Monday, August 01, 2005


Biography of a First Son
Anthony Reynolds, former singer of the band Jack, has never left music behind. Unfortunately, many of the Jack fans have likely moved on from Jack's orch-pop style, as Reynolds' solo albums don't seem to get much of any press, though Jack earned a bit of coverage in the mid-90s. And even though I own all of Jack's music, and most of Jacques CDs (Jacques being the Jack offshoot where Reynolds and a few others would work with other established, non-Jack artists), I've never had the desire to pick up Reynolds' solo work. Maybe the tortured artists lyrics don't have the same impact now that they once did. Or maybe it's the fact that without a large band supporting him, I realized that his voice really wasn't as perfect as it once seemed. I'm not really sure.
Despite this, it seems that Reynolds has not kept busy with music alone. Instead, the artist has also released a book of poetry titled These Roses Taste Like Ashes. But the most exciting news is that Reynolds has just finished a biography of the Walker Brothers, one of the major influences on Jack and all other orch-pop groups. The book, which will be released on Helter Skelter in the UK, is described as tracing the career of the Walkers from their beginning through the solo careers when they disbanded. However, from the short write-up of the book on the Helter Skelter site, it appears that Scott Walker will receive most of the focus.
I hope the book doesn't stop at a certain date, but takes the reader to Walker's most recent (and possibly best) effort, Tilt. So while Reynolds music may not hold many people's interest anymore, hopefully his writing will win over some new fans, and hopefully this book will be as excellent as its subject deserves.
Anyone interested in Reynolds' poetry or other writings should go here.
posted by Jonathan