John Edward aka Johnny Flux
Issue: 1 Dated: 25th November 2021
Johnny has a long and varied career, he's worked at the Chatham News, was editor and advertisement space salesman of his own magazine Beat ’64
A competent guitarist 17 year old Johnny, along with Woolf Byrne on Sax were members of the Manish Boys from Maidstone, Kent
1. The Manish Boys - Woolf Byrne, John Watson, Mick Whitehead, Davy Jones (David Robert Jones) Johnny Flux, rear Paul Rodriguez & Bob Solly (1965)
The band took their name from the Muddy Waters blues standard "Manish Boy" in which the lyric went "I'm a Rollin', I'm a Manish Boy...", (1955) An arrangement & 'answer song' to Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" which in turn was inspired by Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man"
American Shel Talmy record producer of songs for the Who & Kinks moved Johnny from lead to rhythm guitar, so that his own session guitarist Jimmy Page could take lead on 'I Pity the Fool', a 1965 cover of the 1961 Bobby Bland song fronted by 17 year old singer Davy Jones
2. The Manish Boys (1965)
Woolf Byrne, Davy Jones (David Robert Jones) John Watson & Johnny Flux
BBC Producer Barry Langford banned the Manish Boys from appearing on his TV Show because three of the band's hair was too long
3. The Manish Boys at BBC TV Centre (1965)
Woolf Byrne, Johnny Flux, Davy Jones (David Robert Jones) John Watson, Mick Whitehead, rear Paul Rodriguez & Bob Solly
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Johnny
Flux Talks in the Manish Boys (2005) |
4. The Manish Boys - I Pity the Fool: Parlophone R 5250 (5th March 1965)
With the failure of the single the Manish Boys split, Davy continued a solo career and soon changed his name to David Bowie, Johnny was to soon join Radio City as a DJ ...
A new career beckoned so along with Woolf Byrne fellow ex-Manish Boys sent in their Demo Tapes to Kings Agency
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Johnny
Flux - Radio City Demo Tape Edit (1965) |
Impressed with their pedigree & Johnny Flux's actors voice they both debuted on Radio City in June 1965
5. Shivering Sands (Summer 1965)
Contol Tower with partial view of Antenna, Gun Towers 2, 3, & 1
6. Woolf Byrne in the Radio City Studio (Summer 1965)
(Woolf Byrne Archive)
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Woolf
Byrne Programme Edit (1965) |
7. Johnny Flux in the Radio City Studio (Summer 1965)
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Johnny
Flux Disc Weekly Read (1965) |
8. Johnny Flux Disc Weekly Read (Summer 1965)
9.
Johnny Flux poses (1965) |
10.
Johnny Flux Guitarist strikes the right cord (1965) |
Photographs on the top of Shivering Sands Southern Gun Tower 1
Johnny was to leave the Radio City Fort in November 1965, to join the MV Galaxy the floating home of Big L - Radio London as John Edward, Woolf Byrne not long after went to Britain Radio then Radio 390
11. Johnny Flux publicity photograph (1965)
12. John Edward, Paul Kaye & Tony Windsor in Galaxy Mess Room (1966)
13. Article with photo 12
When the 60's Pirates closed he became an A&R man with small independent label King Records, which had attracted the major Canadian group Guess Who? Johnny added the violin section in Pye Studios and mixed the track. It was one of his first record productions
Later Guess Who? had a No1 hit in the States with ‘American Woman’
John’s co-production only dented the chart at No45, but left him with a taste for production, so he opened his own company with his wife Sue; the John Edward Entertainment Agency where he acted as manager, agent, publisher and producer
14. Susie Flux
Independently he notched up thirty single releases on most major labels, three albums including the cult blues albums ‘Killing Floor’ and ‘Out Of Uranus’ by Killing Floor
He also published ‘Pepperbox’ by the Peppers, which charted at No5 and was manager/agent of Edison Lighthouse, whom he led to a No1 hit with ‘Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes’ produced by Tony McCauley
John had already co-written‘Save Your Love’written with wife Sue
Seeing Renato Pagliari on TV talent show 'New Faces' he teamed Renato, a West Midlands Italian Restaurant Waiter with Hilary Lester and soon Renée & Renato were born to become one of John's biggest successes
15.
