Happy Friday folks!
A reminder that the forthcoming album and 7" by Johnny Moped are available to pre-order now! The GOLD VINYL BUNDLE OPTION is getting low so if you'd like one, don't leave it too late!
We're also pleased to announce the debut album by Martin Savage and The Jiggerz! We'll start taking pre-orders for this in a couple of week's time but you can take a look at the album artwork below. Also look out for their video for lead single 'Down The Line' - coming soon!
Here are the Johnny Moped pre-order links...
BUY 'THINGS MAY HAPPEN' 7" HERE
BUY QUONK! GOLD VINYL BUNDLE HERE (100 copies only - includes four-song live 7" EP , beanie hat, sew-on patch & enamel badge
BUY QUONK! LIMITED NEON GREEN VINYL LP HERE (425 copies only)
BUY QUONK! NEON PINK VINYL LP HERE (425 copies only)
Things May Happen 7" - RELEASED MAY 10th
Black vinyl 7"! Limited to 300 copies only!
A-side taken from soon to be released LP Quonk!
B-side exclusive to this release!
TRACKLISTING
1 – Things May Happen
2 – Don’t Waste My Time
Quonk! (LP/CD) - RELEASED MAY 17th
To celebrate 50 years of this mighty band – A brand new studio album by the legendary Johnny Moped!
Available on CD or on green or pink vinyl (425 copies each), or 50th anniversary gold vinyl if you buy the bundle (100 copies only! STRICTLY ONE PER CUSTOMER!)
BUY 'THINGS MAY HAPPEN' 7" HERE
BUY QUONK! GOLD VINYL BUNDLE HERE (100 copies only - includes four-song live 7" EP , beanie hat, sew-on patch & enamel badge
BUY QUONK! LIMITED NEON GREEN VINYL LP HERE (425 copies only)
BUY QUONK! NEON PINK VINYL LP HERE (425 copies only)
First up, that title - Quonk! What's that all about?
Johnny - I have no idea where the name Quonk! come from! it seemed rather weird for a possible album title.
Slimy - Incidental noise that’s picked up …. We are a bit like that … Johnny Moped’s Quonk! is very Quonk le Donk (saucepan lid landing on head) and it’s available soon from all Damaged record outlets.
Marty - This one’s for Toad really. It was his call and it's a great title for a Moped album.
Robot - The band suffers from Quonking pretty regularly, so we thought we’d make a whole album of it.
It's been five years since your last album Lurrigate Your Mind. How come it's taken so long to write and record this one?
Johnny - it must have taken up to five months to rehearse for that album. Around the same time as previous albums.
Slimy - Toads are slow moving
creatures.
Marty -
Because we're old
and very very lazy.
Robot - That’s pretty quick for us, it was over 30 years between ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Rookie’ and Cycledelic. We wanted to make sure it passed quality control before letting it loose on the world.
It sounds like you had a fun time recording it. Is that the case or was it more painful this time round?
Johnny - We did have a lot of fun recording those albums starting from Real Cool Baby and Lurrigate Your Mind. Classic albums! I have enjoyed recording all of our albums from Cycledelic up to our latest album (problems aside!)
Slimy - Creating Quonk! was fun … always
thrills me when the sounds come together … Johnny and his band have a
plethora of tunes. Yeah! It was alright.
Marty -
Bits were really easy
and other bits were really hard. A lot of the songs on any Moped album really
only take shape in the studio. And Dick Crippen helps a lot with how they turn
out. I'm very proud of this album and the band and Johnny have worked really
hard to make the best record we
can.
Robot - Yeah it’s always fun making a Moped record. Johnny’s totally at home in the studio environment...and the pub across the road. Give him the lyrics, he takes hold and delivers the goods in one take.
There are some brilliant songs on the new LP. Can you tell us what 'Oh Jane' is about?
Johnny - Jane is a traveller on that song, nothing to do with an ex-girlfriend of the same name!
Slimy - That’s about Johnny’s love
life.
Marty -
Over to you Rob..
Robot - Johnny wrote it about his love affair with a certain TV starlet who spends most of her time cruising around the world. I’ll give you a clue - it ain’t Susan Calman!
