuff | other people - stuff

andy league met jonny fun at the zodiac sessions. they dug eachother's stuff and thus started to play stuff with eachother. it is best described as a calamination of the two bands jf&th and the red headed league. fewest at a gig = 3, most = 9. that's band members, not audience, like. the audience only ever reached 4. never to be a settled number, surprises can be a good thing.