Saturday 24 June 2017

Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth: The Legend Of The Jacobites

Originally published in Teenage Kicks, Spring/Summer 1999
By Devorah Ostrov

Once upon a time in the mid-'70s, in a faraway country known as England (where the word color contains an unnecessary "u" and the orange juice supply is unpredictable), there lived two beautiful boys with tousled hair and an obsessive fondness for scarves and crushed velvet.

One of these boys, who dubbed himself Nikki Sudden (or occasionally Nikki Mattress), was busy leading a quirky art-pop band called Swell Maps, which included his younger brother Epic Soundtracks on drums. The other boy went by the surprisingly ordinary name of Dave Kusworth.

Just out of school, Kusworth was toiling away on a dreary factory assembly line in Birmingham — although these days, he claims not to recollect what it was he was assembling. "I just... y'know... put this thing onto that thing..." he says vaguely when asked. Was that when he decided to become a rock star? "I've always been a rock star!" Kusworth insists.

Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth
Great American Music Hall - SF 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
March 1999: Kusworth and Sudden, idolized cult figures individually and dual leaders of the revered but commercially unsuccessful Jacobites, are sitting backstage at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Later tonight, the Jacobites (the live lineup now includes drummer Mark Williams and bassist Mark Pritchard) will play to a rapt and enthusiastic audience. This is partly because the band — which issued its eponymous pop/rock/folk-infused debut album some 15 years ago — is touring America for the first time!

The tour is in support of the group's latest release, God Save Us Poor Sinners (Bomp! Records), but tonight they stick to the punchier tracks like "Teenage Christmas" while mixing in several flamboyant pop tunes from their back catalog. Songs like "Over and Over," "Pin Your Heart to Me," and "Shame for the Angels" let them downplay their sometimes heavy Dylan tendencies and show off like their other heroes — the New York Dolls, the Faces, the Stooges, T. Rex, and the Rolling Stones.

Kusworth especially has all the cool rock 'n' roll moves down pat: cigarette dangling from his mouth, rail-thin body wrapped around the microphone stand, arms punctuating the lyrics with elegant flourishes. He's truly a sight to behold! But, like Kusworth says, he's always been a rock star.

L-R: Mark Williams, Dave Kusworth, Mark Pritchard, Nikki Sudden
Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, California 
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
This Johnny Thunders/younger Keith Richards lookalike actually grew up worshiping guitar-god Mick Ronson. "Ronson was my ultimate hero," Kusworth states. "The first concert I ever saw was Bowie with the Spiders From Mars, with Ronson. I was quite lucky; it was their last tour."

Kusworth (with longtime cohort Dave Twist on drums) formed his first group, TV Eye, in 1977. "When we played our first gig," he reflects, "we had just gotten the band together. We had no songs; we didn't even have a name. Somebody offered us this festival gig. We said we were in a band, but we didn't have... anything. I just remember locking ourselves in a room all night with a guitar and learning five or six songs."

The Jacobites' self-titled debut - released 1984
Too glam for the punks and too punk for the rockers — "We were much more like the New York Dolls and the Stooges than any of the English bands," comments Kusworth — TV Eye was short-lived with only one track ("Stevie's Radio Station") on a fanzine-issued disc to their name.

However, there was one momentous (though barely remembered) night when Kusworth's TV Eye crossed paths with Sudden's Swell Maps.

"The first time I saw Dave, he was with TV Eye," remarks Sudden. "They were playing at the Crown in Nottingham, I think."

"You actually supported us!" interjects Kusworth. "But I didn't talk to you."

When TV Eye broke up, Kusworth and Twist formed the Subterranean Hawks, legendary for their aggressive use of acoustic guitars and an engaging pop tune (written by the group's vocalist, Stephen Duffy) called "Big Store."

Sudden also moved on. After the break-up of Swell Maps, he released a couple of solo LPs and took to rock journalism, writing for ZigZag and the New York Rocker. "I just did it for something to do," he says. "I went to New York and ended up interviewing Johnny Thunders. And I thought I might as well do some other articles. But I used to have to take a gram of speed every time I wrote an article — and I would get paid just about enough to buy the gram of speed!"

Nikki Sudden
Great American Music Hall - SF 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
One day in 1980, as Sudden recalls, he encountered a couple of the Subterranean Hawks and arranged to interview them. "I met Steve Duffy. Him and Dave Twist came into Rough Trade with a tape. I heard it and thought it was brilliant! So, I went to see them in Birmingham. Dave [Kusworth] and I started talking, and we said if the Hawks ever broke up, we should form a band."

The Subterranean Hawks stayed together until the end of 1981 and issued one 45 ("Words of Hope" b/w "Sense of Ending") on their own Five Believers Records. Their version of "Big Store" became track two of the fanzine disc mentioned above. "It's very rare," Kusworth helpfully points out.

