BAND & MEMBER PROFILE

JJ King (vocals & rhythm guitar) & The Coolers

Born 26^th June 1966, to parents Luke and May King, I found at an early pre-teens age that I liked many kinds of music, but decided that rock n roll and country music were my favourites. This was due I believe to the influence of my parents musical tastes. I remember some of the first tapes I brought for my cassette recorder were albums “Elvis in the movies” and “Let the good times roll”. With a father that played a variety of instruments such as guitar, harmonica, violin and trumpet and could also knock out a good drum beat on our old twin tub washing machine, it isn’t hard to understand where our inspiration come from. But after a couple of school guitar lessons, I found that learning “She’ll be coming round the mountain” was not for me and didn’t pick up a guitar again until about 1988. I also joined the Marine Cadets and had a year or so playing a fife in the cadet band.
When I was at the age of 13, dad was also having guitar lessons from the great Burt Weedon who some of you may remember, and spent many days playing his acoustic guitar, in fact I can still remember hearing Kenny Rogers and Don Williams playing all the time in our house and my dad miss quoting the line from “Coward of the county”, as “four hundred children”, “instead of four hungry children”. Sadly though in 1981 when I was 15 and Ethan was 13, dad passed away, and as Don McLean says in “American Pie”, that was the day the music died. No longer the sound of dad practicing and it tore the heart right out of the house.

It was another year I believe before my best friend, and his brother and I mentioned the “lets make a band” quote, and I decided that for my 16^th birthday I would like a snare drum and cymbal, just like the Stray Cats, and since my brother and I had been playing for a time with mum’s knitting needles on pillows, I thought this would be easy and I’d have an immediate result, WRONG!! I found the coordination was something I lacked. Anyway, my mate’s dad had made a tea chest bass at about the same time, originally for my mate’s brother but eventually we swapped and I used the bass and he the drum SUCCESS !! and the “Zodiacs” were formed, which then changed to “Wildcats” and then after a number of additions and changes such as a singer, a drummer (Ethan), and my mates brother on rhythm guitar, and I brought a real double bass, “The Treasurers” rockabilly band were formed. Soon after though, the rhythm guy left and so did the singer and the line up of drums, bass and guitar would then stay unchanged for 14 years, with the only change being a new guitarist in 1990. I picked up the guitar again in 1988 as I wanted to write songs, and as any bass player will tell you, it isn’t easy using only a bass guitar. But anyway, we wrote and recorded many of my early attempts at writing, although recently when Ethan played them back, they do sound strange. Still, with a discography of 3 tapes, one song on a compilation record, one song on a CD compilation and one full CD album, one TV appearance and many many gigs, summer seasons and some great supports, it came to an end.

I had been playing rhythm guitar for some time now and it was the year 2000 and the new millennium was upon us and with that a new start, The Treasurers guitarist Bryan Ward (Sam Spade), was off to pastures new and with that we decided to take on a new venture and “JJ King & The Coolers” was formed and I thought it would be nice to play guitar for a change. And if you were wondering where the name came from, the “JJ” is what our dear old mum called me who sadly died in 1997 and “The Coolers” was taken from the name given to the chief night club bouncer in the film “Roadhouse” with Patrick Swayze as “The Cooler”. The band with it’s four members, Ethan on drums, Alan Fullard on rhythm guitar, Tim Dene (ex Good Rockin’ Tonight), on double bass and myself playing guitar and singing, gigged around the country for about 4 years with a number of line up changes including a change of guitarist to (Deke Martin), who took on a lot of the lead work, a change of drummer to Spencer Lingwood (currently with the hit show “Rockin’ On Heavens Door”), and when Deke and Tim left, Tim was replaced by Paul Major, formally from the Sundowners and we were using the guitar talents of Martin Botley. Unfortunately, due to various commitments the band stopped touring in 2005 and with a turn of fortune, I was kindly asked by Mark Keeley who fronts the top well known rock n roll band “Good Rockin’ Tonight ” (GRT), if I would stand in as bass player for a few gigs and in fact have remained so since then. During my time with GRT, I have bumped into many people who said they liked The Coolers and to that end is why I have decided to bring them back.

Best Wishes

JJ (Aug 2009)

Ethan (drums)

1983 to 1990

Well I will keep this short and sweet so you don’t get bored reading about me. I started playing the drums when I was just 14, my brother J persuaded me to give up my computer studies and buy a drum Kit, Well he actually said “don’t buy a computer Bruv get a drum kit”……. So I did.

Our dad had died a couple of years earlier so mum wanted to get us a great present for Christmas, so I went down and got my first Mirage drum kit for £250, that was a lot of cash in 1983 and I guess I’ve never looked back.

We quickly got together and set up our first band “ The Treasurers” 5 local lads that actually soon became 3 due to girl friends and Jobs.

(Myself on Drums, J on Double bass and Tony on Guitar) we seemed so young then, but we quickly got a local following and even spread our wings a little further.

