Jean-Jacques Burnel

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English singer and b*ist

Musical artist

Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnel (born 21 February 1952 in Notting Hill, London) is a Franco-English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the b* guitarist with the English rock band The Stranglers. He is the last founding member to remain in the band.

1 Life and career
2 Equipment and sound
3 Personal life
4 Discography
- 4.1 The Stranglers
- 4.2 Albums
- 4.3 Singles
- 4.4 Production and other appearances
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Life and career

Jean-Jacques Burnel performing on French TV in 1983

Jean-Jacques Burnel was born in Notting Hill, London, to French parents. His family owned a restaurant where his father worked as a chef. As a child, as the son of French immigrants, he was often the victim of mockery from his schoolmates, which later led him to call himself John to disguise his French origins. This early encounter with xenophobia would also have an impact on his explosive temper in life and on stage as well as on the way he plays.

He moved with his parents to Godalming, Surrey, when he was 12 years old and attended the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, subsequently reading history at the University of Bradford and Huddersfield Polytechnic. Burnel originally trained as a cl*ical guitarist, but adopted the b* guitar as his instrument within The Stranglers. He has provided lead vocals on nearly a third of the band's songs, though Burnel later explained he often sang lyrics written by Hugh Cornwell (or vice versa) depending on "who had the best voice for that particular song."

Burnel has been a member of the Stranglers since the group's inception in 1974, but has also made two solo albums: Euroman Cometh in 1979, and Un Jour Parfait in 1988, as well as a collaborative album with fellow Stranglers member Dave Greenfield, Fire and Water (Ecoutez Vos Murs) in 1983. Burnel has also produced and appeared as a guest musician for a number of artists, such as Lizard and ARB from *an, Polyphonic Size (from Belgium) and Taxi Girl's album Seppuku in 1981, as well as Laurent Sinclair's "Devant le Miroir" maxi single. Burnel also formed a rhythm and blues covers band, the Purple Helmets, who played a number of concerts and released two albums in the late 1980s.

As a holder of French citizenship, Burnel received his call-up papers for national service in France. He succeeded in avoiding it with a novel defence, arguing that his absence would indirectly damage the Stranglers as a band, and therefore the careers of the other members. This was in accordance with Burnel's claim that only the "bourgeois" would ever agree to serve their country's military.

Burnel composed and performed music for the anime Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, including both the opening and ending themes, "We Were Lovers", and "You Won't See Me Coming" respectively.

Burnel is fluent in French and writes many of his songs in the language.

Equipment and sound

Shuker JJ Burnel signature b* headstock

Burnel is noted for his distinctive b* guitar sound and melodic b* lines. These are particularly prominent on earlier Stranglers recordings produced by Martin Rushent, such as the hit singles "No More Heroes" and "Peaches".

In the early days, Burnel's distinctive aggressive sound was created using a Fender Precision B* with RotoSound roundwound strings played with a plectrum very close to the bridge, through Hiwatt all-valve amplification. However, the defining factor was the use of a Marshall 4x12 speaker cabinet in which the speaker cones were ripped, creating a distorted sound.

Later, he used a Yamaha BB2000, a Steinberger L2 (headless), and a Kinkade acoustic b*. He currently plays Shuker JJ Burnel signature b*es custom-built in England by Jon Shuker.

He was one of the first b* guitarists to use Trace Elliot amplification when the company began production in 1980. He now uses amplification by Ashdown Engineering who have honoured him with his own JJ500 signature amps.

Personal life

As of 2015, Burnel was a 7th degree black belt (nanadan) in Shidokan Karate and is head of Shidokan UK. He is also a motorcyclist and has owned many Triumph motorbikes.

Discography

The Stranglers

Main article: The Stranglers discography

Albums

Euroman Cometh (1979) No. 40 (UK Albums Chart)
Fire and Water (Ecoutez Vos Murs) (with Dave Greenfield) (1983) No. 94 (UK Albums Chart)
Un Jour Parfait (1988)
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo – Original Soundtrack (with Kasamatsu Kouji) (2005)

Singles

"Freddie Laker (Concorde & Eurobus)" (1979), B-side "Ozymandias"
"Girl from the Snow Country" (1981) deleted prior to release due to dispute with record label, but also released as a bootleg on "Karate Records".
"Rain & Dole and Tea"/"Consequences" (1984) (with Dave Greenfield)
"Goebbels, Mosley, God & Ingrams" (1988) flexi-disc release of an outtake from Euroman Cometh sessions
"Le Whiskey"/"El Whiskey" (1988)
"Reves"/"Crazy (She Drives Me)" (1988)

Production and other appearances

Burnel has also produced and or appeared either as a member of the group (Mutations, Purple Helmets) or as a ‘guest’ musician on a number of recordings, as follows:

