Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons
Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons at Melbourne International Music and Blues Festival
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Blues/rock music
Years active	1975–1981 2001 & 2003
Labels	Oz Records/EMI Mushroom Records
Members	Joe Camilleri John Power Jeff Burstin Gary Young Tony Faehse Wilbur Wilde
Past members	John McInerney Wayne Burt Jane Clifton Simon Gyllies Peter Starkie Fred Strauks

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were an Australian band that featured singer/songwriter Joe Camilleri. The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits during that time, including "Hit and Run", "Shape I'm In" and "All I Wanna Do". The Falcons dissolved in 1981 and the group's biggest Australian hit, 1982's "Taxi Mary", as well as the New Zealand top ten hit "Walk On By", were both credited simply to Jo Jo Zep.

The late 1970s line up of Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons reunited in 2001, and released a new album in 2003.

Biography

Formation (1975–76)

In late 1975 Ross Wilson (ex-Daddy Cool frontman), who was waiting out his Daddy Cool/Mighty Kong recording contract, had started producing other artists for a label he was involved in, Oz Records. He also decided to produce a version of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run", as a one-off Christmas single for Mushroom Records.

Since contractually he couldn't perform the vocals himself, Ross asked musician around town Joe Camilleri to sing and play on the record, and front it. Camilleri was born in Malta, and in Maltese the traditional nickname for Joseph is 'Zep', so the name put on the single was Jo Jo Zep and his Little Helpers.

To promote the single it seemed a good idea to put together a scratch band comprising some of the other people who had worked on the record. These included bass player John Power (ex-Foreday Riders), who had recently relocated from Sydney to Melbourne to join Company Caine for an album which Wilson was producing. However Company Caine, which featured guitarist Jeff Burstin and drummer John McInerney, soon fell apart. Wilson suggested that the three team up with Camilleri to perform as part of a Christmas show at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. The performance proved so successful that, with the addition of second guitarist Wayne Burt (ex-Rock Granite) and drummer Gary Young (ex-Daddy Cool) replacing McInerney, the band decided to take things a little more seriously. On stage they called themselves Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons, the group name "Falcons" playing on Camilleri's Maltese background.

'I wasn't meant to be the leader 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.

Oz Records (1977–78)

Cover of the album Don't Waste It

The band inevitably signed with Oz Records, releasing their first single, "Beating Around The Bush", in July 1976. This track was written and sung by Wayne Burt, and became the band's first chart entry at #73. The song was also one of two Jo Jo Zep tracks on the Ross Wilson soundtrack for the feature film Oz.

The group's follow-up single was a cover of Otis Redding's "Security" sung by Camilleri; it peaked at #98. The band then released their debut album, Don't Waste It, which featured both singles, in February 1977. This 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, as suggested by Camilleri, was to be a serious R&B band, the band's direction was never really set in stone.

'We started off with no idea at all. We pretty much threw all the stuff in the pot and went on playing. It was a case of demand driving it. It took off like a rocket. We got more work than we could travel away, but the thing took on a life of its own. The thing with the Falcons, we never actually changed our style that much. We just accumulated new ones. It turned into a stratified thing 'cause we were mixing everything together all the way through. There was no plan.' - John Power.

Whatever it was the band was trying to achieve as a whole, it wasn't working for Burt and soon after the release of the band's debut album, he left. Burt was replaced by saxophonist Wilbur Wilde (Ol' 55), and guitarist Tony Faehse (originally from Adelaide where he charted with "Musick Express", just recently returned from four years in England where he played with Alvin Stardust amongst others).

'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.' - Joe Camelleri

Cover to Jo Jo Zep & The Falcon's mini-LP So Young

Wilson produced the band's second album, Whip It Out, released in October 1977, but the album failed to chart, and the associated single, "(I'm In A) Dancing Mood", only peaked at #90.