We had great fun for around 5 years in that line-up, released our first Album “ the clock ticks overtime” and played many of the cool rockin venues of the time like the Clay pigeon and The horn of plenty, we even played alongside some of the top acts of the time too and had a track or two released on the fury records label.

We always seemed to be in the papers and on the radio, I look back with fond memories of being a rockabilly kid.

If I had to choose a highlight for this time it would be playing at the 1988 UK hot rod championships in front of 800 rain soaked spectators, we rocked and they wanted it, I felt like a rock star and I was only 19.

1990 to 1999

1990 brought the departure of Tony and a new guitarist for the Treasurers Brian , this also added a slight change in the style of the band.

We still kept the format but changed to a heavier more slick rock style of performing and I guess we did alienate some of our true rockabilly fans but in some ways it pushed into new directions and we never looked back.

During that 10 year period from 1990 to 2000 it seemed like I was always on the road. I took a decision to manage the band full time and I cut my full time job down to just 3 days.

This paid off for the band as we established ourselves as one of the most powerful 3 piece bands on the UK live scene, we crossed over into many markets from cruise ships to nightclubs to summer seasons and Pubs we rocked the UK.

Funny looking back at those days we were regularly doing 18-20 gigs per month in the summer and well over 150 per year, wrecking van after van driving from one side of the country to the other, no wonder I was always knackered.

But it was great, we released 3 albums during that time “ Kick that beat”, “Cherry Pie” and “A thousand pretty women”, we also made our debut TV performance rockin on a cruise ship. We supported many top UK performers and comedians and had gigs coming out of our ears, and even again crossed back to the UK Rockabilly scene appearing on the best of Fury Rockabilly album with the great Rocking track “ Tempered Steel”

Not sure if I could pick just one highlight from this period as there were so many, summer seasons in front of thousands each week, top club and cabaret gigs it was an amazing time, I could pick a low light though,

Sadly our mum died in 1997, was a real blow and took the wind out of our sails, we never really grabbed the enthusiasm back for the band. We carried on for another couple of years but didn’t enjoy it as much and after almost 15 years “ The Treasurers” ground slowly to a Stop. Sad really, but that’s Rock’n’Roll.

1999 to 2003

JJ King and the coolers started in 1999 and by 2000 we had really found our feet on the UK Jive scene, again I was managing the band and providing the heartbeat.

We quickly established the band as one of the top jive bands, with a little bit of rockin throw in, mainly due to our first 6 track EP “ Stop Messing around” a Stroller “ So right for Love” became a real popular song for the dancers and helped us shift around a 1000 copies of that EP.

We had spent years gigging and this showed with our live performances, and in less than a year we were gigging up and down the country.

We seemed to be in the right place at the right time, Lucas and the Dynamos who had been great friends of our for years has just hung up the sombreros so I guess we moved straight into their shoes.

Our popularity was so great that we was asked to appear in a Jive instructional Video alongside the Jets, we played as part of the BBC music live event and was the only band to link simultaneously with BBC radio 2 performing live across the nation to around 5 million listeners.

We had some great nights and with many top acts, becoming a regular band for Linda Gail Lewis and also Mike Berry.

Big Big was the first full album that we produced and again this proved popular but for me it was time to take a break, 2003 was my last year with the coolers, I was burnt out, the gigging and managing the bands for almost 20 years and still working a day job was becoming very stressful and I needed a break, the band carried on for about another 18 months until it stopped early 2005.

2003 to today

After taking a little break from performing I felt the urge to get back into it, Mark Keeley’s GRT had just lost their full time drummer Spencer, I had worked with the Guys on and off since 1996 doing Dep gigs when Spencer couldn’t make it.

I had also first met John O Malley when he did some Dep gigs for “ The Treasurers in 1994 when Brian was unavailable, so they called on me to fill in whilst they looked for a new full time drummer.

This kept me pretty busy as you can imagine, GRT were the top band on the circuit, it was nice not to have to worry about arranging times for people, gigs, paying agents etc, I just turned up when I was asked to, well often 5 mins late as Mark would say but it was great fun and the gigs were great too.

This meant I was also getting seen by other bands and they would call on me to do dep gigs when I wasn’t gigging for Mark.

J joined the band also, initially as a dep but then more full time and back on the Double Bass which was great and brought the King brothers back together on the rhythm section once again.

GRT had recruited Guy as the new full time drummer but there were a many gigs he couldn’t make and I kept myself very busy doing around 40-50 a year with the Band.

Working on all the holidays and all the Jive clubs it was great and we even appeared again on TV on channel 4.

But I still had some weekends clear which gave me a chance to work with other Bands, and there have been lots too, I’ve written the ones I can remember but I’m sure there’s more.

