Elton Motello
Elton Motello was a punk and new wave band.
Elton Motello is both the moniker of Alan Ward, the lead singer and songwriter, and the name of the band itself.[1] Alan Ward was formerly a member of the glam punk band Bastard along with Damned guitarist Brian James, Dez Lover and Nobby Goff.
Motello then recruited a new set of musicians including Mike Butcher (aka "Jet Staxx" who had played on Jet Boy,Jet Girl), Willie Change (bass), and Nobby Goff (drums), to record debut album Victim of Time, which also featured guest appearances from former Pretty Things and Pink Fairies drummer John "Twink" Alder, Tony Boast, and Peter Goff (guitar).[1][2]
Motello returned in 1980 with a second album, Pop Art, now backed by Butcher, Andrew Goldberg, J.P. Martins, and Walter Meter.[1] Two singles followed towards the end of the year, after which the band split up.[1]
Jet Boy Jet Girl
Alan Ward had toured Belgium with Bastard, and through his connections there Motello debuted with the "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" single in 1977 on the Belgian Pinball label, initially backed by session musicians.[3] These session musicians - Mike Butcher (guitar), John Valcke (bass) and Bob Dartsch (drums) - had recorded the backing track also used on the hit single of Plastic Bertrand's "Ca plane pour moi". While the single in English made little impact (Except in Australia, where it was released on the RCA label and it hit #33 on the National Top Forty and regionally in Melbourne it reached #11 and Sydney #10), the song was sometimes supposed to form the basis for Plastic Bertrand's internationally successful hit "Ça plane pour moi", with new lyrics over the backing track.[1] Actually, the song "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" was a simultaneous adaptation.[4]
In Australia, "Jet Boy Jet Girl" has appeared in a television commercial, though the commercial only included the chorus and none of the once-controversial lyrics.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | UK | AU | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Victim Of Time | - | - | Attic |
| 1980 | Pop Art | - | - | Passport |
| 2001 | Jet Boy (Compilation) | - | - | AMC |
Singles
| Year | Title | UK | AU
Kent |
AU
Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | "Jet Boy, Jet Girl"[5] [6] | - | 33 | 37 |
| 1978 | "Pinball" | - | - | - |
| 1978 | "Lightning" | - | - | - |
| 1980 | "20th Century Fox" | - | - | - |
| 1980 | "Pop Art" | - | - | - |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Elton Motello", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
- ↑ Interview: Alan Ward and Mike Butcher - 'Attacking the Beat' (March 02, 2009)
- ↑ Larkin, Colin (1992) The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music, Guinness Publishing, ISBN 0-85112-579-4
- ↑ La véritable histoire de Ca Plane Pour Moi (in French)
- ↑ https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Elton+Motello&titel=Jet+Boy+Jet+Girl&cat=s
- ↑ The book Top 40 research 1956-2010 / Jim Barnes, Stephen Scanes P.279