Saturday, May 25, 2013

Johnny Darke (I'm Not A Believer Single)

Here's another record I couldn't find anything about. I found mention of a Gangster named John Darke. I'm guessing that's possibly where this guy took his name from. Ok here's a major stretch... I'm sure I'm completely wrong on this, but I figured since I couldn't find anything I would have a little fun and let you all beat me up a bit. The credit on both songs go to a J Mellor.....Wasn't Joe Strummer's real name John Mellor??? I listened to this 10 times and honestly, I don't think it sounds like him but if you look at the guy's face.....it's possible. I included a picture of Joe, so you can judge for yourself....What do you think?? Oh yeah sorry about the sound, my copy has some surface noise in the beginning of each song; funny thing is the record looks almost perfect.

 
Carrere Records 1979
 
1. I'm Not A Believer
2. What She Knows
 

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Johnny Darke would also be an Anglicisation/masculinisation of Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc).

bristolboy said...

The names are the same but probably not the same man.
The producers were Ray Stiles & Rob Davis (Ex Mud)

Frank Miller said...

Hi Bruce, honestly I don't think it's him either. When I noticed a little resemblence in the picture, I thought it would be fun to put it out there and see what kind of response I get. Shake the tree a bit and see if anything falls out lol.... Thanks for the comment.

internal office signs said...

The names are the same but probably not the same man.


Anonymous said...

"Here's another record I couldn't find anything about."

Post 3 years ago on another blog. Don't take credit.

Frank Miller said...

I'm not trying to take credit for anything. I didn't make the record and neither did you! I just enjoy it and wanted to share it with other people. If You, or someone else posted it previously,(which by the way, I wasn't aware of) that doesn't mean you or anyone has some sort of exclusive rights to it. That's like saying only the first radio station that plays a song has the right to play it. That's completely ridiculous, Get A Life!!

dave said...

For the surface noise, check out youtube videos that show how to use wood glue to clean records.

Take a record you don't mind messing up and test it.

I've watched some of the videos, and it looks pretty foolproof.

Frank Miller said...

Hi Dave, I saw that before but I've never given it a try. Maybe I will some time. Thanks for the advice!

Anonymous said...

This is my partners dad and childrens grandfather :) he sadly passed away last month :(

Frank Miller said...

I'm so sorry to hear that; please accept my deepest condolences to you and your family.

Tim Alderton said...

John Mellor as Johnny Darke was based in West Hampstead in the early eighties and recorded about 10 tracks that I know of. There was another released single - Silhouette which also didn't chart. Other tracks are great driving songs which was his aim at the time. Him and his wife Chrissie were lovely people and good friends. If Anonymous above is correct,this is a sad loss, I've attempted several times to find them again.

Tim Alderton said...

As a ps. to the above, if Anonymous wishes to get in touch, I have photos of John, another single, and a copy of one of his demos (digitised from an old studio cassette). Still play it! Would love to hear how things went for John.

Frank Miller said...

Thanks for the info and the comment Tim. I would like to hear his other material myself.

Unknown said...

Hi Frank Miller, can't find a contact method, but if you can get one to me here I'll email you Johnny's tracks that I have. I'm afraid the quality is not great, but a run through something like Audacity should clear them up. I've kept them in the original quality as they dated along with me.

Frank Miller said...

Hi Tim, sounds great. my email is shotgunsolution77@gmail.com. Thank You!

Unknown said...

Hi Frank,
All sent, hope you enjoy.
Just on the subject of the similarity between the main riff of John's track 'Automatic Blue' and Noel Gallagher's 'Lock All The Doors', a bit of research puts Noel's early recordings made at the Maison Rouge studio in Fulham. John's demo was made there - spooky eh?

Frank Miller said...

Hi Tim,

Thank You for the music, I appreciate it. It's cool to hear more from John.