'Things May Happen' is being released as a single. What inspired you to write that song?
Johnny - I did not write
‘Things may happen’, that is a
Slimy
Toad song; but I did not have a problem with it
being released as a
single.
Slimy - The extraordinary lightness of being ... just the
path and what’s on it.
Marty -
This is Toad’s
one and it's a cracker!
Robot - I think it’s about the possibility of London buses running on time, or Crystal Palace winning a trophy.
Johnny turned 70 last year, celebrating in style with a gig at London's 229 Venue. Some people have said it was the best Moped gig ever. How was it from your point of view?
Johnny - Yes it was a gig at the 229 club to remember for all the right reasons, it was a blinder of a gig.
Slimy - I thought Johnny’s birthday gig was a
rip-roaring success … I enjoyed it … The next Moped gig will be
the best Moped gig ever and the one after that.
Marty -
It's not the best
gig as far as how we performed. But as far as the turn out and the size of the
crowd that came along to celebrate Johnny's birthday it was the best vibe of
all the gigs for certain for me.
Robot - Yeah I think it was up there with the Koko gig a few years back, great sound and a great crowd, yeah one of the best.
This year marks the 50th year of Johnny Moped. What have been the high (and low) points for the band in the last five decades?
Johnny - Not much was happening with the band gigwise. we were in hiatus between 2006 up to 2016 when we were getting gig bookings thick and fast, including mini-German tours and three dates in Norway and one in Sweden.
Slimy - The constitution of these thoroughbred punk rockers is testimony to getting up and rocking out … Johnny is not stopping he’s class.
Marty - I've only been in the band since 2017 and before that was the driver and shit carrier and before that a fan and also the band are my mates. So not one low point for me at all.
Robot - I don’t recall any low points...being in the band is one long high.
You'll be back out on the road this summer. Any message for fans who'll be coming to see you?
Slimy - You better believe it! You enjoyed that you bums or I’ll kill you! Tomcats!
Marty - Be afraid. Be very afraid!
Robot - Enjoy the show...things may happen!
TRACKLISTING
1 – Heebie Jeebie Boogie 2 – Roxy You’re Gone 3 – Doggy Woggy 4 – Things May Happen
5 – Lockdown Boy 6 – See The Time Is Late 7 – Sounds Like 8 – Funny
9 – Oh Jane 10 – I’m a Skitzoid (Mind Bender Syndrome) 11 – Skin
JOHNNY MOPED LIVE DATES
Martin Savage and The Jiggerz S/T Debut LP - RELEASED MAY 24th
Who said rock’n’roll is dead?! Maybe Dr Frankenstein’s made a rock ‘n’ roll monster cuz it sure seems alive to me. We introduce to you the debut LP of MARTIN SAVAGE AND THE JIGGERZ!
All three gentlemen in this power trio have a solid background in the rock ’n' roll business which we won’t bore you with here. The band has already released a slew of solid 7” records which we won’t bore you with here either. Get on the internet ya lazy sods!
Anyway, back to this here album: recorded by Ed Deegan at the esteemed Gizzard Recording Studio up in Fish Island, East London, on magnetic tape it delivers 12 solid senders of pure heart-on–the-sleeve rock ‘n’ roll action! From the blastin’ drumroll of opener ‘Between the Lines’, a staple in the band’s live set, via punk ballad anthem ‘Down the Line’ leading up to another live favourite called ‘Boomerang’. There are covers of should-have-been-legends with bad-ass names like the Backstabbers or the Stripes. There are songs about shitty jobs, troublesome relationships, life on the high and life on the low. It’s got everything you need really.
Whether ya dig Boston 1976, Medway 1986 or Memphis 1996 there’s something for you here. You can call it punk, pub rock, garage, glam or any other label you like but we just call it good ole rock ‘n’ roll. Hope ya dig!
TRACKLISTING
1 – Between the Lines 2 – On the Run 3 – Out of This World 4 – Observer
5 – Next in Line 6 – In the Eyes of a Blind Man 7 – Mailman Blues 8 – Fly by Night
9 – Down the Line 10 – Fast and Loose 11 – On the Corner 12 – Boomerang