According to legend, Sudden and Kusworth initially performed together as the Six Hip Princes at the Royal George in May 1982. But it wasn't until '84, with a lineup based around Sudden and Kusworth on shared vocals and guitars, Soundtracks on drums, and bassist Mark Lemon (along with assistance from assorted friends including Tyla from Dogs D'Amour), that the Jacobites released their self-titled debut LP.

They took their name from a failed 17th-century political uprising and borrowed a few musical concepts from the Hawks. "Their whole thing with acoustic and electric guitars was a big influence on the Jacobites," acknowledges Sudden. The first album also featured a reworked version of "Big Store" — credited to Sudden and suffixed (Orig). "Like the Dolls did with 'Frankenstein,'" notes Kusworth.

Flyer for the Jacobites show at
The Great American Music Hall in SF
Songs like "Kiss You Twice" and "Hurt Me More" underscored the group's heart-on-its-sleeve romanticism, while "Kings and Queens" and "Silver Street" were steeped in gorgeous poetical imagery. Taking notice of Sudden's "Dylanesque" vocals, one reviewer wrote: "Imagine a folky Johnny Thunders growing up in the English countryside and learning to play guitar by listening to 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' with a bottle by his side."

A handful of EPs marked the band's indie-chart success, and the ambitious double album, Robespierre's Velvet Basement, soon followed — all issued on import-only labels. It wasn't until 1986, with Twin/Tone's release of The Ragged School, a 12-track sampler of their career to that point, that America was properly introduced to the Jacobites.

Unfortunately, by then, the Jacobites had played their last gig and would disband soon after. The rift is sometimes explained away as "touring difficulties." In actuality, "We couldn't stand each other!" exclaims Sudden.

Once the laughter dies down, he becomes more diplomatic. "I did a tour and Dave was supposed to come, but he didn't turn up."

"I had a lot of problems," counters Kusworth. "I'd split up with my wife at the time. It was very emotional."

My "Shame for the Angels" EP - autographed by
Nikki and Dave!
Kusworth was also disillusioned with the constant coming and going of group members — each new release featured different players, and live shows varied the lineup still more.

"I wanted to have a band," he emphasizes. "I don't know what Nikki wanted, but that's what I really wanted it to be. When we first thought about doing the Jacobites, I thought that we'd have a stable band."

"Epic always played drums on the records," says Sudden, "but he couldn't always do gigs with us."

"And we did a lot of things with no rehearsals," continues Kusworth. "We'd just go and play with different people. I just wanted to get a real tight act together."

So, over the next several years, Sudden and Kusworth concentrated on solo careers.

Sudden teamed up for various projects with the likes of the Birthday Party's Rowland S. Howard, Jeremy Gluck from the Barracudas, and Jeffrey Lee Pierce from the Gun Club. REM even brought him to Georgia, so they could take over (or help with, depending on who you talk to) the recording of 1991's The Jewel Thief.

Nikki Sudden
Great American Music Hall - SF 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
Meanwhile, Kusworth put together the Bounty Hunters. His lyrics expressed his grief over divorce  ("The first Bounty Hunters' record has an incredible amount of songs about it," he says), and furthered his "quest for beauty in the underbelly" (as one rock critic nicely put it) through material described as "Led Zep II crossed with Blind Faith."

1993's Howling Good Times finally brought Sudden and Kusworth back together as the Jacobites. (Supposedly, they buried the hatchet with the CD reissues of the first two Jacobites' records.) The LP's poppy title track was lifted from the Subterranean Hawks' catalog, but overall the album was a ramshackle affair, with the loose feel of a living room jam session. However, their lineup stabilized, at least for recording purposes, with Glenn Tranter and Carl Eugene PicĂ´t on guitar and bass, respectively, and Mark Williams on drums.

Two years later, the band released Old Scarlett, a somewhat somber effort, which nonetheless featured Kusworth's perfect pop anthem "Over and Over" and proved that the Jacobites were back in earnest.

Missing from the revamped Jacobites, of course, was Epic Soundtracks. Even during the group's first round, Soundtracks had kept up a separate existence with Crime and the City Solution. During the Jacobites split, he was drumming for These Immortal Souls, and when that outfit folded, he went solo. But any chance of Soundtracks re-joining the Jacobites ended on November 6, 1997, when the 38-year-old passed away in his sleep.

"I miss him every day," says Sudden. "I used to get really angry at him for dying; it was such a stupid thing to do."

Dave Kusworth
Great American Music Hall - SF 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
In early '98, two tribute shows — one in London, the other in Berlin — were held in Soundtracks' honor. Joining the Jacobites in celebrating Soundtracks' life were Thee Hypnotics, Jeremy Gluck and Robin Wills from the Barracudas, and a reunited Swell Maps.

Both nights were recorded and, following the Berlin gig, the Swell Maps (with Robby Schmidt on drums) entered the studio for the first time in 18 years.

"We did a couple of new songs," hints Sudden. "One is called 'Colditz Story.' And we did some old songs which at the time never got recorded."

Will these recordings ever come out?

