Tall Stories (album)

Tall Stories is the second studio album by Johnny Hates Jazz, released by Virgin in 1991. The follow-up to 1988's Turn Back the Clock, Tall Stories features producer and songwriter Phil Thornalley as lead singer, following the departure of the band's frontman Clark Datchler. On the eve of the album's release, Thornalley and keyboardist Calvin Hayes were involved in a serious car crash that depleted the band's momentum. The album failed to chart,[1] and the band subsequently folded.[2]

Tall Stories
Studio album by Johnny Hates Jazz
Released	June 1991
Recorded	1990–1991
Length	36:32
Label	Virgin
Producer	Calvin Hayes, Mike Nocito
Johnny Hates Jazz chronology
Turn Back the Clock (1988) Tall Stories (1991) The Very Best of Johnny Hates Jazz (1993)

The album featured contributions from XTC's Dave Gregory (lead guitar) and Kasim Sulton of Utopia (backing vocals).

Background

Following the commercial success of Turn Back the Clock, lead singer Clark Datchler left Johnny Hates Jazz at the end of 1988 to embark on a solo career. Despite the departure, which was described by Nocito in 1992 as "[not] a particularly amicable split", Nocito and Hayes decided to continue.[3] In 1989, after a period of auditioning a number of singers, Nocito and Hayes invited Phil Thornalley to take the role. All three had known each other since childhood and originally recorded "Me and My Foolish Heart" together before Thornalley chose to leave and produce Robbie Nevil instead. Thornalley told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle in 1989: "I dumped them right in it the first time and I was not expecting to be invited back, but it's like coming full circle. I'm doing something I should have been doing five years ago."[4] In addition to his vocal abilities, Thornalley was able to fulfill Datchler's role as the band's songwriter.[3]

The new line-up's first release was the single "Turn the Tide", which reached No. 84 in the UK in late 1989.[5] The Tall Stories was completed and delivered to Virgin Records in October 1990, but "internal politics" delayed the album's release until the following year. During mid-1991, Thornalley and Hayes were involved in a serious car crash which in turn delayed the album's release to 1992.[3] Tall Stories was a commercial failure, including its two singles, "Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight" and "The Last to Know", although the latter did reach No. 57 in Germany during 1991.[6][7]

In 2011, Thornalley recalled how both Tall Stories and his 1989 solo album Swamp made him realise "my passion was for writing songs [and] not performing them".[8] Speaking to Paul Sinclair of Super Deluxe Edition in 2013, Nocito said of the album: "We were sort of obligated. Even to me now, it's not a Johnny Hates Jazz album. It didn't feel like one. I can't really listen to that record, some things happened from a personal point of view, my mother died right at that time, Calvin had that car crash. So I don't want to go there."[9] He added to Magic Music Magazine in 2017: "There was a very bad car accident. Terrible timing but luckily nobody died. After the car accident no one wanted to continue."[10]

Reception

Upon release, Music & Media commented: "This new album introduces new lead singer Phil Thornalley. Yet the sound hasn't changed much since the days of their European hit single, "Shattered Dreams". The first single, "Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight", sets the tone for the rest of this melodic, soft pop album."[11] Phil Bryant of The Crawley News wrote: "Tall Stories has a number of influences, bits of Paul McCartney here, George Michael there and Tears for Fears in abundance. The ten songs are all pleasant enough, but maybe there's the rub! Pleasant it may be, but it isn't original."[12] In a review of the 1993 compilation The Very Best of Johnny Hates Jazz, Michael Sutton of AllMusic commented of the three tracks included from Tall Stories: "Sounding no different than anything on Turn Back the Clock, these tracks prove that Johnny Hates Jazz didn't lose their knack for soulful, danceable hooks after Datchler's departure."[13]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight"	Phil Thornalley	4:45
2.	"Money Changes Hands"	Thornalley, Jim Williams	3:35
3.	"Your Mistake"	Thornalley, Mike Nocito	3:19
4.	"The Last To Know"	Thornalley	3:37
5.	"Closer"	Thornalley, Chris Murrell	3:49
6.	"Between You and Me"	Thornalley, Tommy Faragher, Lotti Golden	3:12
7.	"Shelter from the Storm"	Thornalley	2:10
8.	"Fools Gold"	Thornalley, Calvin Hayes, Nocito	4:49
9.	"Keep Me in Mind"	Thornalley	3:38
10.	"Now She's Gone"	Thornalley, Hayes, Nocito, Clyde Liebman	3:53

Personnel

Johnny Hates Jazz Phil Thornalley – vocals, instruments Calvin Hayes – instruments, backing vocals Mike Nocito – instruments, backing vocals Additional musicians Dave Gregory – guitar solo (track 1) Phil Palmer – acoustic guitar (track 2), guitar solo (track 8) Jim Williams – electric guitar (tracks 2, 3) Ole Paulsen – additional keyboards (tracks 2, 4) Tommy Faragher – additional keyboards (tracks 3, 6, 8, 9), backing vocals (tracks 6, 8, 9), bass (track 6) Graham Brierton – bass (tracks 2, 5) Frank Ricotti – percussion (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9), vibes solo (track 4) Tony Beard – drums (track 6), additional drums (track 1) Molly Duncan – tenor saxophone (track 10) Dan Duncan – big horn (track 1) Simon Clarke, Roddy Lorimer, Tim Sanders, Paul Spong – horns (track 4) New World Symphonia – strings (tracks 1, 3) Del Newman – arrangement and conductor (tracks 1, 3) Colin Campsie – backing vocals (track 1) Kasim Sultan – backing vocals (track 2) Kim Wilde – backing vocals (tracks 3, 5) Tom Bailey – Eastern interlude (track 2)

Production Calvin Hayes – producer, mixing (tracks 3-10) Mike Nocito – producer, engineer, mixing (tracks 3-5, 8-10) Tom Lord-Alge – mixing (tracks 1, 2) Roy Spong – mixing (tracks 3-5, 8-10) Phil Thornalley – mixing (tracks 6-7) Chris Newman – Fairlight programming Tommy Faragher, Lotti Golden – original track and programming (track 6) Chris Dicker, Henry Bins, Darene Walder, Dan Duncan, Ren Swan, El Davinci, Helen Woodward, Richard Norris, Michael Ade, Mike Jarret, Mystery Tim, Eddie Briquet, Steve Gallagher – engineers, studio personnel Other Larry Vigon – art direction, design Brian Jackson – design Chris Callis – photography Cyndy Warlow – stylist

References

1. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
2. Anderson, Michael R. (2008) The Ultimate 80's Music Book, lulu.com, ISBN 978-1-4092-0904-1, p. 37
3. Lawn, Jim (6 March 1992). "'Tall Stories' from Johnny Hates Jazz". The Lennox Herald: 26.
4. Feddy, Kevin (3 October 1989). "Johnny go back in time". Newcastle Evening Chronicle: 27.
5. "JOHNNY HATES JAZZ | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
6. Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - Let Me Change Your Mind Tonight". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
7. Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - The Last To Know". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
8. "Biography « Phil Thornalley". 2015-04-10. Archived from the original on 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
9. "Johnny Hates Jazz / Interview". superdeluxeedition. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
10. "Magic Talk : Johnny Hates Jazz – MAGIC MUSIC MAGAZINE". Magicmusicmagazine.com. 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
11. "New releases: Albums". Music & Media: 8. 15 June 1991.
12. Bryant, Phil (26 February 1992). "Punk ain't dead-yet!". The News (Crawley): 26.
13. AllMusic Review by Michael Sutton (1993-05-24). "Best of Johnny Hates Jazz - Johnny Hates Jazz | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-06-08.