The Jactars (aka The Jacktars) - Peel Session (1989)

On October 19^th 1989, the Jactars gathered in Maida Vale Studios to record a Radio One Peel Session, with Mike Walter engineering and Dale Griffin (drummer from Mot the Hoople) producing. The like-up included Ian Travis (aka Trav, guitar and vocals, former Culture Disaster, Zyloids, Crompton Vest Band, Jades), Dave Morgan (bass and rhythm guitars, former Culture Disaster, later Barbel), Huw Williams (drums, with Crikey! It’s The Cromptons, later The Big I Am), while Tony Lonorgan (aka Tog, bass, keyboards, former Pieces of Glass, La Voix Celesté) was replaced by Peter McPartland (guitars, ex Third Man, now Rash).

Lonorgan, about the Peel session, remembers:

‘I'm not on it, still good though! I'd left to form the bleepy and spectacularly unsuccessful pink fish quartet by then (pink fish media was the name of our promotion / bullshitting company, I just kept using it).’

About recording with Dale Griffin, McPartland recalls:

‘I played on the session it was 'produced' by the drummer from Mot the Hoople :-) Interesting production he came in shook out hands, went the boozer and came back when it was all over and said sounds great lads. We christened the studio 'made of ale' after that. […] [A] nice fella indeed but I got the sense we were not his cup of tea. Pleasant enough though. Think there were two or maybe even 3 engineers on at the time so we were in safe hands. Experimenting with digital recording at the time. I asked to be dropped in at a point and they just laughed in my face’

Besides the title track of their Mini LP, the Jactars performed three unreleased songs.

Peel Session (1989)

- Pull The Plug

- Flower Powder

- Millions Of Grains

- Things Not Seen

The session, wrongly credited to the Jacktars, was aired November 20^th, 1989.

jp

(Thank you, you know who you are…)

see also: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44512

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/peel/message/14220 )

The Jactars - Pull the Pulg (1989)

The Jactars − Ian Travis (aka Trav, guitar and vocals, former Culture Disaster, Zyloids, Crompton Vest Band, Jades), Dave Morgan (bass and rhythm guitars, former Culture Disaster, later Barbel), Tony Lonorgan (aka Tog, bass, keyboards, former Pieces of Glass, La Voix Celesté) and Huw Williams (drums, with Crikey! It’s The Cromptons, later The Big I Am), released their first LP in 1989. This was an 8 track 45 rpm mini album of which only 500 were pressed

Pull the Plug (1989)

A1 Pull The Plug

A2 Matter To Make

A3 Deepest Respect

A4 Grab

B1 Shrink

B2 Hive

B3 Boney Backside

B4 I'm Round

ptp

The Jactars - Wadlow (1987)

The Jactars were a Wirrall-based band (then moved to Liverpool city centre) formed in 1984 and consisting of Ian Travis (aka Trav, guitar and vocals, former Culture Disaster, Zyloids, Crompton Vest Band, Jades), Dave Morgan (bass and rhythm guitars, former Culture Disaster, later Barbel), Tony Lonorgan (aka Tog, bass, keyboards, former Pieces of Glass, La Voix Celesté) and Gary (drums, Culture Disaster, Raiders of Discord, Zyloids, Crompton Vest Band, Sunrise Sa Blues, Jades).

The original nucleus of the Jactars was already there in Culture Disaster (Trav, Morgan, Gary), a punk act formed in 1979 and fell apart one year later, but it’s only after a period of musical self indulgence and experimentation, with the Zyloids, Crompton Vest Band and Jades (all three groups including Tony ‘Crompton Vest’ Brown, later of Crickey! It’s the Cromptons) that their music developed into a consistent and solid style. The Jades became the Jactars when Brown was replaced by Tog, in 1985. This line-up recorded a couple of demos between 1985 and 1987, at Vulcan Studios (recording songs like Forced to Violence, To My Toes, Things not Seen, Break to Skin, That Sound, No Fair Catch, Deepest Respect, most of which remain unreleased), and provided the song Tadpole for the Vulcan compilation Ways to Wear Coats (1986, see relevant post).

The Jactars gigged quite consistently on the Merseyside, mostly supporting or supported by Crickey! It’s the Cromptons, or other Vulcan bands.
The Melody Maker reviewed one of the band gigs (possibly with the Cromptons) as follows:
‘The Jactars are less quirky but just as individual, musically. As individual themselves, though, they don’t matter because this is the sort of music that takes over. Literate words make real songs while the guitars and drums seem to be working in unison and the keyboards add their own comment. The result is single-minded direct and impressive’ (Penny Kiley, September 1986)

During some live shows Gary was replaced by Huw Williams (drummer with Crikey! It’s The Cromptons, later The Big I Am), who became a full member in 1987. This new line up recorded the band’s first single Wadlow (1987)

Wadlow (1987)
- The tallest Man
- Matter to Make
- Tongue

The life, music, aesthetics, ethics etc. of the Jactars original line up (Trav, Morgan, Gary and Tog) is thoroughly discussed in Sara Cohen’s Rock Culture in Liverpool (1991).

jw

(Thanks to our friend Roger)

Liverpool 08 - BBC Documentary - Pt 5

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- KLF
- Lighning Seeds
- Dead or Alive