John Perry (musician)
| John Perry | |
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Perry performing live in 2014
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John M. Perry |
| Born |
4 June 1952 Bristol, England, United Kingdom |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
| Labels | |
| Notable instruments | |
John M. Perry (born 4 June 1952) is an English musician, songwriter, and author. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the English rock band the Only Ones.
The Only Ones came out of London during the first wave of punk (1976–77) and, rather like the New York bands the Heartbreakers and Television with whom they later toured, suffered from being too musical for lumpen-punk but too "new" for conservative record business sensibilities. Though they were lumped in with the new wave vanguard, the band were too musically literate - not to mention long in the tooth - to be punks. Rather they were sophisticated guitar rockers whose sound embraced all flavors of 50s and 60s rock. Although never a huge commercial success, the band are highly influential.
Perry's guitar style is noted for a combination of attack and melody, a mixture that the UK music magazine Sounds described as being "very superb".
John Perry was born in Bristol and began to play the guitar at the age of 12. He started his music career with local, late-1960s bands in Bristol, then at 20 joined a loose bunch of musicians centred on the Pink Fairies, Hawkwind and other UK Underground bands. After appearing at the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre (the first with the pyramid stage), he played in a series of British and European tours and festivals in Pilton, Oxford, Trentishoe etc.
Some of the bands that Perry has played with include the Ratbites from Hell (pre-Only Ones) and Decline and Fall (post-Only Ones). He has also worked with Johnny Thunders, Marianne Faithfull, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, the Sisters of Mercy, Mick Green, Robert Palmer, Freddie Stevenson, Jayne County, Screaming Lord Sutch, Nick Kent & The Subterraneans, Michael Nyman and Evan Dando of The Lemonheads. He acted as musical director on the Johnny Thunders/Patti Palladin album Copycats.
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