Gene Loves Jezebel
are a gothic rock band from the early 1980s founded by identical twin brothers, Michael and Jay Aston (born John Peter Aston).
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GENE LOVES JEZEBEL TICKETS
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The Early Years: 1980-1989
Originally called Slav Aryan, Gene Loves Jezebel began in 1980 with the Aston brothers, guitarist Ian Hudson and a
drum machine. The Astons grew up in
Porthcawl,
Wales, making the move to London in 1981. With a new home, and shortly thereafter, the new name, the trio played several live shows and were signed by
Situation Two. In May 1982, the label released Gene Loves Jezebel's demo single
Shaving My Neck
. The band then added bassist
Julianne Regan followed, briefly, by a keyboardist,
Jean-Marc Lederman. Regan left within a year to form
All About Eve, leaving Ian Hudson briefly playing bass until Stephen Marshall joined. This line up went on to perform some 100 gigs and recorded the first album
Promise
, along with their first John Peel Session and the beautifully bizarre B-side
Stephen
, often considered to be an homage to the man himself. Peter Rizzo joined in 1984. Gene Loves Jezebel underwent a dozen or so line up changes between 1981-1985.
The band released two more singles in 1983 before
Promise
peaked at number 8 in the
UK Indie Chart. In 1984, the group recorded a
John Peel radio session for BBC and toured America with fellow Welsh artist
John Cale. The second album,
Immigrant
, was released in mid-1985. However, during an agonizing American tour for
Immigrant
, founding member Ian Hudson left the band and was replaced by former
Generation X and
Chelsea guitarist
James Stevenson (who later also played rhythm guitar on tour with
The Cult).
[1]
During 1986, the group moved its contract to Situation Two's parent company,
Beggar's Banquet Records and distribution rights in USA to
Geffen Records. The subsequent promotion increased pop-chart success for the group. The single
Sweetest Thing
briefly hit the Top 75 in UK and the album
Discover
reached number 32 in
UK Albums Chart.
At this time, the group also found heavy rotation on college and countercultural radio stations across America. The band had slowly turned their attention to
dance music. The slick and catchy guitar hooks of singles
Desire
and
Heartache
leapt to #6 and #72, respectively, on Los Angeles'
New Wave station,
KROQ. Later that year, former
Spear of Destiny member Chris Bell became the band's fifth drummer.
Gene Loves Jezebel's fourth album,
The House of Dolls
, was released late in 1987 and yielded the singles,
20 Killer Hurts
and
The Motion of Love
, which grazed the U.S. pop charts.
Motion of Love
was the band's biggest UK hit single, reaching number 56.
The third single from The House of Dolls,
Suspicion
, for the first time surfaced on
The Billboard Hot 100. Despite rising
mainstream success, the new pop-oriented direction proved to be too polished and commercial for Michael: he left during the recording of the album and only appears on two songs,
leaving Jay as the main songwriter of the band's songs. Even though he ended up returning, Michael parted ways with Jay in 1989 and later moved to Los Angeles.
The Split & Brief Reunion: 1990-1997
While Michael went solo, the rest of the band continued as Gene Loves Jezebel, which Michael was not happy about,
[2] and recorded two albums,
Kiss of Life
in 1989, followed by
Heavenly Bodies
. The band's highest-charting American single emerged in August 1990 when
Jealous
, the major single from
Kiss of Life
, reached #68 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #1 on its Modern Rock chart. Three years later, Jay Aston and company released
Heavenly Bodies
, which did well in Europe and on American college radio. Unfortunately, the group's American label folded one year later, and, after a few more live shows, so did Gene Loves Jezebel.
While Jay performed occasional acoustic shows under his own name, Michael played with members of Scenic, then formed a new band called the Immigrants (re-named Edith Grove) and later released a primarily acoustic solo album,
Why Me, Why This, Why Now
.
[3] Michael and Jay began working together again that same year, and recorded two songs with Stevenson, Bell and Rizzo for a GLJ best-of compilation, released in September 1995.
The brothers were reconciled in the mid-1990s, writing some new songs together, and sharing a house in Los Angeles.
They initially used Michael's band from the
Why Me
album era to back them up.
In 1997 Michael organized a tour for the brothers under the name "The Pre-Raphaelite Brothers", the idea being to perform Gene Loves Jezebel material and material from each of the brothers' solo careers, with a new set of musicians, although the financial incentives of touring under the band identity meant that they performed under the Gene Loves Jezebel name.
