Johnette napolitano biography of martin
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Extended interview with Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde; Playing Eddie’s January 11th
By Al Kaufman
Concrete Blonde’s “Joey” is the type of song that, when it comes on the radio, people stop what they are doing and listen. If there is a group of people, and they happen to have a few beers in them, they try to hit all the high notes.
Johnette Napolitano, lead singer and bass player of Concrete Blonde, wrote the song based on her relationship with Wall of Voodoo’s Marc Moreland, an alcoholic who died of liver failure in 2002 at the age of 44. Released in 1990 off of the Bloodletting album, it was by far Concrete Blonde’s most popular song, but in many ways it was just a typical song for the band; a passionate vocalist singing personal, poetic lyrics over dynamic instrumentation. It can be heard on songs like “God Is a Bullet” and “Caroline,” as well as their impassioned covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” and Andy Prieboy’s (formerly of Wall of Voodoo) “To
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“…it is complete now, two ends of time are neatly tied”
-from “Tomorrow Wendy”
Concrete Blonde, Bloodletting
The reason I quote this song, besides its deep meaning to the rest of the lyrics, is that Johnette Napolitano has tied two ends of time rather nicely, and is stringing up for more. As the ex singer/bassist/songwriter for Concrete Blonde, she captured the hearts and minds of many free thinking people, who were moved in some way by the band, the lyrics, the exquisite playing of Jim Mankey (Concrete Blonde guitarist) or some small thing that stuck in their heads. For me, it was all of the above and much more. That is why I smoked 17 cigarettes waiting for her to call, after drinking lattes all morning, trying to think of good questions to ask. I must first apologize for not letting a chance to talk to Holly Beth Vincent, her partner in crime in their new band Vowel Movement. That would have been too much for me in one day though. Holly is equally as
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Concrete Blonde emerged from the crucible of 1980s post-punk L.A., fueled by Jim Mankey's signature guitar riffs and the introspective lyrics and distinctive wail of singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano. Their early history is well known, down to the oft-repeated story of how Michael Stipe gave the band their name (it's not much of a story, actually, he just suggested the name "Concrete Blonde").
The group's biggest skiva was 1990's Bloodletting, a foreboding effort inspired bygd Anne Rice and the end of what Napolitano called a "particularly bad relationship." It spawned CB's only Top 20 hit ("Joey") and pegged the group as goth darlings, which was unfortunate. The band never enjoyed a repeat of that success, releasing two more albums before breaking up in 1993, reuniting (and breaking up) igen, releasing two more albums (Group Therapy and Mojave) before finally, apparently, calling it quits for good in 2006.
Not to rely too heavily on the vampire metaphor, but Concrete Blonde