And finally, in celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the release of Jet's debut album 'Jet' on CBS, here it comes again. Re-mastered from the original 1/4" stereo master tape, which has been propping open a sticky window at the offices of Sony Music for over a quarter of a century, the band's eponymous release is now available on CD for the first time (ahem).

The band's album was produced by (Queen, Foreigner, the Cars, Cheap Trick, etc. etc.) producer Roy Thomas Baker and was, until now, the only RTB production not available on CD. Finally convinced by a worldwide campaign of terror and smutty remarks about Australians, and eager to make amends for their egregious error, Sony Music have seen fit to license the material to RPM Records, an offshoot of Cherry Red Records.The Jet line-up, as we need no reminding, consisted of Andy Ellison on vocals, Davey O'List on guitar, Peter Oxendale on keyboards, Martin Gordon on bass / songwriting and Chris Townson on drums. The exhaustive list of the bands with which they were associated would take too long to recall here - suffice to say that it includes (in alphabetical order) John's Children, Jook, the Nice, Radio Stars, Roxy Music and Sparks. Jet, who were not Australian in any commonly-understood sense of the term, were managed by Mike Leander, who knew a thing or two about pop music himself, having arranged strings for the Beatles as well as composing some of the seventies' vilest glam-rock anthems. We will say no more about his credentials, other than to note that various people are now paying the ultimate (or nearly) penalty.

The band's clothes were designed by Elton John's tailor, pix were shot at Mick Jagger's country house, the album cover was designed by Hipgnosis... but CBS imposed their own template upon the result, changing both the album cover and title. A peeved Jet appeared at a CBS convention in London prior to the album's release; presumably baffled, the label undertook to send them out on tour with Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson, who were then trundling their joint venture around the UK. Following the tour, Jet undertook their own promo dates, receiving a wide variety of responses from stunned audiences across the UK. When their singles 'My River' (about somebody who had lost a river) and 'Nothing To Do With Us' (about nothing in particular) failed to set the UK charts afire, the band were summoned for a dressing-down, and encouraged to go and pull up their glamorous socks in the country.

Parting with guitarist O'List, who was replaced by Ian Macleod (who turns up again later in this ongoing story), Jet duly retreated to Bruton in Somerset. Attempting to create some user-friendly material as prompted by CBS, all the material on disc 2 (you recall disc 2, naturally) was seamlessly strung together in an uninterrupted 45-minute-long sequence, and was delivered to the assembled executives at top (some may say excessive) volume. The label bosses were not impressed, and washed their hands of future involvement. Management did likewise. The band changed their name to Radio Stars, removed the vegetables from down their trousers and the rest is, more or less, history.

RPM Records have produced a splendid double pack, featuring (on disc 1) the original album in all it's analogue glory and a bonus disc (which we will refer to as disc 2) collecting all the band's recordings from before and after the album, and which includes previously unreleased material. Not only this, but RPM have also thrown a full colour, no-holds-barred booklet into the bargain, which includes interviews with the band's principals (but not their principles, though - they were somewhat harder to track down) and associates, as well as dramatic intimate photographs from the band's archive. (Note - this material is not suitable for viewing by miners or Australians). The booklet even includes a searching, searing, soaraway ESSAY by one of the band's long-time supporters, the inimitable Dave Thompson! We usually shy away from exclamation marks, but in this case we feel that an exception is in order.

Here's what the Allmusic Guide notes about the band. The 'Jet' album, coupled with the bonus disc 'Even More Light Than Shade', is available to consume in the medium of your choice. Those who are literate can invest in the CD and take it home to read, look and listen simultaneously; those who prefer less demanding pastimes can download it and carry it around on your portable mp3 player while you devote increasingly less and less time to anything at all and forget how to read and write while necking the amber nectar. And who could blame you? Not us, that's for sure. Blimey, we wouldn't want you think we were a bunch of namby-pamby pooftahs. Good on yer, mate, mine's a large one. But you do not wish to know that.

LINKS

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Cherry Red
The Jet Story