A new Gene Loves Jezebel album was planned, but Jay insisted that the other members of the band from prior to the tour were involved rather than the LA musicians, which Michael agreed to.
The album
VII
was recorded and a US tour undertaken to support it, but the brothers' reconciliation was short-lived. Towards the end of the tour, a dispute over how the profits from the tour would be shared out (Michael keeping most of the money as he had organized the tour) led to a fight between the two brothers and the tour was finished without Michael.
Two Gene Loves Jezebels: 1997-Present Day
Although Michael had again left the band, he began performing with the band from the earlier US tour using the Gene Loves Jezebel name.
According to Michael, he refused to be pushed out of the band after all of the work he put into the reunion. When Jay and the band returned to the UK, they released
VII
without the three tracks that Michael had sung on.
In October 1997, Jay sued Michael over rights to the name "Gene Loves Jezebel", and after a protracted court battle, Jay eventually dropped all charges. According to Jay, he dropped the suit after receiving assurances that Michael would not use the name. Jay Aston then continued using the name,
and Michael subsequently trademarked the "Gene Loves Jezebel" name in the United States,
[4] while Jay owns the UK trademark.
Since the late 90s there have been two versions of Gene Loves Jezebel, causing confusion among fans.
[5] Michael leads the US version of the band and has toured both the US and the UK supporting releases such as
Love Lies Bleeding
(1999),
Giving Up the Ghost
(2001) and
Exploding Girls
(2003).
Jay Aston leads the UK version of the band, also featuring James Stevenson and Pete Rizzo, and has toured both the US and the UK extensively as well to support releases such as
Accept No Substitutes
(2002),
The Thornfield Sessions
(2003) and
The Anthology, Vols. 1-2
(2006).
Jay, Stevenson, Rizzo, and Robert Adam are being sued for trademark infringement in the US.
[6]
Discography
Albums
| Year
| Title
| UK Indie Chart Position
| UK Albums Chart
[7]
|
October
| 1983
| (album) Promise
| #8 [8]
|
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June
| 1985
| Immigrant
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|
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July
| 1986
| Discover
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| #32
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October
| 1988
| The House Of Dolls
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| #81
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July
| 1990
| Kiss Of Life
|
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June
| 1993
| Heavenly Bodies
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November
| 1995
| In the Afterglow (live)
|
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| 1997
| VII
|
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| 1999
| Love Lies Bleeding
¹
|
|
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| 2001
| Giving Up The Ghost
¹
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| 2003
| Exploding Girls
¹
|
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| 2003
| The Thornfield Sessions
²
|
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Singles
| Year
| Title
| UK Indie Chart Position
| UK Singles Chart
| US Chart Position
|
May
| 1982
| "Shaving My Neck"
|
|
|
|
May
| 1983
| "Screaming for Emmalene"
| #18
|
|
|
September
| 1983
| "Bruises"
| #7
|
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April
| 1984
| "Influenza (relapse)"
| #11
|
|
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June
| 1984
| "Shame (Whole Heart Howl)"
| #14
|
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June
| 1985
| "Cow"
| #9
|
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November
| 1985
| "Desire"
| #4
|
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March
| 1986
| "Sweetest Thing"
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| #75
|
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June
| 1986
| "Heartache"
|
| #71
|
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October
| 1986
| "Desire (Come and Get It)"
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August
| 1987
| "The Motion Of Love"
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| #56
|
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December
| 1987
| "Gorgeous"
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| #68
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January
| 1988
| "Every Door" (withdrawn)
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January
| 1988
| "The Motion of Love"
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| #87
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June
| 1990
| "Jealous"
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| #68
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December
| 1990
| "Tangled Up In You"
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May
| 1993
| "Josephina"
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| 2006
| Survive This
EP (promo only)¹
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¹ Michael Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel
² Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel
References
- The Great Alternative & Indie Discography
- Gene Loves Jezebel: From Celtic hums and Gothic drones to sibling rivalry, it's a twin thing...
- Owen, Daniel (2005) "Over The Rooftops", Zero Magazine, November 2005.
- Jay Aston biography
- Interview With Gene Loves Jezebel
- Michael Aston V Jay Aston et al..
- British Hit Singles & Albums
- Indie Hits 1980-1999