Jona Lewie

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For other persons named John Lewis, see John Lewis (disambiguation).
Jona Lewie

Background information
Born 14 March 1947 (1947-03-14) (age 61)
Southampton, England
Genre(s) Pop
Instrument(s) Keyboards, Guitar
Years active 1960s – present
Label(s) Stiff Records
Website http://www.jonalewie.com/

Jona Lewie (born John Lewis, 14 March 1947, Southampton) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Contents

[edit] Career

Lewie joined his first group, The Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and started in the music industry as a session pianist, before joining the already popular cult rock band, Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts, in the late 1960s. The group has been a popular live act for 40 years, their mainstream hit single being "Seaside Shuffle" (1972), released under the one-off nom de disque Terry Dactyl and The Dinosaurs, "Seaside Shuffle" was an unashamedly commercial disc, quite at odds with the Thunderbolts' usual style, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]

However, Lewie looked likely to remain a part of a one-hit wonder group until he was signed up by Stiff Records in 1977. Following appearances on the Stiff package tours, he finally scored a solo hit with the humorous synthpop number, "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" (1980) which made the British Top 20.[2] Although his next single "Big Shot - Momentarily" was a hit in Germany, it failed to make any impact in the UK, but by the end of the year he was back in the British charts with what became his biggest UK hit, "Stop the Cavalry".[2] He also went on to reach No 2 on the Australian chart in 1981 with "Louise (We Get It Right)" and to have chart successes in many other territories, the most notable being South Africa, France, Belgium, Israel, Switzerland, Austria, South America and Sweden.

Although now one of Britain's (and, incidentally, Germany's) most familiar Christmas singles, "Stop the Cavalry" was not originally intended as a Christmas song – indeed it was a no 1 Gold Record in France in the summer! In England, however, it was released in late November after the record label spotted the line referring to the festival: "'I wish I was at home, for Christmas'". Not only this but the specific style of the brass instruments and bells in the chorus are very noticeable as a 'Christmas' style theme. The melody is loosely based on a theme from Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 by Hugo Alfvén, and its major musical elements copied directly from Mozart's Rondo in D Major, K382.

The tune and style of "Stop the Cavalry" was later parodied for a series of catchy and humorous TV adverts for John Smith's beer.

In December 2005, Lewie appeared in Channel 4's successful Bring Back...The Christmas Number One, along with other stars like David Essex and Slade (all of whom had big Christmas Number Ones.) They only fronted but did not play at the studio recording session of "I'm Going Home." It failed to secure a record deal despite being written by ex-Mud star Rob Davis who also appeared on the show and who co-wrote (with Cathy Dennis) the international million-selling "Can't Get You out of My Head" for Kylie Minogue.

The lyrics of Lewie's hit "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" Were written by Keef Trouble.

Lewie has not performed for many years but is currently recording a new album for release in 2008.

[edit] Albums

  • Alias Jona Lewie (1975)
  • On The Other Hand There's A Fist (1978)
  • Gatecrasher (1980)
  • Heart Skips Beat (1982) (produced by Rupert Hine)
  • Optimistic (1993)

[edit] Singles

One of Lewie's singles on the Sonet Records label: "Cherry Ring" was a hit in the Netherlands in 1976
One of Lewie's singles on the Sonet Records label: "Cherry Ring" was a hit in the Netherlands in 1976
Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: Jona Lewie - "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties"
Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: Jona Lewie - "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties"
  • "Cherry Ring" (1976)
  • "The Baby, She's On The Street" (1978)
  • "Hallelujah Europa" (1978)
  • "God Bless Whoever Made You" (1979)
  • "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" (1980)
  • "Big Shot - Momentarily" (1980)
  • "Stop the Cavalry" (1980)
  • "Louise (We Get It Right)" (1981)
  • "Shaggy Raggy" (1981)
  • "Re-Arranging The Deckchairs On The Titanic" (1981)
  • "I Think I'll Get My Hair Cut" (1981)
  • "Love Detonator" (1983)

[edit] Audio sample

Jona Lewie - "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" excerpt

An excerpt from "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties"
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 133. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  2. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 319. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

[edit] External links