Johny Brown

If a hush-hush collaboration between this artist, author Irvine Welsh and former Bay City Rollers heartthrob Les McKeown sees the light of day, it might turn out to be the high point of singer and songwriter Johnny Brown's career. Until then, he will be most remembered for guiding the excellent acoustic outfit called the Band of Holy Joy, or just plain Holy Joy in its final fizzle, through a series of albums and tours beginning in 1984. The group came out of London's New Cross neighborhood and highlighted an unusual instrumental line-up including trombonist Adrian Bailey, violinist Karel Van Bergen, accordionist Alf Thomas and a chap doubling on banjo and keyboards who simply called himself Big John. The group investigated similar territory to the Pogues but were known for the particularly optimistic outlook expressed in Brown's songs. At that time, his message was a much-need contrast to the politics of Margaret Thatcher; in a more mature stage of development, it could provide a fascinating combination with Welsh's violent cyncism and whatever McKeown might have on his mind now that the young girls have stopped screaming at him. "That's why they all it Rough Trade" was a catch-phrase used by many artists affiliated with this British indie conglomerate when business didn't go the way it was supposed to, which was much of the time. When the company crumbled in 1991, Brown's band was seriously effected by the resulting cancellation of various promotional efforts the company honchos had promised. By 1993 the group was no more and Brown began working as a freelance journalist. He did not remove himself completely from the music business, however. Later projects included the band Superdrug in 1995 and the aforementioned project with Welsh and McKeown, about which rumors have...