![]() That's the song that got me into rock and roll. ![]() That got me jumping up and down on the bed when it came on the radio. But the really important thing for my musical development was hearing "Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers, which was a big hit in 1960. In those days he used to pay me two and six, my parents used to make sure everything was alright. I couldn't really play but we were singing things like "Goodnight Irene".ĮDWARDS: I can't remember his name, but I used to sit on his knee and do it and get free entry to the pictures. I ended up as his side-kick attempting to play my dad's mandolin. Then we lived in Kensal Rise, where I was brought up until I was 11, then we moved to Ashford in Middlesex.ĮDWARDS: I always liked it, when I was a little kid, when I was about 8, I dunno how I met him but I knew this bloke who used to do skiffle dressed as a cowboy at kid's Saturday morning pictures. HOME: I want to start with with where you were born and how you got into music.ĮDWARDS: I was born in Chiswick in 1949. He was a genial host and his conversation was frequently interrupted by phone-calls from friends, as well as by visitors ringing his door bell. He had two TVs and two guitars, a sofa and chairs, a hi fi, a laptop, and told great stories over endless cups of tea. He told me most of his possessions and memorabilia were stored at his sister's house since there wasn't room for them in his current drum. I found him living in a one-bedroom social housing flat very close to Egham station. Since Edwards' story was clearly one that needed telling, one sunny Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago (that is in May 2010) I caught a train from Waterloo to Egham so that I could interview him. Listening to the only Masterswitch single "Action Replay" for the first time in 30 years, I could hear the singer was the vocalist from The Neat Change. ![]() However, I was amazed to discover they'd been the world's first skinhead band! The more I looked at Edward's past, the more interesting he became. I was also familiar with The Neat Change single "I Lied To Auntie May" as a pop-psyche obscurity. That said, I'd seen and loved Derek Ford's seventies exploitation classic "Groupie Girl". I knew Edwards had gone on to Time UK, but I had no knowledge of his pre-Masterswitch history. He asked me if I knew he was in London's first skinhead band The Neat Change way back when in the sixties? He also asked if I was aware he was in the film "Groupie Girl"? And that the Masterswitch demos were about to be issued as a CD album? I didn't know any of those things. I'd pretty much forgotten about Masterswitch until I opened my email a couple of months ago and there was a message from Jimmy Edwards telling me I was so wrong about his group. I wasn't too impressed by Masterswitch on the night and said as much many years later in my book " Cranked Up Really High" (Codex 1995). IT'S AN UPHILL CLIMB TO THE BOTTOM: JIMMY EDWARDS ON SPENDING TWENTY YEARS OF HIS LIFE AS ROCK'S NEXT BIG THING.ģ2 years ago I saw Masterswitch supporting Sham 69 and Menace. HOME FEATURES BOOKS PERFORMANCE GALLERY BUY CONTACT
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