Raising the ‘ Oof with John Shuttleworth
Hello , is that John ?” “ No , no , it ’ s Graham ” That makes sense . There ’ s none of that “ being in character ” with these guys because if we know anything about Graham and John we know they ’ re very down to earth .
Graham is Graham Fellows and John is John Shuttleworth and John is Graham ’ s … I was going to say creation , but that sounds a bit Frankenstein , so let ’ s say friend who he ’ s been touring as – or with – for 40 years .
You might know Graham from his 1979 hit ‘ Jilted John ’. “ Yeah , of course , though weirdly , a lot of people don ’ t know that . They know “ Gordon is a moron ”, which wasn ’ t even the title of the song .” And then Graham met John . Or maybe found John .
“ I was trying to be a serious songwriter like John Shuttleworth is trying to be a serious songwriter . I had a songwriting deal , and I used to hear these awful demos that they were used to get . They called them Turkey tapes , and they were very funny . And it was people just like John Shuttleworth sitting with their organs , usually a keyboard with the built-in drums , and you could hear someone washing up in the background , that sort of thing . Very funny and but very heartfelt . And I decided to do my own version of that . So that ’ s how John Shuttleworth was created .
“ I sent a tape into my publisher in disguise thing , hoping to trick them , and for a few days , they didn ’ t know who it was ”.
What was the reaction ? “ Well , it got the right reaction - or maybe the wrong reaction because they lost interest in my serious , Graham Fellows songs and suddenly wanted more John Shuttleworth . So then , yeah , put all my stuff on the back burner and start doing more Shuttleworth – and 40 years later , here we are .”
And John , with respect , has done rather better than Graham . A Perrier aeward , a Eurovision Special , supporting Blur and Robert Plant , two highly successful books with a third on the way along with a new CD ( The Pumice Stone and Other Rock Songs )...
Do you ever get a bit grumpy , a bit resentful and think ‘ he gets all the attention , but I ’ m better than he is ’.
“ Well , no , it ’ s funny because it ’ s taken a long time , but I ‘ ve realised that when I write my own songs , they ’ re like John Shuttleworth songs . Or put it the other way around . When I do a John Shuttleworth song , it ’ s a Graham Fellows song . It ’ s got my sense of humour , but it ’ s putting it in a kind of dramatic scenario , you know . Do you like him ? “ Yes , I do . I like him
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immensely , though I also slightly I pity him . He ’ s totally asexual , isn ’ t he ? You just cannot imagine John talking about sex or doing it . I mean , I ’ m not saying I ’ m , you know , I ’ m not a particularly sexy man but I am more sexy than John . Definitely .” That ’ s not a high bar . Graham . “ No , but I do like him . I don ’ t know if I ’ d want to hang out with him for too long though ”.
l Raise the ‘ Oof , Corn Exchange , March 4
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