Jilted John biography
Graham David Fellows (born 22 May 1959, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England) is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the characters of John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.
Early life
Fellows attended the King Edward VII School in Sheffield (when it had newly become a comprehensive), where he was the first Pupil Governor of the school. He studied drama at Manchester Polytechnic.
Jilted John
Fellows first came to prominence as
Jilted John, a character who had a hit single in 1978 that was named after his own alter ego. The single was performed in the aggressive, minimalist style of the then-prevailing punk genre, but with poppier influences, somewhat akin to the Buzzcocks and "Up the Junction", a docupop song by Difford and Tilbrook of Squeeze written around the same time. The novelty hit was most memorable for its humorous lyrics, a first-person narrative of a bitter teenager named John whose girlfriend Julie had left him for another man named Gordon, "just 'cause he's better lookin' than me/just 'cause he's cool and trendy". John wails that "Gordon is a moron", a phrase that became briefly famous in Britain, along with "I was so upset that I cried all the way to the chipshop". The character of Gordon on the record sleeve was played by Bernard Kelly, who had met Graham in his drama club. He appears on the record singing the chorus as well as appearing as Gordon on
Top of the Pops. Bernard also wrote the chorus to the B side "Going Steady" which was originally released as the A side on Rabid Records.
Produced by Martin Hannett for his Rabid Records label, the song was first played on national radio by John Peel who commented that if the single was promoted by a major record label he could see its being a huge hit. This proved to be the case when it was picked up by EMI International. The song was introduced by David Jensen on Top of the Pops as "one of the most bizarre singles of the decade", and the song reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
Two follow-up singles were released the same year under the guise of 'Gordon the Moron'. A pseudo-concept album also produced by Hannett followed, entitled True Love Stories, charting John's love-life - and two further singles, neither of which were hits. No other recordings followed these, making Jilted John a one-hit wonder. However a cash-in single by Julie and Gordon sold moderately well as did lapel badges bearing the legends "Gordon is a moron" and "Gordon is not a moron". The phrase has also been used politically, referring to ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Fellows revived the Jilted John character at the 2008 Big Chill festival, along with Bernard Kelly, premiering a new song about Keira Knightley's ultra-thin figure.
Discography
Singles
- "Going Steady/Jilted John" (July 1978) Rabid TOSH 105, reissued (August 1978) with A and B sides flipped EMI International (EMI 567) (UK #4)
- "True Love/I Was A Pre Pubescent" (January 1979) EMI International (EMI 577)
- "The Birthday Kiss/Baz's Party" (April 1979) EMI International (EMI 587)
Related singles, not by Graham Fellows:
- "Do De Dough Don't Be Dough" (September 1978) Rabid (Gordon the Moron)(unverified)
- "Fit For Nothing/Sold On You" (December 1978) Rabid TOSH 111 (Gordon the Moron)
- "Gordon's Not A Moron" on the Pogo label by 'Gordon and Julie'
- "J-J-Julie (Yippee Yula)" on the Pogo label by 'Gordon and Julie'
Albums
- True Love Stories (1978) EMI International
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