Renée & Renato - Save Your Love, original 45 sleeve (1982) |
16.
Renée & Renato - Save Your Love, Hollywood Records 104114
(1982) |
The record was released on Johns own label, Hollywood Records, distributed by Pinnacle and was the first totally independent record to reach the coveted Christmas No1 spot in the UK (1982) staying four weeks on the top spot selling in excess of 2 million copies
John also produced, published and was video director of ‘Save Your Love’
17. Both Renées? & Renato (1982)
The girl on left featured in the promo-video, Hilary Lester (right) agreed to sign with Renato Pagliari but wouldn't leave her previous band until 'Save Your Love' entered the top 10
Renée & Renato continued a successful career in Continental Europe and Australia, with a further 3 singles and 2 albums being released
‘Save Your Love’ sold a million copies abroad, is much in demand for compilation albums in Europe and has recently been used in a Scandinavian TV advertisement
The follow up single 'Just One More Kiss' sold 40,000 copies just denting the top 50, it would easily have achieved No1 today (2017) the final single was 'Jesus Loves Us All'
Johns Hollywood Studios, subsequently became the studio that Dire Straits, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, the Crusaders, plus Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden rehearsed their first hits
After the enormous success of ‘Save Your Love’, the rehearsal suite was transformed into an Eastlake designed quality 24 track recording studio which spawned S-Express, Bomb the Bass, & the early Pete Waterman productions
18. Renée & Renato - Great American Hits Album (1982)
John achieved a cult following for his early production, when Tenth Planet Records released a limited collector's edition of some of his early work, originally undertaken for many of the major labels
A CD was released by RPM records called ‘Boobs the Junkshop Glam Discotheque’ featuring 3 of his productions
Records produced in the early years have led to licensing offers of 30 singles, 3 albums plus 40 Renée & Renato tracks
Renato sadly died prematurely at the age of 69 from complications after surgery for a brain tumour at Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield on 29th July 2009
19. Metal Mickey (1978)
John is the creator and voice of the robot 'Metal Mickey' star of his own sitcom shown on London Weekend Television with some 39 shows to his credit for the 12 million JICTAR rated show
20. Video Clip - Metal Mickey TV Theme
The character was so successful that, even now, the name Metal Mickey is synonymous with robots
21. Thought you said the runway was clear?
22. Video Clip - Meet Metal Mickey
23. Medway FM opens a Coffee Bar in Rochester High Street
Johnny 3rd from right (Kent Today, Monday 11th March 1996)
Returning to the Medway Towns, Johnny was a great help to me in the intermediate days of Medway FM when we broadcast from the precinct in Rochester High Street, shortly before we moved into Berkley House
24. Colour image of Coffee Bar opening
John has recorded the ‘Fabulous Forty’ on the Oldies Project for Radio London celebrating the 40th anniversary of the pirate radio ship Radio London (Big L) on the anniversary of the Marine Offences Act weekend of the 13th/14th August 2005
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Back
in time Hypnotist - Big L Radio London Promo 1 (2005) |
"I wonder if you'd like to give your listeners & site visitors a chuckle with these Oldies Promo's
"My presentation of the Fab 40 show was on Sunday 14th August 205 at 11.00 BST which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the closedown of Radio London the Big L"
John plays music from the Fab Forty chart complete with station jingles and biographical material on the stars who sang the hits, along with behind the scenes personal stories
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Producer
Johnny Big L Radio London Fab 40 Promo 2 (2005) |
John is relaunching the career of Metal Mickey alongside his own metamorphosis as an actor/presenter where he's joined by many different sounding characters, all played by himself, weird but wonderful describes it best!
25. It came to me in a flash!
"Ah Johnny will know how to get me out of this embrace without breaking her heart"
26. John Edward Flux (2017)
A final few words in song from Johnny in the shape of Marty Martian & Friends ...
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Marty
Martian - Alien Invasion (2017) |
Thanks to Johnny (Edward) Flux for sharing his photographs & memories
N.B A hack copy of the original Radio London Big L Fab 40 is on CD "We Love the Pirates" Sanctuary Records number CMEDD 937