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The Honest Johns

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Your Song Is Goodbye Lucille

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Released: Feb 1, 2011

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Your Song Is Goodbye Lucille
4:12
482 plays
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Beds
4:56
181 plays
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Try
3:36
241 plays
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Sing A Little Song For Me
2:26
62 plays
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The Stalker Song
5:32
5,050 plays

Total Plays: 33,275 / Plays Today: 1See All Featured ►

The Honest Johns are

Mark Lawson, Lead Vocals and Guitar... Jon Kennedy, Drums... Richard Corbishley, Lead Guitar and Vocals...Paul Kennedy, Bass.

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Latest Blog Entries

Mar 2, 2011 4:42 AM Sundance
Jan 29, 2011 10:46 AM Songwriters Of The North
Sep 26, 2010 9:08 AM An Honest History Lesson...
Mar 26, 2008 10:35 AM Childhood Musicians Come Of Age

General Info

Genre: Folk Rock / Indie / Rock
Location Newcastle Upon Tyne, Un
Profile Views: 53792
Last Login: 5/23/2013
Member Since 3/2/2006
Website www.thehonestjohns.com
Record Label Comet Discs
Type of Label Unsigned
Bio
see History
Members
Mark Lawson, Lead Vocals and Guitar Jon Kennedy, Drums Richy Corbishley, Lead Guitar and Vocals Paul Kennedy, Bass
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Oklahoma Loves You

The Honest Johns | ..Myspace Video
Faith

The Honest Johns | ..Myspace Video

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Top Friends (7)

Honest History

ONCE UPON A TIME in the 80s there was a band called The Honest Johns. It's members, old school friends, built up a following by gigging and turning out songs with proper, proper lyrics. A demo tape impressed the people behind Channel 4’s The Chart Show, who suggested that they should put together a promotional video. The footage was duly assembled, it showed a bunch of lads larking about on a beach and, unbelievably, hanging out of a moving van. Sadly, the video was never finished as, band leader, Mark Lawson explains: “Video-editing suites weren’t exactly ten-a-penny back then. After a few weeks of wrangling we, more or less, just gave up.” Shortly after, The Honest Johns split up in 1991, tragically leaving most of their studio recordings unheard. And that could, easily, have been that....except, the music never really went away. “We had an email from German record label, Firestation Records, asking if we were the same Honest Johns who released 'Tell Me About Your Childhood’in 1986? We said we were, so they explained that there was still an awful lot of interest in Germany, Japan and, to some extent, America. They wanted to know if we had any more material?” This, unexpected, interest sent various members of the band searching through their dusty drawers and long forgotten corners. “The upshot was that Firestation, initially, used Judas In Me Singing on a compilation album which proved really popular. We, subsequently, did a deal to release a retrospective collection of our 80s Demos, under the name of Meteor, and that started to sell. It’s 1980s British pop music, for which there’s still a small but dedicated audience. It kept things ticking over nicely and, eventually, made us wonder what we’d been doing. Why don’t we get the band back together, record some new material and see what happens?” The Honest Johns, of course, are all grown up now. Some of the band have moved on, most notably Peter Straughan who has gone on to make a name for himself as a successful playwright/screen-writer. However, Mark Lawson and Jon Kennedy remain and are joined by Paul (Jon’s brother) and Richy Corbishley, another very old St Cuthbert's school friend. It's clearly a close-knit outfit as, believe it or not, Mark is also Paul and Jon’s brother-in-law! Recently, Mark’s songwriting skills have finally been acknowledged with one commentator calling him “an awesome talent” and adding “clearly one of the most overlooked songwriters of the north, up there with Sting and Knopfler.” By the way, remember that old video footage? Well, it's finally been rescued from it's box in the Lawson loft and is showing on this page. Better late than never, eh? The new line up returned with the superb Songwriters of the North in 2007 and have now followed that up with Sundance, which was released on 31 Jan, 2011. Both albums are available on iTunes (see below).

Songwriters of the North

Although it's been over 20 years since they formed, this is The Honest Johns' debut album. And it's pretty bloody good! Recalling early REM, The Beautiful South and the Proclaimers, this 12-track album features some proper pop songs that manage to distil a lot of what was great about the last 20 years without ever sounding too dated. This working man's pop might not be to everyone's taste, but this record is one of the highlights of The Crack's postbag of late and you could do a lot worse than checking The Honest Johns out. "The Crack Magazine"....... With my Gmail account swelling with a 12-track beauty from The Honest Johns, it seems that Karma has been restored. Songwriters of the North is a varied and interesting album, with tracks like Bingo showcasing more energy and enthusiasm than bands half their age. Considering the band is playing catch-up to a 20-year gap between forming and releasing this album, you can forgive them for sounding slightly old-fashioned. And when I say old-fashioned, I don't mean dated, or ironically retro. Make no mistake! This is a fantastic album from a brilliant pop band and I highly recommend it! "NARC Magazine"

Sundance

Having just Downloaded Sundance on iTunes, I wanted to say to anyone reading this that the new album has really been worth the wait. Overall, when compared to the excellent Songwriters, the writing, playing and production have all moved on. The album truely merits a 5*rating! The Honest Johns have a definite style of their own that, whilst comfortably familiar, also challenges the Listener from start to finish. Sundance suggests that they have developed a deeper understanding of their roles, combining superb melodies and provocative lyrics that allow you to develop your own images and meaning for each song. My particular favourites are Sing A Little Song, Amen Alleluia and Walking In The Sunday Morning Rain. That said, my personal selection has changed with every listen. I downloaded the album the same time as the new Radiohead CD but the quality displayed by The Honest Johns has seen Sundance get the most Plays on my iPod recently. Do yourself a favour, buy this album! Better still, go see them live, you won't be disappointed... iTunes Review, 1 March 2011

The Honest Johns

Your Song Is Goodbye Lucille

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Sing A Little Song For Me

The Stalker Song

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