Celia and the Mutations – "Mony Mony / Mean to Me" single (1977):: b* and backing vocals
Celia and the Mutations – "You Better Believe Me" single (1978):: b*
Lizard – Lizard album (1979):: production, backing vocals
Lizard – TV Magic single (1980):: production
Polyphonic Size – "Nagasaki Mon Amour" single (1980):: production
Sirens – "It Doesn't Really Matter" single (1980):: production
Taxi Girl – "Les Armees de la Nuit" single (1981):: production & original theme
Taxi Girl – "Vivian Vog" single (1981)
Taxi Girl – "La Femme Ecarlate" single (1981):: production
Taxi Girl – "Les Armées de la Nuit"/"Musée Tong"/"La Femme Ếcarlate" single (1981):: production
Taxi Girl – Seppuku album (1981):: production, chorus vocals on UK bonus track "Find the Boy"
Polyphonic Size – Live for Each Moment album (1982):: production, b* and backing vocals, lead vocals on two tracks, joint composer of one track
Polyphonic Size – "Winston & Julia"/"Je T'ai Toujours Aimée"/"Parties Dance" single (1982):: production, lead vocals on all tracks, b* on "Je T'ai Toujours Aimée"
Polyphonic Size – "Mother's Little Helper"/"Men and Construction"/"RDA RFA"/"Kyoto"/"Nagasaki Mon Amour" single (1982):: production
Polyphonic Size – Mother's Little Helper"/"Girlscout"/"Men and Construction"/"On the Way to Medora"/"Saison" single (1982):: production
Polyphonic Size – "Night is Coming On" single (1982):: production
Polyphonic Size – "Je T'ai Toujours Aimee" single (1982):: production, lead vocals and b* on A-side
Polyphonic Size – Walking Everywhere album (1983):: production, vocals on three tracks which he jointly composed, including lead vocals on Walking Cl* Hero.
Polyphonic Size – "Walking Cl* Hero" single (1983):: production, lead vocal, joint composer
ARB – Yellow Blood album (1984):: b* guitar on two tracks, "Yellow Blood" and "Fight it Out"
Beranek – Trigger album (1984):: production, b* and backing vocals on track "All Through the Night"
Beranek – "Some Boys Like Dolls"/"Why Don't You Wanna Dance" single (1984):: production
Play Group – Love Goes Round album (1984):: production
Laurent Sinclair – "Devant le Miroir" single (1985):: production and b*
Dave Howard Singers – "Rock On" single (1985):: production
Beranek – Daylight in the Dark album (1986):: production, b* and backing vocals
Beranek – "Dancing in the Wind"/"Teardrop" single (1986):: production, b* and backing vocals
Ping Pop – Just Another Lazy Day album (1986):: production and backing vocals
Fools Dance – "They'll Never Know" single (1987):: b*
Jacques Dutronc – CQFD album (1987):: b* on five of the tracks
Mona Mur – Mona Mur album (1987):: production, b*, guitars and percussion
Mona Mur – "*" single (1987):: production, b*, guitars and percussion
Mona Mur – "Ritz" single (1987):: production, b*, guitars, percussion
Revenge – Sweet and Sour album (1987):: production, sound mixing and recording, backing vocals
Revenge – Wartime album (1987):: mixing
The Purple Helmets – Ride Again album (1988):: b* and vocals
The Purple Helmets – "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"/"I’m a Man" single (1989):: b* and vocals
The Purple Helmets – Rise Again album (1989):: b* and vocals
The Purple Helmets – "Brand New Cadillac"/"Under the Sun" single (1989):: b* and vocals
Dani – N Comme Never Again album (1993):: production, mixing, b*, vocals and guitars
Magic De Spell – Holiday in Sarajevo album (1993):: production
Magic De Spell – Nipsonanoimimata Mi Monan Opsin album (1995):: production
Pat Dinizio – Songs and Sounds album (1997):: b* and vocals
Pat Dinizio – "124mph" single (1997):: b* and vocals
Pat Dinizio – "A World Apart" single (1997):: b* and vocals
Schindler – "Time" single (1999):: production, keyboards and backing vocals
Temple of Sound - "Dojo kun (jamais laisser tomber)" on the album First edition (2002):: vocals
3 Men and Black – Acoustic album (2004):: b* and vocals
Teasing Lulu – "Infatuation"/"You Ain't My Baby" single (2006):: production
Teasing Lulu – "Waste of Time"/"The Ex Factor" (from the motion picture 'Reverb') single (2007):: production
Teasing Lulu – Black Summer album (2008):: production
Dani - "Me & you" on the album Le Paris de Dani (2010):: vocals, song written by JJ

References

Bibliography

Buckley, David. No Mercy – The Authorised and Uncensored Biography of The Stranglers. London. Hodder and Stoughton. 1997. ISBN:0-340-68062-8

External links

The Rat's Lair
Ode to Joy: Issue 4; The Burning Up Times PDF: free online publication devoted to JJ Burnel's 1979 debut album, Euroman Cometh. 30 years on, JJ Burnel and John Ellis are interviewed, alongside fans' live Eurotour reviews and exclusive images
JJ Burnel & Stranglers interviews, news and reviews at www.strangled.co.uk