Still touring (when Covid allows) and recording with Camberley punk legends The Members, J C Carroll shares his memories in a new autobiography. Vive Le Rock's Hugh Gulland shares his thoughts...
JC CARROLL
(STILL) ANNOYING THE NEIGHBOURS
AngloCentric
9/10
From a post-war childhood in a scrubby zone of the home counties in which dishevelled fifties kids fished for tadpoles while the Heathrow jets arced overhead, JC Carroll - ‘the boy with three girls’ names’ - would initially take the prescribed route for a bright lad of that particular setting – a junior position in city banking – before his predilection for rock ’n ’roll sidetracked him entirely, into the emergent world of punk rock. As guitar man for The Members, JC was a driver in the democratisation of that movement, opening it up from an inner-city phenomenon to a rallying call for ‘Suburban Kids’ everywhere. While stardom flared relatively briefly for the Surrey outfit before the time-honoured pop pitfalls derailed the train, Carroll’s well-attuned survivor’s instinct would carry him through an impressive sequence of subsequent ventures. These have included film composition, panto production, and successful endeavours in the world of clothing and fashion. With The Members’ reactivation as a working band in recent years, JC has reconnected with his youthful enthusiasms, and from his present situation as a locked-down musician, looks over his lifetime and career - and the enduring relevance of his best-known composition - with clarity and insight.
Read an exclusive extract from (Still) Annoying The Neighbours in the latest edition of Vive Le Rock!
Buy (Still) Annoying The Neighbours here.