John Ford
New World
John Ford of Top of the Pops, Brit Prog Rock Chart status. Best known for his outstanding bass/vocals/producing/writing such classic Pop, Rock & Punk Gold & Platinum Hits, including Part of the Union - The Strawbs & Suspended Animation - The Monks.
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The dynamics and versatility of John Ford's musical talent run the gamut from the London Folk clubs to large scale international rock venues of the British Invasion of The 60s-70's-80s, touring and playing with music legends as Santana, Jimi Hendrix, The Eagles, Frank Zappa, Marc Bolan/T. Rex, Blue Oyster Cult, ZZ Top, RUSH, REO Speedwagon, King Crimson, Lynyrd Skynrd, Billy Preston, Cat Stevens, Roy Harper, Dave Mason and more.
Early music projects include The Five Proud Walkers, where John got his start. Jaymes Fender & the Vulcans landed John Ford his first Major Label signing with EMI with pop hit "Mistletoe Love", also becoming known as a teenage heartthrob! Then onto Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, signing to Repertoire.
In 1971, John Ford joined The Strawbs, primarily known as a Folk Rock group, into a new direction in the Prog-Art Rock. Scene. John penned perennial favorites, "Heavy Disguise" and "Part of the Union," The Strawbs biggest Chart Hit, included on the Album, released as a Single and spent 59 weeks on the album charts, rising to Top of the Pops fame, working with Bowie/T-Rex Producer, Tony Visconti on A&M label. John Ford received three Gold Records and Platinum, to boot. A few years later, John Ford and Richard Hudson, formed Hudson-Ford, with Top 10 Pop Chart Hits, 'Pick Up The Pieces,' along with "Burn Baby Burn" and "Floating In The Wind" also on A&M.
1979, found John Ford hitting the Charts again. This time with The Monks, a punk project of sorts picked up by E MI and surprise hit, "Nice Legs Shame About The Face" and "Suspended Animation." In contrast, JF also developed an alter ego in High Society with classic '30s style melodies, releasing a self-titled album in 1984. In 1986, John Ford relocated to the US and started working on his solo project and shows.
John teamed up again with The Strawbs 30 Year Reunion Tour in 1998, performing as bass guitarist and vocalist, after a hiatus since the late 80s with the Strawbs, following John's move to the US, then again for the 2001 Strawbs UK Spring Tour. In between, in 1999, John played on Ritchie Blackmore's band Blackmore's Night release "Under A Violet Moon," their second international release, featured John in the beautiful "Wind in the Willows" and played some shows. January 2004, John Ford opened to a packed house for Dave Mason at a Long Island concert venue. July 2004, the STRAWBS SUMMER UK ELECTRIC TOUR in England, featured John on bass and vocals with the original UK electric lineup from the 70s, Highpoints of the tour included The 30th Trowbridge Pump Festival with The Strawbs, doing both the Electric and Acoustic line-ups, headlining for two nights to over 6,000 fans. THE STRAWBS UK ELECTRIC TOUR performed to sold-out shows at venues ranging from richly, restored performing arts theatres to trendy hot spots, such as The Underworld in London and others throughout the UK, with much success. Aside from the dozens of recordings John's been on, some of his live performances can be viewed on DVD with "Strawbs Live In Tokyo '75 & GRAVE NEW WORLD - The Movie" and "The Complete Strawbs - Live at Chiswick House" and other Top of the Pops videos.
John has four released solo albums of his own work:, "Love Is A Highway" in 1998, "Heading For A High" in 2000, "Natural High" in 2002, 'Backtracking' in 2005, all John Ford originals, with him performing virtually all the vocals, instrumentation, as well as, producing the albums. Newest addition to Summer 2005, "New World" Maxi-Single EP release. Both, "Backtracking" and "New World," feature redux of his classic hits, along with new originals and classic cover additions released on Indie Label, Whole Shot Records.
Metal/Punk: British Punk