In late 1975, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were formed in Melbourne as Jo Jo Zep and His Little Helpers. The band was put together after Ross Wilson (ex-Daddy Cool, Mighty Kong), who was waiting out his recording contract, had turned to producing other artists for the label, Oz Records. He decided to produce a version of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run", as a one-off Christmas single for Mushroom Records. Contractually, Wilson could not perform the vocals himself, so he asked his friend, Joe Camilleri (ex-The Pelaco Brothers with Stephen Cummings) to sing and play on the recording. Camilleri's nickname was Jo Jo Zep, which was derived from a traditional Maltese nickname for Joseph, so the group was named Jo Jo Zep and His Little Helpers. The line-up included bass guitarist, John Power (ex-Foreday Riders). To promote the single, Camilleri and Power formed a more permanent blues and rock music band. Power had relocated from Sydney to Melbourne to join Company Caine for an album which Wilson was producing.
However, Company Caine, which also included guitarist Jeff Burstin, and drummer John McInerney, had soon separated. Wilson suggested that all three team up with Camilleri to perform "Run Rudolph Run" as part of a Christmas show at the Myer Music Bowl. This performance (still billed as Jo Jo Zep and His Little Helpers) marked Camilleri's first appearance on Countdown – the Australian national TV pop music series. After the Christmas performances, they added a second guitarist and vocalist, Wayne Burt (ex-Rock Granite) and Daddy Cool's drummer Gary Young replaced McInerney.
Now a five-piece outfit consisting of Camilleri, Burstin, Burt, Power, and Young, the band renamed themselves Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, with the Falcons part referencing Camilleri's Maltese background. Camilleri had wanted his former band mate, Cummings, to join as lead vocalist, but Cummings declined and later formed The Sports.
''I wasn't meant to be the lead singer of the band. My whole idea was to play the saxophone and I really wanted Stephen Cummings to be the singer, 'cause we were really great mates but for whatever reason he bowed out after just a couple of rehearsals. We had a full list of songs by Wayne Burt and that really made the difference for us. I wasn't writing any songs really and I thought Wayne was a much better singer than me as well but he didn't want to be the lead singer, so we sort of shared it around for a little while''. – Joe Camilleri.
Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons signed with Oz Records and, in July 1976, released their first single, "Beating Around the Bush". The track was written and sung by Burt and peaked at #73 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The song was also one of two tracks by the group on Wilson's soundtrack for the feature film Oz (1976). The follow-up single was a cover of Otis Redding's "Security" sung by Camilleri, which peaked at #98. The band supported The Turtles on their national tour and Chuck Berry in Melbourne.
In February 1977, the band released their debut album, 'Don't Waste It', which was produced by Wilson and contained both singles. The album featured lead vocal turns by Camilleri, Burt and Power. The songwriting was mostly by Burt, with a few cover tunes, and one song by Camilleri. Although the intent was to be a serious R&B band, the musical direction was never set in stone. Burt left soon after the release of the debut album, and was replaced by guitarist Tony Faehse (ex-Musick Express, Alvin Stardust).Camilleri felt "that changed the band a lot. Tony wasn't an R&B/Blues player. He'd only been in Australia a year or so and had more of that big 'rock' sound, a fiery guitar player, and was a great foil for Jeff Burstin who was from a country blues background, so they complimented each other." Burt went on to join various groups including Eternal Struggle, Rock Doctors and Hey Gringo.
In Jan 1977 they supported Jeff Beck on his tour of Australia. In June 1977, saxophonist Wilbur Wilde (ex Ol' 55) joined to complete the 'classic line-up' of Camilleri, Burstin, Faehse, Power, Wilde and Young. Wilson also produced the band's second album, 'Whip It Out', which was released in October 1977, but the album failed to chart, and the associated single, "(I'm in a) Dancing Mood", peaked at #90. To capture the energy and spontaneity of a live performance, their next release was a five-track 12" extended play, 'Loud and Clear', which reached #53 on the Singles Chart in August 1978. Its lead track "The Honeydripper" receiving most of the airplay. 'Loud and Clear' was followed by a mini-LP, 'So Young', which reached #29 in November. The band started to pick up a number of international supporters, including Graham Parker and The Rumour and Elvis Costello and The Attractions. Costello recorded a cover version of "So Young" which appears on 'Out of Our Idiot' (1987). In 1978, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons signed with Mushroom Records after Oz Records had folded.
By that time the group had included another musical direction: reggae. Mushroom was eager to connect with the 'new wave' in England and brought over Peter Solley, an English producer and latter-day Procol Harum member, to produce another Mushroom artist, The Sports. One night Solley saw Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons perform, and on the strength of their new song, "Shape I'm In", asked to produce the group. The first single, "Hit and Run", from the album, 'Screaming Targets', was pop reggae and reached #12 on the charts in August 1979. Camilleri said he "never thought 'Hit and Run' would do anything but maybe the lick was infectious enough – though as a song it was a bit stupid – but it got us a deal all over the world'. It was a wacky thing and all of a sudden we were away in a different arena". The band toured the United States, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, including performances in The Bottom Line club in New York, and at the Montreux Jazz & Blues Festival. With Burt having left the band, the songwriting was now being looked after by Burstin, Camilleri, and Faehse working together as a trio, and Camilleri was the group's lone front man. The singles continued with "Shape I'm In", "Puppet on a String", "I Will Return" and another album 'Hats Off Step Lively' (August 1980).
In July 1980, the band had been the opening act at the Oakland Coliseum, in San Francisco, supporting Journey, Black Sabbath and Cheap Trick. Camilleri told a hostile audience, which was throwing objects (including eggs) at the group, "Is it any wonder your parents lost the Vietnam War – you can't even shoot straight!" After the international experience the band started to lose some of its impetus. In June 1981, Camilleri pulled the band off the road. Young and Power joined Rock Doctors, and Wilde formed his own band, Big Kombi.
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They reunited again for a single gig in December 2008, with Camilleri, Burstin, Faehse, Wilde and Young being joined by Joe Creighton (of The Black Sorrows), who stepped in for Power on bass guitar. In September 2011, another reformation occurred, for a one-off performance to celebrate their 35th anniversary, with the 'classic' line-up of Camilleri, Burstin, Faehse, Power, Wilde and Young. This same line-up of the band undertook an Australian tour in 2013. John Power died from suspected heart failure in 2018. Peter Starkie died in 2020.
Members
Joe Camilleri (vocals, saxophone, guitar), Jeff Burstin (guitar), Wayne Burt (vocals, guitar),
Peter Starkie (guitar), Tony Faehse (guitar), John Power (bass), Gary Young (drums),
Wilbur Wilde (sax)
SINGLES
Beating Around the Bush
| 23 AUG '76 | #73 |
Security
| 24 JAN '77 | #98 |
(I'm in A) Dancing Mood
| 28 NOV '77 | #90 |
So Young
| 23 OCT '78 | #48 |
Hit and Run
| 30 JUL '79 | #12 |
Shape I'm In
| 5 NOV '79 | #22 |
All I Wanna Do
| 19 MAY '80 | #34 |
Puppet on a String
| 18 AUG '80 | #53 |
I Will Return
| 24 NOV '80 | #91 |
Taxi Mary
|
Jo Jo Zep
| 11 OCT '82 | #11 |
Walk on By
|
Jo Jo Zep
| 17 JAN '83 | #55 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Jo_Zep_%26_The_Falcons
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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