The Legend!
| Everett True | |
|---|---|
Everett True in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jeremy Andrew Thackray |
| Born |
21 April 1961 Chelmsford, Essex, England |
| Genres | Rock |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Thick Syrup Records |
For the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.
Everett True (born Jeremy Andrew Thackray 21 April 1961) is an English music journalist and musician, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. He became interested in rock music after hearing The Residents, and formed a band with school friends. He has written and recorded as The Legend!
In 1982, he went to a gig by The Laughing Apple and met the group's lead singer Alan McGee. According to McGee: "there used to be this guy who'd stand at the front of all the gigs and dance disjointedly". They became friends and when McGee started the Communication Blur club, he offered Thackray the role of compėre, stating that Thackray "was the most un-enigmatic, boring, kindest, shyest person you could ever meet – and it just appealed to my sense of humour to make him compère." He was originally billed as "the legendary Jerry Thackray", eventually shortened to simply "The Legend". McGee also offered him a column in his new fanzine, also called Communication Blur, but Thackray left after two issues, because he objected to McGee's proposal to put a flexidisc of The Smiths on the front cover. He instead started his own zine, The Legend!, under which name he recorded the single "73 in 83", the first to be released by McGee's Creation Records. In 1984, he released a second single, "Legend Destroys the Blues", but his performing career did not take off. He puts this down to the fact that he "didn't like to perform a song more than once", although he has continued to make occasional appearances.
In 1983, Thackray began working at the New Musical Express. In 1988, he was sacked from the paper, and instead took a job at its rival, Melody Maker. He was told to adopt a new pseudonym, as the "Legend!" name was too closely associated with the NME. He chose "Everett True", from the early twentieth century cartoon The Outbursts of Everett True.
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