| Dates connected with James: | 2018, 2021+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Percussion, Backing Vocals, Guitar |
Joined James for the May 2018 Living In Extraordinary Times tour a couple of days before the start of the tour and performed at all shows and some summer festivals before leaving to concentrate on her new band Nasty Cherry. Debbie rejoined in 2021 to make the band a 9-piece.
| Dates connected with James: | 2018+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Backing Vocals, Guitar, Percussion |
Birthday : September 13, 1981
Joined James as part of the touring band when Debbie Knox-Hewson left.
| Dates connected with James: | 1996-2001, 2015+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Guitar, Backing Vocals, Cello |
Birthday : March 20
Band Nickname : Mr Pastry
Born in California of Norwegian / American / Guyanan parentage, Adrian is a long-term friend of Saul, the two having attended the same school in Hull and it was this link that helped Adrian when the band were looking to replace Larry.
After leaving school, Adrian went to the University of Sussex in Brighton, where he still lives, to study music. Before joining James after Larry’s departure in 1996, Adrian was in a band called Goat that signed to Beggars Banquet before becoming guitarist and cellist in Sharkboy, a Nude Records band that produced two albums in the early eighties and had supported the likes of Suede.
An accomplished guitarist, Adrian says and does very little but play guitar on stage. The band have tried to bring Adrian out of his shell, but with little success so far.
Despite a reputation for laziness, the band acknowledge Adrian’s brilliance with a guitar in hand and amp plugged in.
| Dates connected with James: | 1989-1992, 2007+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Trumpet, Backing Vocals, Percussion |
Birthday : July, 1959
Andy Diagram, born in London, had a history in the music business before he came to James in 1989. He had been the trumpet player and percussionist in bands such as Dislocation Dance, The Diagram Brothers and Mick Head’s (of Shack) Pale Fountains. Ironically, Dislocation Dance once gave James a lift back from an Orange Juice gig in Sheffield in 1982.
Out of work after the dissolution of Dislocation Dance and living in the same house as the guy who was printing James t-shirts, he went along to the sessions for the Gold Mother album with his friend, saxophone player, Vinnie Corrigan. Whilst the sax didn’t fit in with the sound James were creating, they were intrigued by Andy’s trumpet playing and percussion and asked him to join them on a couple of live dates.
The shows went well and Andy was offered a place in the band on a retainer. He joined primarily for financial rather than artistic reasons as he was developing an interest in free-form jazz at that stage.
The trumpet however added a new element to James sound. With percussion and backing vocals to boot, Andy’s sonic contributions were a central point of the band’s sound in the Gold Mother and Seven era. He appeared at several live shows on crutches having broken his leg.
Andy’s contribution to Seven was highly criticised in some areas of the music press, NME describing songs as “another bloody three-minute trumpet arcadia”. He was looking personally at pursuing other musical interests and in the summer of 1992 he left James just as they were departing on their acoustic tour of the US. Parting on good terms, The Spaceheads were asked to support James on the short UK acoustic tour in December 1992 and Andy did make a guest appearance at the Manchester G-Mex show in December 1993.
The Spaceheads are still around as a band, ironically playing Manchester’s Night and Day Cafe the day James played the nearby MEN Arena in December 1999.
Andy has also played on several albums with David Thomas and the Two Pale Boys and completed a three month stint as the musical element of the Shockheaded Peter goth musical at London’s Albany Theatre.
| Dates connected with James: | 1989+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Keyboards, Percussion, Drum Programming |
Birthday : November 5
Band Nickname : Chunney Lad
First gig : Gary Numan
Mark joined James in the spring of 1989, having been recommended by Mick Armistead who had played keyboards on One Man Clapping. He was nineteen at the time and working in Preston where he had done sound engineering for the likes of The Membranes and the infamous Macc Lads.
At Mark’s first session with the band, he recorded the piano intro to the original 12″ version of Sit Down without being aware he was being recorded. He made his live debut at Liverpool Royal Court on June 16.
