JC Carroll

Biography

JC Carroll was born in Camberley on the 9th February 1956, and attended Salesian College in Chertsey, Surrey. After playing in various school bands, Carroll's first taste of serious music was a 1974 chance meeting in the Three Mariners in Bagshot, Surrey, with pub rock pioneer and 1970s icon Graham Parker. Together they subsequently recorded a two-track 1/4-inch tape in Carroll's bedroom later to become known in Parker mythology as "The Akai Tapes". Parker went on to international acclaim, whilst Carroll settled into life as a bank clerk living in a bedsit in Kilburn writing songs on a battered acoustic guitar about living in a bedsit in Kilburn writing songs.

A chance meeting on a train with Nicky Ritz (né Lightowlers) a Liverpool University graduate, sometimes insurance salesman, singer, beat poet bon vivant with a fantastic talent for self-promotion led in 1977 to him being asked to join Ritz's band The Members.

The Members' first single, "Solitary Confinement" (which Carroll co-wrote with Nicky Tesco), was released on Stiff Records. The original 7-inch pressing of this record is highly collectible. In the spring of 1979 the Members released their UK anthem "The Sound of the Suburbs" (which Carroll also co-wrote). This record went on to sell 250,000 copies in months. The track has subsequently been on hundreds of punk compilations and is what The Members are most known for. The subsequent album At The Chelsea Nightclub... gained critical approval and has been listed in Record Collector as one of the top 20 punk albums ever made.

The Members then recorded "Offshore Banking Business", a very early example of white reggae (with a political message). The Members then concentrated on the American and overseas market as they chalked up hits in America ("Working Girl") and Australia ("Radio") before becoming dormant in 1983.

Carroll married Sophy Lynn, the famed fashion designer, in 1988 and together they opened a boutique in Notting Hill Gate in London, called the Dispensary. The Dispensary later grew to 4 separate shops in Soho (London and Notting Hill Gate. The shop became a gathering place for the early acid house scene and later they would become the shop of choice for emerging pop stars; Kylie Minogue's outfit for her first album was from The Dispensary. During this period he became more and more involved in the production and design of tee shirts then tailored clothing. Without any formal training, JC was soon producing trousers, jackets, overcoats, shirts, and leather jackets for the Dispensary. JC and Sophy had two children Grace Ivana and Irma Rose and worked together till 2002 when they separated.

During the 80s and 90s, JC went on to concentrate on playing the accordion and mandolin and study various European and ethnic music. Playing for many years in a folk group The Wise Monkeys. It was during this period he recorded music with Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and New York Doll Johnny Thunders, playing both mandolin and accordion on Thunders' version of "Que Sera Sera". Another chance meeting with film music composer Michael Kamen led to Carroll being asked to play accordion on a movie called Don Juan DeMarco, featuring Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp. This signaled the start of a long association with film and TV music.

In 2008 Carroll married his partner Sheila and re-established The Members as a live and recording band with original bassist Chris Payne and new drummer Nick Cash (temporarily replaced in 2010 by Rat Scabies of The Damned). In 2009, Carroll recorded a concept album, The Golborne Variations, with Guy Pratt, Nick Cash, Chester Kamen, Chris Payne and Jennifer Pearl. Long-term collaborator and producer David M. Allen produced this album. In 2011 Carroll shot and edited a movie, with filmmaker Simon Godley, called The Golborne Variations. This film was subsequently premiered together with the first public performance of Golborne Variations at the 2011 Portobello Film Festival, where it won a special prize, A Golden Trellick.

In 2011, New Musical Express (NME) listed two of Carroll's songs, 1979's "Offshore Banking" and 2009's "Caveman TV" as among a list of forgotten masterpieces in a publication called 501 Lost Songs.

in 2012 Carroll produced and released two records on his own AngloCentric Label - The Members fourth studio album Ingrrland and a solo album entitled 21st Century Blues (Released as Jay Cee Carroll). He also released a single using the stage name jPad - Totally Obsessed. He also wrote soundtrack music for Julien Temple's documentary London a Modern Babylon

2013 saw The Members tour Australia and New Zealand and Carroll continued to produce videos, notably a cover of David Bowie's "Where Are We Now?" some weeks after Bowie finished his.

2014 The Members toured the USA. JC worked on soundtracks for the following films: 6 Bullets to Hell, Hec McAdam, Looking for Johnny.

2016 JC completed production of The Members fifth studio album entitled One Law. The album was released in conjunction with Cadiz Music and JC's own Anglocentric Label on CD Vinyl, and Digital Formats. This was the first Members album produced by Carroll. It featured Nigel Bennett on lead guitar, Chris Payne on bass, Nick Cash on drums, Carroll on various instruments and vocals. It also featured guest appearances by original Jam vocalist Steve Brookes and longtime Pink Floyd and David Gilmour bass player Guy Pratt on the epic "Incident at Surbiton".