James Stevenson (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For The "Passions" actor, see James Stevenson (actor).

James Stevenson is a UK punk / rock guitarist currently with The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel and Chelsea.

James started his career with London based punk band Chelsea before joining Billy Idol in Generation X around the time of the single 'Dancing With Myself'.

He also featured in the video for Kim Wilde's UK No.2 hit 'Kids in America' although rumour has it he never actually played on the song but was in the video for his good looks.^{[citation needed]}

James then formed Hot Club with Glen Matlock. They released two singles on RAK records.

In 1985 he was asked to join Gene Loves Jezebel when their guitarist left suddenly at the beginning of their first US tour. He is on albums - Discover, House Of Dolls, Kiss Of Life and Heavenly Bodies. He still plays with Jay Aston's version of the band and produced Jay Aston's solo album 'Unpopular Songs'.

During 1994 and 1995 he provided additional guitar player services for The Cult during their world tour at that time. He also contributed guitar to the song 'Brand New You're Retro' by Tricky.

Mike Peters, having disbanded The Alarm in 1992 called upon James to back his solo projects and he has been a permanent fixture through the various incarnations, resulting in more chart success, first under the guise of The Poppyfields with the Top 30 hit '45 RPM' in February 2004, and again as The Alarm MMVI with the No.24 single 'Superchannel' in February 2006 from their album 'Under attack'.

James had also toured with Gene Loves Jezebel in late 2005 and recorded a new album with Chelsea, called Faster, Cheaper and Better Looking, amongst other projects.