Jane Gallatly ([email protected])
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 20:45:19 +1100 (EST)
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SPANKING THE MONKEY
Whenever JTQ frontman James Taylor comes across a top notch celebrity, they
always seem to want him to play with his organ. Cathering Doherty finds
that he's only too happy to oblige.
One thing Taylor loves is sneaking into another band's secret world to see
what really goes on behind closed doors. "It's particularly interesting,"
he muses. "They've all got their own little chemistry thing going on there,
and you always learn something."
And if the album flops, he has the added bonus of not being responsible.
"That too of course. But I don't make any money when they sell a million.
U2 give you something like US$700 for turning up, they fly you over and you
play for half an hour or something. If the record sells millions of copies
worldwide the revenue is incredible, so if you're involved in a percentage
deal, you can retire to Monte Carlo. But as a session artist you don't get
a share." Bit of a bummer.
Still, when U2 required his expertise for their collaboration with Christy
Moore on 'North and South of the River' he was more than a little freaked
out. Terrified, he says.
But the version of the song on the new album will not feature Moore's
lyrics. "I don't think Christy was particularly pleased with the vocal, so
they re-recorded it," says Taylor, before regretting opening his gob.
"Maybe I'm saying too much here."
JTQ's instrumental extravaganza is notoriously hard to pin down,
incorporating anything from funk punk rock to acid jazz and anything else
that tickles their fancy. The definitive term for JTQ remains elusive. "I
like 'Hammond funk'" he decides. "At least it's not pop."
A fixation with soundtracks obviously dominates Taylor's musical life.
"That's why I got into this business, I wanted to convice people to let me
make music for TV and films, but the band itself kind of took over."
He's probably best known for his Mission Impossible cover, the sales of
which have recently rocketed after the most recent version - U2ies have been
buying Taylor's version by mistake. Which is superior? "I think 'which
came first' is kinda the key question here".
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Regards,
Jane
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