Norman Fisher-Jones
| Noko | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Norman Fisher-Jones |
| Also known as | Noko, Noko 440 |
| Born |
February 1, 1962 Bootle, Lancashire, England |
| Genres | Electronica |
| Occupation(s) | Musician/composer/producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Associated acts | Alvin The Aardvark & The Fuzzy Ants, The Cure, The Umbrella, Pete Shelley, Luxuria, Apollo 440, Stealth Sonic Soul, Fast, Maximum Roach, James Maker, Noko 440, Magazine |
| Website | MySpace: Noko 440 |
| Notable instruments | |
|
with Apollo 440 : Parker Fly Classic & Parker Fly Deluxe and 1962 Fender Stratocaster guitars |
|
with Apollo 440 : Parker Fly Classic & Parker Fly Deluxe and 1962 Fender Stratocaster guitars
with Magazine : Yamaha SG 1500
with Luxuria : 1962 Fender Stratocaster, Ovation Breadwinner & 1967 Eko violin electric 12-string
with Maximum Roach : 1980 Gretsch White Falcon
with Raw Chimp : Tokai Talbo
with Frankenstein : Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman
with The Umbrella : 1962 Fender Stratocaster & Ovation Breadwinner
Noko (born Norman Fisher-Jones, 1 February 1962, in Bootle,Lancashire, England) is an English multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and producer, has formed and/or played with a number of bands primarily as a guitarist or bassist. In chronological order they were: Alvin The Aardvark And The Fuzzy Ants, The Umbrella, The Pete Shelley Group, The Cure, Luxuria, Apollo 440, Stealth Sonic Soul, Fast, Maximum Roach, James Maker and Noko 440 (also known as Frankenstein), Magazine and Raw Chimp. He continues to play with Apollo 440, Magazine and Levyathan.
In 1980, he formed his first band called Alvin The Aardvark & The Fuzzy Ants, who made their first gig on After All That…This, a Granada TV show. Despite the DJ John Peel being a fan of their music, they never released any material, recording only an unreleased single at Open Eye Studios, in Liverpool, in 1981, before disbanding the same year.
In 1983 he became involved with three bands. He joined The Cure as bassist, playing for some European and UK live–TV dates, and formed two bands, Dynamo Futurista and The Umbrella. The latter group, consisting of Noko (guitar and vocals), Simon Hoare (drums), Mark Sanderson (bass) and James Gardner, released a total of three songs before folding, which were released on an EP called Make Hell (For The Beautiful People).
In early 1984, he rejoined The Cure as bassist, that time as replacement of Phil Thornalley, who was not available. The same year, he was seen in Pete Shelley's The Pete Shelley Group, on bass, replacing Barry Adamson, who left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and then again in 1986 on guitar in a later line-up of the group until the association with the ex-Buzzcocks member got Noko the attention of Howard Devoto. There are many myths ranking around how exactly the first meeting took place, ranging from absurdly comical to realistic, most of which were distributed freely in interviews by the two themselves, but regardless which of these holds truth, the two came together to form the band Luxuria in 1986.
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