When asked about Mark in 1993, Tim said “The quietest man I’ve ever met. It took us about two years to get a sentence out of him. Now, actually, he’s much more chatty. You never heard what he played – you never hear what he plays, ever, until you get to the studio. At first it used to really bug us, but now no-one cares, because it’s always bloody good.” This has become a running joke within the band that Mark never says anything.
During the band’s hiatus between 2001 and 2007, Mark worked with The Bluetones as well as Ainslie Henderson, initially through the Fame Academy BBC tv programme.
| Dates connected with James: | 1989+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Drums, Percussion |
Birthday : 29 January
Dave was born in Kent and moved to Holyhead on Angelsey aged nine with the rest of his family. Even with a history encompassing many locally well-known Welsh bands such as The Modernaires, It’s Immaterial and Pink Military Stand Alone, Dave was very reluctant to audition for James when he was recommended to the band after Gavan left in late 1988.
Tim pursued Dave after being told by his clairvoyant to watch out for a “Dave from Wrexham”. In the end, the band offered to pay for a van to bring Dave and his gear and his family over from Wales to audition. Dave was “streets ahead” of the other drummers James had auditioned and was offered the job, his first show being at Newcastle University in March 1989.
In the early years, Dave was frustrated by the band’s insistence on rehearsing in the heat of the afternoon, stories of Dave working all night on his parts or on mixes abound from both the Laid and Whiplash sessions.
According to the rest of the band, Dave is the most difficult to get to know of the band and has an extremely dry sense of humour. Brian Eno described him as dependable, the one member of the band always pushing the envelope and seeking a way round logjams with his dry and frank nature.
The 1992 acoustic tour where most of Dave’s equipment was taken away and he was pushed forward on the stage brought his drumming ability to the fore with audiences regularly applauding his drumwork which became much more pronounced in the sound.
Dave maintains an interest in dance music, being part of the Money project, working on a drummer only project with the drummers from Catatonia and Stereophonics and following the local rave culture in North Wales closely.
| Dates connected with James: | 1989+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Percussion, Guitar, Violin |
Birthday : 28 June
Band Nickname : Bob
First gig : Isle of Wight Festival 1970
Football Team : Barcelona
Born in Oldham, Saul moved to Scotland when he was a child before moving to Hull in 1980 where he met Adrian and the two became close friends, Saul replacing Dave Rotheray (of the Beautiful South) on drums in Adrian’s band.
Two years later, Saul was expelled from Manchester University’s law school in 1982 after six months for taking speed in the faculty toilets. Saul then spent several years travelling Europe. He did however manage to complete his degree in 1987.
Saul joined in 1989 just before the first version of Sit Down came out. He was discovered by Larry at the Band on the Wall in Manchester at an improvisation night on the day Dave had finally agreed to join James. Saul walked in with a violin and Larry was immediately intrigued. Saul was leaving Manchester at twelve the next day so Larry called a rehearsal for ten and Saul was offered the job on the spot.
He allegedly had never even heard of James and had to ask his friends who they were. He saw the move into James as purely a stop-gap measure initially. Tim described him as the “last of the international playboys” as “he lives all over the world and knows how to enjoy life. He’s very flamboyant and will go for it onstage. He’ll take risks onstage, visually, and in terms of like, flying. He wants to fly a lot on his violin – his natural style is to play masses and masses. He’s got so much talent and he’s just dying to get it expressed, and then to have to work through – working in a band which is hard at the best of times and patience is the biggest thing you need – I think it’s probably been hardest for him”
Saul is instantly recognisible by his widely varying hairstyles – bald, dyed bleach blonde, floppy bob, long with a dodgy beard – and his (usually drink-fuelled) taunting and provoking the audience in the live arena.
Since Larry’s departure, Saul has become more prominent in the songwriting of the band – he sketched 20 or so base tracks for the Millionaires album at his home in Scotland before presenting them to the rest of the band. With his insecurity hidden by his flamboyant stage persona, Saul was afraid the band would hate the material. His contribution is recognised by Jim in the credits to Millionaires – “Jim Glennie would like to personally thank Saul for his work on this album over and above the call of duty.”
