TS: Jesus Jones vs EMF

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Baggy chancers from over here who surprisingly went big over there before becoming a fixture of charity shops/yard sales the world over. Which one was 'sorted'?

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:35 (twenty years ago)

EMF, if only for the fey charm they couldn't conceal amongst their laddishness. Plus bonus points for the possibly apocryphal tale (from Neil Tennant) that they'd trash their hotel room and then tidy it up.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:38 (twenty years ago)

"went big over there"

did they really though?

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:40 (twenty years ago)

Jesus Jones wins just for the chance to call them Hezus Hones

― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:42 (twenty years ago)

I'm trying to think who had the worst taste in hats. I do have a soft spot for 'Info Freako' though.

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:46 (twenty years ago)

Bruno Brooks' finest hour was championing "Info Freako".

This was before the whole 'baggy' thing happened by at least a year, and when the Jesus and Mary Chain only got airplay if their single was 'nice'.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:48 (twenty years ago)

EMF at the time, probably Jesus Jones in hindsight.

EMF, if only for the fey charm they couldn't conceal amongst their laddishness.

Shoving pieces of fruit up your foreskin and boasting about it in the music press is not my idea of fey charm.

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:49 (twenty years ago)

I thought EMF were the future when I first heard them. I must have been about 6 years old at the time mind you so that's perhaps forgiveable.

On the grounds that I can't actually remember anything that Jesus Jones did my vote is with EMF.

― jimnaseum (jimnaseum), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:52 (twenty years ago)

"went big over there"
did they really though?

Unbelievable US #1

Right here, right now US #2

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:55 (twenty years ago)

xpost ailsaa

Indeed, but no-one really believed that, did they? They were a bunch of wet fops at heart.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:57 (twenty years ago)

Well, even though I do actually own a Jesus Jones album... they lose points for "Right Here Right Now" becoming the unofficial anthem of the Gulf War Part I.

― The Minimal Criminal (kate), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:59 (twenty years ago)

Jesus Jones had lots of great Beatles-influenced songs, EMF did not. Thus, Jesus Jones.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 08:59 (twenty years ago)

Unbelievable is a much more functional contribution to the world of edited sports highlights than Right Here Right Now.

Also I bought the album Alphabet Soup for the equavilent of £1.20. Quality.

― rchinn (rchinn), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 10:11 (twenty years ago)

Jesus Jones were a bit bigger in the U.S. than EMF. "Real Real Real" also hit the top 10 (and it's a much better song than "Right Here, Right Now"), and even their next album produced a couple of college hits.

Anyway, EMF were certainly cuter, but JJ had marginally better songwriting chops.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 11:47 (twenty years ago)

This is like making a choice between shit and diarrhea. Why don't you throw in Candyflip for good measure, and then we would have the extra option of vomit.

― HPrimeau, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 11:50 (twenty years ago)

purely for the apollo 440 remix 'head the ball' - emf, but when in the right mood i do love the 'perverse' album by jesus jones a wonderful mess of machine made noise.
though my urge to listen to it rarely occurs these days.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:09 (twenty years ago)

Yay EMF!

And Yay Candyflip!

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:30 (twenty years ago)

We were international bright young things.

And now we're international bright old things.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:32 (twenty years ago)

I liked EMF more at the time.

But the Prodigy remix of 'Zeroes And Ones' is almost enough to seal victory for JJ on it's own.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:33 (twenty years ago)

Mike Edwards now does quite a lot of writing for mountain biking magazines in the UK and he comes across a quite a decent bloke. Jesus Jones is still an awful, awful name though.

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:36 (twenty years ago)

Jesus Jones > The Charlatans > "Leisure" era Blur > EMF > Candy Flip

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 12:37 (twenty years ago)

Oh, Geirpaws.

― Dan (Charlatans PWN) Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:12 (twenty years ago)

having chatted to mike many (urgh - many) years ago - i can confirm that he is a very decent bloke.

though as legend will have it remembered, 'barry d is a wanker'

c'mon, i aint the only one that chanted that surely ?

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:24 (twenty years ago)

EMF were great at the time, totally empty-headed, but thrilling & fun and so on nevertheless. I can remember the sound guy at nwcstl riverside's outrage that the piano riff from "unbelievable" wasn't played, but sampled in its entirety - "he only played one key!!" Ha ha ha ha. I don't know how they'd sound now, I haven't heard them for years. I can remember a couple of their tunes, though, and I remember them w/a bit of fondness. Jesus Jones at the time seemed to me to be one of those bands who are constantly trying to catch up with whatever the cutting edge/newest thing/whatever is at the time, failing, and also failing to produce any decent art out of the gap between what they intended and what they achieved. I can remember a little bit of "zeroes and ones", I can remember more of the video for it than I can of the tune, though. Also, the singer had this habit of pontificating boringly on technology and the future of music whenever someone pointed a mic at him. They were just no fun. They were the "a flock of seagulls" of the '90's. EMF, easily.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:27 (twenty years ago)

all I know about both:

Jesus Jones: "Right Here, Right Now"
EMF: "Unbelievable", sampled Mark David Chapman's voice and got in troubs for it, "Unbelievable" used in an ad campaign for Kraft with the words changed lollably to "it's crumb-believable", big hats.

After perusing the evidence, I'm not sure where my allegiance lies, if anywhere.

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:36 (twenty years ago)

EMF: "Unbelievable", sampled Mark David Chapman's voice and got in troubs for it

No, that was "Lies," their second single.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:36 (twenty years ago)

it's a list

― RoxyMuzak© (roxymuzak), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 13:37 (twenty years ago)

EMF in a second, if only due to the great Meat Beat Manifesto remixes.