The biggest problem seemed to be capturing the energy and the spontaneity that the band had live, so their next release was a 12" EP, Loud and Clear, which managed to reach #53 nationally in August 1978, with lead track "The Honeydripper" receiving most of the airplay. That was followed by a mini-LP, So Young, which reached #29 in November 1978. The band started to pick up a number of international supporters, including Graham Parker & The Rumour and Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Elvis Costello thought so much of Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons' single "So Young" that he recorded a version himself.

Mushroom Records (1978–1982)

Cover to Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons' album Screaming Targets

In 1978 the Oz Record label folded and the band moved to Mushroom Records, and another new musical direction began to emerge in the mix: reggae. Mushroom was very eager to connect with the 'new wave' in England and had brought over English producer and latterday Procol Harum member Peter Solley to produce another of Mushroom's signings, The Sports. One night Solley saw the band perform, and on the strength of a new song, "Shape I'm In", asked to produce Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons as well. The first single, "Hit and Run", off their debut album with Mushroom, Screaming Targets, showed nothing of the band's R&B roots. It was pure pop reggae and reached #12 on the charts in August 1979.

'I 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.' - Joe Camilleri

The band toured the United States, the United Kingdom and 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 Fahese working together as a trio, and Camilleri was the group's lone frontman. The hit singles continued to keep coming with "Shape I'm In", "Puppet On A String", "I Will Return" and another album Hats Off Step Lively. However, after the international experience the band started to lose some of its impetus.

'We could have done it if we'd kept punching, but the band actually disintergrated, basically, looking back, because we were too tired. We should have just taken a year off. But what happened was we were right at the end of the period when, in order to flog a record in the States, you were virtually out promoting the one you had out the year before. So it was a totally asynchronous situation. We were having to dig into what we viewed as archives when we went out of the country. So we were having to promote Screaming Targets when we already had Hats Off Step Lively out here. It was at a time of the most intense development of original material in the band's life so the result was extremely disruptive'.

In June 1981 Camilleri pulled the band off the road. Young and Power joined a band called Rock Doctors, and Wilde formed his own band, Big Kombi. Camilleri, Burstin and Faehse gathered a new rhythm section featuring bassist Simon Gylies (Mondo Rock), and drummer Freddy Strauks (Skyhooks) and started exploring Latin American rhythms, particularly salsa. The "Falcons" moniker was dropped, and the act was now known simply as Jo Jo Zep.

'Then I had a big hit with "Taxi Mary" but that was without the band, and Walk On By, but it was too late really. I couldn't see myself playing in an 11 piece salsa band. It was only a minute in my life. I enjoyed the band and enjoyed the tour but I realised I didn't have my friends behind me anymore. I had to start again. Then I reunited with half the band at the start of what became The Black Sorrows.' - Joe Camilleri

The Jo Jo Zep album, Cha, was released in October 1982 (with the single "Taxi Mary" reaching #11 in the charts), but the band had effectively finished the year before. The only credited band members on Cha were Camilleri, Burstin and Gyllies.

One final Jo Jo Zep single was issued in 1983. Together with ex-Split Enz Eddie Rayner, Camilleri produced "Losing Game", the band's first single in America. After a disastrous tour of America where Camilleri told one hostile San Francisco audience, "no wonder your parents lost the Vietnam War", "Losing Game" was Jo Jo Zep's last single. For the next 18 years, Camilleri led The Black Sorrows. At various junctures, one-time Falcons Jeff Burstin, Wayne Burt, and Gary Young would also be official members of this band, and ex-Falcons Tony Faehse and Wilbur Wilde would do session work on a few Black Sorrows recordings.

Reformations (2001, 2003, 2008)

The next Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons' album was not released until 2003 and was at the instigation of Neil Mumme, organiser of the annual Great Southern Blues & Rockabilly Festival held in Narooma.