Outside of James, Saul has participated in the Money offshoot project and also worked with Youth on his Celtic Cross project. He has also produced albums by Priya Thomas and Michael Kulas’ debut “Mosquito”.
| Dates connected with James: | 1982+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Lyrics, Lead Vocals, Percussion, Backing Vocals |
Birthday : February 4, 1960
Band Nickname : Monty Moneybags – dates back to early years in the band and Tim’s middle-class background
First Gig : Cockney Rebel, Leeds Town Hall
Football Team : Leeds United
Tim Booth, Manchester University drama student and ex-pupil at Shrewsbury School where he gained 11 O Levels, joined Model Team International when he confronted Jim, Gavan and Paul stealing his drink at a Manchester University disco in March 1982. Impressed by his dancing and thinking he could write them some lyrics as he was a student, Tim was asked to dance with the band and sing backing vocals initially, making his debut at a Sheffield gig supporting Orange Juice soon after. When Danny Ram and Jennie Ingram were subsequently kicked out of the band, Tim was asked to take over lead vocals.
Tim had got into music whilst at school when he was informed that his father was critically ill and he listened to Patti Smith’s Horses that evening – she was to become one of his major inspirations artistically.
During James early career, Tim was plagued by a liver disease which dated back to his childhood and it was this that contributed to his pursuit of altenative forms of healing and stimulation, including membership of the Lifewave group in the 1980s and his interest in shamanic dancing which he still pursues actively today. The liver condition has lead Tim to abstain from the traditional rock n roll lifestyle of drink and drugs and his abstinence and beliefs have led James to be labelled as Buddhists, vegans and all sorts of other implied insults.
Tim’s interest in certain themes – religion (Tim went to the religious Shrewsbury School and was expelled for being a bad influence), suicide, victimhood, betrayal – run through James whole career. The embittered lyrics of Seven and Laid reflect the fallout from his relationship with the band’s ex-manager Martine, mother of Tim’s son Ben – the inspiration for Gold Mother whilst the lovestruck Just Like Fred Astaire and Shooting My Mouth Off reflect Tim’s contentment with his wife-to-be Kate.
Tim spoke openly to ITV’s Faith And Music documentary about his beliefs in June 1999 and narrated an ITV documentary commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Strangeways riots the same year.
In addition to his vocal duties with James, Tim maintained his interest in acting, taking the lead in Edward Bond’s production of Saved at Bolton Octagon in May 1998 before appearing in a cameo role in Batman Begins in 2005 and an independent production Poor Wee Me in 2010. He also played Judas in the televised recreation of the Easter story in Manchester in April 2006, singing The Smiths’ Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and duetting with Darren Moffitt (Jesus) on Blue Monday. He also has taught Five Rhythms dance on a regular basis in Manchester, New York and California during quiet periods for James.
In October 2001, Tim announced his intention to leave James after the December 2001 tour to pursue other interests outside James. He had already released an album with Angelo Badalamenti and Bernard Butler in 1996 entitled Booth And The Bad Angel and then released his debut solo album Bone in 2004. He later released a second solo album Love Life in 2011 and still actively writes outside of the band although there are currently no plans for any future releases.
Tim now lives in Topanga Canyon on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
| Dates connected with James: | 1980+ |
| Contribution/Role/Speciality: | Bass Guitar, Percussion |
Birthday : October 10
Band Nickname : “doesn’t have one as he’s “f**king untouchable” (Dave)
Football Team : Manchester City
Jim Glennie is the only remaining original member of James left, his youthful looks belying his age. Born within spitting distance of Manchester City’s Maine Road ground, Jim has remained faithful to the blue side of Manchester, which has experienced as many ups and downs over the years as James.
He was introduced to music by best mate Paul Gilbertson who talked him into buying his first bass and took him along to concerts in Manchester where his early influences were The Fall and Joy Division.
Jim is often seen as the quiet man in James due to him saying very little and moving even less on stage. This belies the fact that he is impossible to shut up once he has a drink, particularly Scottish single malt whisky. Tim often recalls stories of him losing his temper, once threatening to kill someone who was haranguing Tim at the Brit Awards.
Jim was a member of the Lifewave group along with Tim in the mid 1980s and was seriously into meditation and abstinence at the time and at one stage offered the group to give up James.
