JAY ASTON     A Jezebel steps into the solo spotlight

Some of you will know Jay Aston from his band Gene Loves Jezebel, and to others he will be a new discovery.All of you will be amazed at the stark beauty of his first solo recording 'Unpopular Songs'. 

For the previously uninitiated and those with short memories we now take you on a journey into the not too distant past.......

Mrs. Aston of Aberavon, South Wales bore 8 children to the world, amongst them the twin boys Jay and Michael. They grew and learned like all children, but something about them, like all twins, was different.

As adulthood approached, they yearned for adventure and seized the almighty rock 'n' roll as their passport to glory. Their hometown soon became too small to hold their spirit, the bright lights beckoned, the glittering promise of London was calling. The journey had begun.

Gene Loves Jezebel played their first gig at the ICA theatre, the magic was already in the air as they were immediately offered a recording contract . Word soon spread throughout the capital and then the country. Who were these strange young men? Which was Gene and which was Jezebel? Were they gay or straight, or perhaps locked in their own sweet sexuality?

Too easily pigeonholed by unbelievers as 'Goth', the live arena became their own, ablaze with colour, awash with emotion. Suddenly, the ICA in London had become the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, the twins had become stars.

Hit singles such as 'Jealous', 'Desire' and 'Motion of Love', showed a growing maturity in Jay's songwriting. It's no secret that GLJ were a major influence on the American alternative music scene that was to eventually spawn the Grunge explosion. Jane's Addiction were always present at L.A. gigs and you only had to open the cover of 'Nothing's Shocking' to realise just how much of a similarity there was.

Success, as those who've tasted it will testify, is often a poisoned chalice. Along with the fame comes tension and tribulation. With Jay now fronting the band alone and their recording contracts with Beggars Banquet and Geffen Records over, a time of renewal was at hand. A new label, Savage Records stepped into the breach temporarily, signing Gene Loves Jezebel and David Bowie as their flagship acts.

Midway through the US leg of their 1993 world tour to promote 'Heavenly Bodies' (GLJ's 6th album), the band received news that Savage had gone bust. With no tour support and mounting debts the band were forced into hiatus.

Jay Aston found himself truly alone for the first time, thousands of miles from home, but perversely enough enjoying the experience. He headed for John Lennon's "centre of the universe", New York City, were he set up home on the Lower East Side. Writing new songs and now playing with only the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar a throng of old fans were now joined by some new faces. Jay took to the road again, heading where the mood took him, from Georgia in the southern states to Lisbon, Portugal.

It's the songs written in New York that form the basis to 'Unpopular Songs'
. 
Why 'Unpopular Songs'? Well you can make your own mind up on that one, but here's a little footnote to our tale.

'Who wants to go to Heaven' was written at the request of long time fan Anne Rice for her original draft of 'Interview with a Vampire' but was passed over by the film's producers in favour of Guns'n' Roses version of 'Sympathy for the Devil'.

Listen to the record and see which one you'd rather have heard!

Collaborators on the album include GLJ colleague James Stevenson and former Cult and Mission bassist Craig Adams.

Jay Aston will be performing an opening set for fellow Welshman Mike Peters on a UK tour throughout January and February 1998.

'Unpopular Songs' is released on Pink Gun Records on February 2nd.
 

Q Magazine March '98
Review of Unpopular Songs

As goth's legs gave out, so did twin-fronted Porthcawl popsters Gene Loves Jezebel, though they never truly kept up with fame, except, momentarily, in America. Having lost brother Mike, Jay Aston piloted the group through to their sixth album (1993's Heavenly Bodies) but their American label Savage went bankrupt, and this solo album is the result of the fallout. Written mostly in New York, the piquantly titled Unpopular Songs is a courageous about-face, Goth-free and draped in electro-acoustic troubadour garb (drums only figure on three tracks), all the better to infer putting-the-house-in-order introspection.

Like his voice, Aston's songs are unremarkable, but heartfelt, blessed with a resounding human touch, and there are enough Gene Loves Jezebel fans who'll want in. One may be novelist Anne Rice, who requested a song for potential use as the theme to "Interview With The Vampire " (Guns N' Roses won out) which has become "Who Wants To Go To Heaven ?"

*** (out of five) 

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