HONEST JOHN PLAIN - H.J.P. & friends

HONEST JOHN PLAIN Honest John Plain & friends cd 1996 320 kbps

That's not love / Thinking of you / Operator / Vaya con dios (May god be with you)/ Messed up / Song for me / Thin ice / Marlene / Horrible woman / Sad souvenir / Tune up the violins / It's like this / Sorrows.

Produced by Honest John Plain.

Honest John Plain : guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals / Darryl Bath : guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals / Campino : lead vocal / Matt Dangerfield : lead vocal / Mel Harris : keyboards / Ronnie Rocker : bass / Vom Ritchie : drums / Robbie Rushton : drums /Mark Duncan : bass / Jools : bass / Ginger : bass.

After the demise of The Boys in 1981, H. J. Plain joined the Dirty Strangers and recorded an album with Keith Richards and Ronnie Woods of the Rolling Stones, although after Plain left the band they removed his guitar from the recordings! In August 1984 he replaced Brady as lead guitarist in The Mannish Boys. Managed by Denny Laine’s wife Jo Jo they quickly built up a live following and interest from several record companies before agreeing a deal with Motown. Unfortunately the band were dropped as soon as Motown found out they were white! Plain went on to form Brat Boy with Brady (the Hollywood Brats). By this time German punk band Die Toten Hosen were beginning to make an impact across Europe and their lead singer Campino made it known that his favourite band of all time were The Boys. He offered a support slot to the Tower Block Rockers on the proviso that they could persuade Plain to join the band. Plain quickly came to realise that he and Tower Block Rockers guitarist Darrell Bath formed a formidable writing/performing partnership and they formed the Crybabys who were voted ‘Best New Band of 1991’1n 1993 Plain recorded his first solo album “Honest John Plain & Friends”, which featured guest appearances from many of his friends including Dangerfield, Bath, Robbie Rushton, Campino and Vom. Plain’s second solo album “Honest John Plain & Amigos” was released on 12 May 2003 to great critical acclaim and consequently Plain formed a new band to promote it. His old mate Robbie Rushton (Crybabys, Mannish Boys, The Gunslingers) was brought in on drums with Mat Sargent (Sham 69, Chelsea, Splodge) joining on bass. They made their debut as headlining act at the Punk Is Dead Festival in Holland on 17 October 2003 followed by a European tour. Honest John Plain & The Amigos debut album “One More And We’re Staying was released on 10 April 2006 with a French tour lined up to promote it. Unfortunately Sargent was unable to make the tour because of his commitments with Sham 69, who had a Top 10 UK hit with “Hurry Up England”, and they disbanded.Plain recorded a new solo album in Spain in January 2007 with Antonio Arias (Lagartija Nick), Steven Esteban (Ovni) and numerous other well known Spanish musicians. He also laid down some guitars and vocals on Largartija Nick’s forthcoming album.At the beginning of 2007 Plain and his old friend Casino Steel agreed to form a new punk supergroup to play Ramones-influenced rock’n’roll with a hint of Dolly Parton. The result was “The Last Rock’n’Roll Band” featuring Plain’s Amigos Mat Sargent & Robbie Rushton alongside Petter Baarli (Backstreet Girls) and of course Steel & Plain. The band are currently recording an album in France and are hoping to promote the album with a world tour in 2008.

A new album on Unbeatable Records " Untuned lp" will be out very soon !