'In '97 Joe came and blew the horn on the Johnnie Johnson tour, and because (bass player) John Power was also on tour (with his band The Hippos as the late Johnson's regular Australian backing band), I said to Joe 'What about we get the Falcons back for a show?' and it was like the Joe Walsh line, 'When Hell freezes over.' but I chipped away at it for four years and they finally did it in 2001, the first show (Jo Jo Zep) had done in twenty years, and there was such a buzz out of that I said to them, 'Why don't you make a record?' ' - Neil Mumme

The result was the Ricochet album, which was recorded at Camilleri's Woodstock Studios in Melbourne and released in September 2003. The album was performed by the 'classic' 1977–1981 line-up of the band: Camilleri on vocals and saxophone, Burstin on guitar, Faehse on guitar, Wilde on saxophone, Power on bass, and Young on drums. Original Falcons member Wayne Burt also contributed to the recording, writing two compositions for the release.

Camilleri as vocalist, Mordialloc Festival March 2006 Photo: Mandy Hall

The revived Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons made their debut at Narooma, and later accompanied the 2003 release of Ricochet with a brief national tour. The band then became inactive again, although they reunited once again for a one-time only gig in December, 2008, with Joe Crighton stepping in for John Power on bass.

'I always thought that I was the weak link in the band, that I wasn't good enough to be in it. I had some great moments, moments that I didn't deserve, and was just happy to tag along.' - Joe Camilleri

Hall of Fame

On Wednesday 18 July 2007 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) inducted Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons into its Hall of Fame.

Members

• Joe Camilleri - vocals, saxophone, guitar (1975–1983, 2001, 2003)
• Gary Young - drums, backing vocals (1975–1982, 2001, 2003)
• Jeff Burstin - guitar, backing vocals (1975–1983, 2001, 2003)
• Tony Faehse - guitar, backing vocals (1977–1982, 2001, 2003)
• John Power - bass, backing vocals (1975–1982, 2001, 2003)
• Wilbur Wilde - saxophone, backing vocals (1977–1982, 2001, 2003)

Former members

• Wayne Burt - vocals, guitar (1975–1977)
• Jane Clifton - vocals, backing vocals (1982–1983)
• Simon Gyllies - bass, backing vocals (1982–1983)
• John McInerny - drums (1975)
• Peter Starkie - guitar (1975)
• Fred Strauks - drums (1982–1983)

Discography

Singles

Release date	Title	Chart Positions
		Australia	New Zealand
December 1975	Run Rudolph Run (Johnny Marks/Marvin Brodie)
July 1976	Beating Around The Bush (Wayne Burt)	#73
January 1977	Security (Otis Redding)	#98
November 1977	(I'm In A) Dancing Mood (Ross Wilson)	#90
March 1978	The Honeydripper (Joe Liggins) a.k.a. "Loud and Clear (EP)"	#53
October 1978	So Young (Joe Camilleri/Jeff Burstin/Tony Faehse)	#48
July 1979	Hit and Run (Camilleri/Burstin/Faehse)	#12
October 1979	Shape I'm In (Camilleri/Burstin/Faehse)	#22	#41
May 1980	All I Wanna Do (Cook)	#34
August 1980	Puppet on a String (Let Her Go) (Camilleri/Burstin/Faehse)	#53
November 1980	I Will Return (Camilleri/Burstin/Faehse)	#91
September 1982	Taxi Mary (Camilleri/Burstin/Faehse)	#11
January 1983	Walk On By (Burt Bacharach/Hal David)	#55	#6
September 1983	Losing Game (Camilleri/Simon Gyllies/Clarke)

Albums

• Don't Waste It - Oz/EMI (February, 1977)
• Whip It out - OZ/EMI (October, 1977)+Takin the Wraps off(EMI/Australia 1977)
• Let's Drip Awhile - Oz/EMI (1979)+ Jojo Zep and the Falcons (EMI/Australia,1979)
• Screaming Targets - Mushroom (1979)
• Step Lively - Columbia Records (1981)
• Hats Off Step Lively - Mushroom (1980)+
• Cha - Mushroom (1982)
• Ricochet - Zep (September, 2003)
• I'm in a Dancing Mood: The Best of Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons - Festival Records (July, 2007)

Mini-LPs

• So Young Oz/EMI (September, 1978)
• Dexterity Mushroom (1981)

External links

• Howlspace
• Australian Rock database