― js (honestengine), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 17:55 (twenty years ago)

I seem to remember an Eno remix of "Unbelievable" too.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 18:10 (twenty years ago)

love the fact we're all dropping in on the remixes and not the original works!
emf did indeed have some cracking mixes (foetus/@440/joey beltram/oribtal being my faves) - most of which are on the cheapo supposedly limited edition double cd of hits-n-remixes.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 18:23 (twenty years ago)

EMF in a second, if only due to the great Meat Beat Manifesto remixes

MUST HEAR

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 19:16 (twenty years ago)

In the Great Tournament Bracket of One-Hit Wonders, Jesus Jones is a One-Seed, and EMF gets knocked off by Right Said Fred.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:14 (twenty years ago)

search: anal cunt's cover of "unbelievable"

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:16 (twenty years ago)

this thread reminds me of summertime 1992, me being 9 years old taking advanced swimming lessons, Batman Returns, and moving from Watertown, NY to Greenville, SC. "Right Here, Right Now" indeed.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:20 (twenty years ago)

Don't you have to have only had one hit in order to be a one-hit wonder?

― Dan (TS: "International Bright Young Thing" Vs "Lies") Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:20 (twenty years ago)

And "International Bright Young Thing" didnt even chart in the Top 40; their second official hit was "Real Real Real."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:31 (twenty years ago)

Don't you have to have only had one hit in order to be a one-hit wonder?
-- Dan (TS: "International Bright Young Thing" Vs "Lies") Perry ([email protected]), May 23rd, 2006 4:20 PM.

perwned!

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:34 (twenty years ago)

I almost said "Real Real Real" but decided I was misremembering.

― Dan (Stupid Second-Guessing) Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 22:41 (twenty years ago)

i'm quite sure jesus jones were the better band, but there was something ever so slightly over-earnest about them, and when i was 15/16, the 'mef were a far more interesting prospect.

and i always liked the big-nosed dude out of EMF who wrote all the songs. (ian, was it?) i remember feeling happy that, although he was obviously the boring one who never got to put a lime under his hood, he was getting ALL THE CASH.

carter were, of course, better than both.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 09:36 (twenty years ago)

carter were, of course, better than both.

mmnnng...ngnngngnn...rgrgggnn...WHAT????!?!?!?!??!?!?!!!?!?!1

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:34 (twenty years ago)

carter were, of course, better than both.

Better than both put together, probably.

JJ wins for "Info Freako" and having the honour of headling the "Slough Festival"!

― Si.C@rt3r, Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:40 (twenty years ago)

right said fred had more than one hit.

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:43 (twenty years ago)

Does anyone remember EMF's stillborn mid-90s comeback, with the single "Perfect Day", which was kind of like Dodgy with flutes (and was as bad as that sounds) and featured a Supergrass-esque capersome video, which was rather undermined by the fact that they all looked like drug casualties?

― Neil Stewart (Neil Stewart), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:44 (twenty years ago)

http://image.listen.com/img/356x237/6/1/9/0/510916_356x237.jpg

― NickB (NickB), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

wasn't all that stillborn as they had a hit with vic reeves, didn't they? 'i'm a believer'. or was that someone else?

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

That was them, yes.

I think the b-side of that was their last track issue..

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 10:53 (twenty years ago)

Ian Dench (the big-nosed one out of EMF who wrote all the songs) went on to be in a band called Whistler who are very lovely indeed. Mike Edwards is still trying to resurrect Jesus Jones. They've toured quite recently, haven't they?

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:09 (twenty years ago)

Didn't one of EMF die quite recently, at some shockingly young age?

― Neil Stewart (Neil Stewart), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:16 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, the aforementioned foreskin abuser Zac Foley.

― ailsa (ailsa), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:20 (twenty years ago)

right said fred had more than one hit.

"I'm Too Sexy" was their only hit in the US. I've never actually heard any of their other songs.

― Dan (Deeply Dippy?) Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:28 (twenty years ago)

I thought "perfect day" was pretty good at the time.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:29 (twenty years ago)

also, if yer all counting these bands as "one hit wonders", they all sux0r compared to whigfield.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:30 (twenty years ago)

'deeply dippy' it is (plus 'don't talk just kiss'). also they had an comeback in 2001, but i don't wanna get into it.

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 11:31 (twenty years ago)

The guys in EMF were also marginally cuter.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 12:04 (twenty years ago)

I read an article by Mike E about how JJ now make more money whoring Right Here Right Now at various corporate gigs around the US... two performances of said song per night equals like $100000000 or something.

― Shooz (shooz), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 15:28 (twenty years ago)

right said fred had more than one hit.

I'm calling shenanigans on this one. "Don't Talk Just Kiss" charted, but falls under the "every one-hit wonder takes a second shot" rule. I mean, LEN arguably had more than one hit too.

Unless this is one of those transatlantic lost-in-translation things, where RSF actually dominated the UK for years.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 16:15 (twenty years ago)

no but seriously, MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO remixes.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 18:53 (twenty years ago)

there were a few rather good remixes of jesus jones stuff too (the missus was a fan and knew ian baker quite well) namely the d-code and moody boys mixes of right decision and the afx mix of zeros and ones, which was all right, much better than the prodigy remix on the other side of the 12".

even better, they remixed bon jovi's keep the faith or whatever it was called, was too 'acieed' or something for jon bon's people and never saw the light of day. they got paid a lot for the privelage.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:29 (twenty years ago)

never got to put a lime under his hood,

what does this mean?

Going by previous comments upthread I'm guessing "he never stuck fruit in his foreskin and then told the press about it".

― Dan (Eek) Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:32 (twenty years ago)

UP AND COMING: E.M.F.; A New Band That's All the Rave

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 20:41 (twenty years ago)

dan wins the prize. it's a lime. one not-very-careful owner.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 24 May 2006 21:26 (twenty years ago)

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