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The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band that revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim Reid and William Reid. From East Kilbride in Scotland, the JAMC released a constant string of albums, singles and EPs until their demise in 1998. The band reunited in 2007. The initial line-up, formed in 1984, was augmented by bassist Douglas Hart and drummer Bobby Gillespie. Gillespie played standing up in the manner of the The Velvet Underground's Maureen "Moe" Tucker. The Mary Chain's early gigs have become the stuff of legend in underground circles. Playing in front of small audiences, the Mary Chain earned their notoriety by playing very short gigs, some lasting no more than 10 minutes and consisting of a constant wall of feedback and distortion, as well as playing with their backs to the audience and refusing to speak to them. Many shows culminated with the Reids trashing their equipment, which was often followed by the audience rioting. All of this delighted manager and Creation Records boss Alan McGee, who obviously found it very easy to get attention for the band. Their debut single Upside Down in 1984 was on Creation, but the following year they signed to the WEA-backed Blanco-y-negro. Who released their debut album, Psychocandy, which fused together the Reid's two primary influences, the guitar noise of The Velvet Underground with the '60s pop leanings of Phil Spector and The Beach Boys. The record received positive reviews and is now considered a landmark recording. Gillespie left the band before next album, Darklands, to front Primal Scream, he was briefly replaced by John Moore (later of Black Box Recorder, before former Biff Bang Pow! drummer Dave Evans. Albums in brief - # Psychocandy (November 1985) # Darklands (September 1987) # Automatic (September 1989) # Honey's Dead (March 1992) # Stoned & Dethroned (1994) # Hate Rock N' Roll (1995) # Munki (June 1998) Plus the following - (sessions, singles, b-sides, live recordings et cetera) # Barbed Wire Kisses (April 1988) # The Sound of Speed (1993) # 21 Singles (2002) # BBC Live in Concert (2003) # The Complete John Peel Sessions (2003) For Sub Pop they recorded 1998's Munki album, which would turn out to be their last before splitting the following year. The album is often thought of as sounding 'divided' due to the Reids' crumbling relationship, Jim Reid recalls: "Me and William weren't really getting along at all.
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