"One day," he smiles enigmatically. "It needs to be mixed. I don't know what name it'll come out under. Maybe we'll just keep it for the box set. We've got lots of stuff for the box set!"

Sudden also reveals that he's compiling a tribute album to his brother. "The Jacobites and the Swell Maps have done their tracks. Evan Dando wants to be on it, and I want to get Brian Wilson, Carole King, and Jimmy Webb. Epic loved them! But I'd only want to use their versions if they're really good."

Soundtracks' life and music and are also touchingly remembered on the Jacobites' new CD. They cover two of his songs on God Save Us Poor Sinners — one chosen by Sudden ("The Wishing Well") and one by Kusworth ("She Sleeps Alone").

Dave Kusworth and Nikki Sudden
Photo from the Lost in a Sea of Scarves LP (1985)
Kusworth maintains that he made his selection on the spur of the moment ("Nikki said, 'Pick a song.' And I was like, 'Oh, Christ...'"), but the darkly melancholic tune suits him well.

"The words..." he tries to explain. "It reminded me of something that... I felt that the Jacobites could do that one. And we could do it in our own kind of style. And I hope, God bless him, that he would appreciate what we did with the song. I think he would. We did our best, Epic!"

Sudden's own poignant farewell, "Elizabethan Balladeer," trimmed from its original eighteen minutes to a more workable eight, closes the CD.

My "Teenage Christmas" 45 - autographed by
Nikki and Dave!
"And music came to his ears
The whole time he was alive
And no one ever knew just what
to say or do to him
To prove he didn't need to make this sacrifice..."

Sudden actually began writing the song several months before his brother's death. However, he says, "when Epic died, I recorded another two versions with Glen Tranter. I just made up the lyrics, transcribed them all, and used the best ones to make the song."

"He can never remember all the words!" jokes Kusworth.

"No..." admits Sudden. "I can remember most of them, though. It's got 24 verses!"

Released in 1998, God Save Us Poor Sinners was two years in the making. "It took us a long time to finish it," allows Sudden. "And Dave had a broken arm when we recorded three of the tracks." But it was worth the wait, as the album includes some of the strongest Jacobites' material to date.

From the Stones-style romp of the title track and the defiant strut of "Heartbreaks," to the sublimely romantic "I'll Care for You" and the power-pop fun of "Teenage Christmas" — it's a classic all the way. And topping it off is the Kusworth-penned rocker, "Cramping My Own Style," a tune that would've made the Small Faces proud!

Nikki Sudden
Great American Music Hall - SF 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov
The release also marks a rare US distribution deal for the group, which was instrumental in bringing them to America. "Bomp releasing God Save Us is a godsend," states Sudden.

For Sudden, who's toured here before on his own, it's old hat. But Kusworth is still a bit bewildered by America. "He's just been sitting in my dining room drinking wine for the past five days," laughs bassist Pritchard, who hooked up with the band in Los Angeles.

"It's a hell of a lot more conservative here than I thought it would be," observes Kusworth. "The people are nice. Everybody I've met has been pretty cool and laid back. But the laws... You have to watch where you drink and smoke. That's weird for me to get used to."

Although they're currently busy with the Jacobites, both Sudden and Kusworth plan to carry on with solo projects.

Once this US tour is done, Sudden will begin a 55-date European jaunt in promotion of his just issued Red Brocade album (as backup, he'll be using members of the Chamberstrings, a group which also worked with Soundtracks).

He'd also like to collaborate with Jeremy Gluck again. "We released Buffalo Bill in 1987," he muses. "We thought that 12 years was enough time to wait for another one!"

God Save Us Poor Sinners 
(Bomp! Records 1998)
Kusworth has formed the Tenderhooks (with Dave Twist) and is demoing new material. Meanwhile, his cover of the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" is scheduled for release on Jeff Dahl's Ultra Under label.

Nowadays, Sudden makes his home in Berlin, where he's working on a novel based on his song "The Bagman and the Twangman" from The Jewel Thief.

"I wrote a play for BBC Radio based on the song," he says, "and then I started writing the book. It's called Albion Sunrise — Albion being the old name for England. I've written about half of it. I'm up to about 150,000 words. It's enough for two novels!"

Sudden also continues to flirt with rock journalism. Most recently, he wrote a rave review of the new Black Crowes' album for the fanzine Bucketfull of Brains. "Apart from the Black Crowes, and the Jacobites, and the Stones, I don't think there's any real rock 'n' roll bands left," Sudden firmly declares.

*  *  *

Nikki Sudden
Great American Music Hall - SF, 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov






Nikki Sudden suffered a heart attack following a gig at the Knitting Factory in New York and passed away on March 26, 2006. He was 49 years old.












Dave Kusworth
Great American Music Hall - SF, 3/1999
Photo: Devorah Ostrov






Very sadly, on September 19, 2020, it was reported that Dave Kusworth had passed away in his sleep. He was 60 years old.










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