GRT, Mark Keeley’s Shaky show, Mark Keeley’s Elvis show, The Stray Kats, ( Mark Has lots of bands) The firebirds, Blastoff, The spitfires, Rocke ( Elvis performer) Lewis Gates ( Elvis Performer), Neil Duncan ( Elvis performer), Marc Robinson’s Buddy Holly show, The sundowners, Rockin Rocket 88, Haymers Hammers, and so on and so on…….

Also during this period I’ve started my own 24 track digital recording studio, Recorded some albums there for Mark Keeley and I’m just In the process of finishing the Coolers new album……. Yes they are back, bigger and better than ever and will be gigging soon too.

So that’s my Biog, its short as I’ve missed out more than I’ve put in, but maybe its long to as I’ve done quite a bit. But I didn’t included my spells in a northern soul 4 piece, my time in a Britpop style band and the other Rockabilly stuff I’ve done, maybe I will another day.

Ethan (Feb 2010)

Phil (bass)

I started playing bass when I was eleven years old because of my father’s involvement in the entertainment biz. Unfortunately he died shortly afterwards and never got to see me master the instrument.
Played in various school bands during the 1970’s until in 1978 formed the Blitz after a chance in counter down a pub one Saturday afternoon. Playing lead guitar and vocals the Blitz became part of what is now know as the N.W.O.B.H.M ( New Wave of British Heavy Metal ) and supported the likes of Motorhead, Saxon and Magnum, gaining entry into the book 45 Revolutions the definitive guide to New Wave.

After the split in 1981 and disillusioned with the rock seen, I turned to folk music and street entertainment.

This lead to an opportunity to do some Saturday morning TV in the early 1980’s with repeat appearances on Tiswas, and later No 73, together with Elton John, Tom Robinson and Fergal Sharkey.

In the mid 1980’s I formed the folk rock band Strawberry Fair, releasing a cover version of the Jagger / Richards track ‘As tears go by’ and becoming a regular at Sidmouth Folk Festival.

At the same time I also was playing in the folk duo The Fisheads – playing mandolin / vocals, with the single ‘Pick of the Crop’, and a tour of the South of France.

In 1990’s this went on to develop into the Fabulous Fezheads – Vaudevillian Stage Illusionists, again after a chance encounter while performing at the Brighton Arts Festival.

Eventually this took me to performances at Glastonbury Festival in 2000, where I appeared with a knife thrower in the Circus, and an invite to perform at the Buckingham palace gig on the Millennium night.

In 2002 saw the formation of the Fabulous Fezheads band, initially with myself on Mandolin / Accordion, returning to Glastonbury Festival as a band in 2003, and taking over bass playing duties in 2005.

In 2006/7 recorded the album ‘Fezphobia’, followed in 2009 by ‘Which ways West?’

In the summer of 2008 ‘Dance of our Fathers’ a reggae track from Fezphobia spent 10 weeks at number 1 in the US reggae unsigned chart.

I currently live between Portugal and the UK – guess which I prefer……..
Phil (Aug 2009)

Gene (keys)

A legend in his own lunchtime, last seen in various disguises with a semi-pro Punk tribute band (hence the disguises!!) and prior to that, playing every style of music from blues to Cajun from rock to jazz, you name it he’s played it. And now back to doing what he loves & does best, bashin’ one out on the Joanna ala Jerry Lee.

If this guy was a stick of rock, he’d have rock n roll written right through him, wait till you hear the best boogie-woogie style this side of the Pond.

He tells us that he is ambidextrous but we’ve seen the medical report and it’s just a minor rash, an Eminor rash he insists!

After 30 yrs of playing we think he’s just about ready for the Coolers , despite being in great demand for session work and with invitations to play for other outfits in the UK & abroad, we’re delighted and terrified that he’s hooked up with the band. Stand back, make room, clear all exits the mad keys man is comin attacha!!

Gene (Oct 2009)

Fabio (lead guitar)

I started playing guitar aged eleven, 30 odd years ago, courtesy of an old cheap guitar that was knocking about in the house. My preference would have been to play piano or drums but the guitar was the first thing I could lay hands on and here I am. Over the years I played in various bands, covers or originals, sometime on guitar, sometime on bass guitar, depending on the need. Fabio (Jul 2010) As my long hair were growing thin, along with my patience with the London circuit for original bands, the first couple of years this side of the millennium I took time off to settle down, form a family, learn a few more tricks on the guitar and get into the music making process again, this time mainly doing covers. My taste in music and playing style is geared towards the vintage side of things, anything from punk onwards, to me is way TOO MODERN. I’ m into Blues, Country, Rock’ n’ roll, West Coast, Psychedelia,Soul, R’ n’ B (the proper one, not that fraudulent stuff they have nowadays!). Generally speaking, I like real instruments played by real people, the artists I like are too many to list, not to mention the ones I DON’T LIKE. Too many to mention are also the bands I played with, so I will not indulge, also to avoid forgetting some names… And so I am now rocking the joints with JJ King and the coolers. If you had the patience to read this far, surely you must have what it takes to come and check us out……

Fabio (July 2010)