1.) One of the first bands launched onto the U.K. scene during the first cr… Read Full Bio ↴1.) One of the first bands launched onto the U.K. scene during the first crazy days of the glam rock explosion and one of the most unfortunate casualties of the audience's own intransigence, the Jook are one of those groups whose most telling attributes are apparent only with the benefit of hindsight. They inspired the Bay City Rollers' tartan uniforms, they predicted the power pop boom of later years, and they played with a sharp, guitar-driven passion which would not become common currency elsewhere until the advent of punk. At the time, however, they were nothing more than another bunch of hopefuls, cranking out a succession of singles in the hope that one of them might stick and, in guitarist Trevor White's own estimation, growing more desperate with every one. "Our music was getting so contrived that at one point, we were listening to whatever was the number one single that week, to see what it had got, apart from success, that we hadn't. Then we'd borrow it. Integrity just went out of the window. We'd hear something and say, 'that's it, that's what we should be sounding like.'" It is a sign of the band's own remarkable abilities that today, little of that contrivance is visible. The Jook released five singles. All five are now rightly regarded as classics.

The seeds of the Jook were planted by John Hewlett, formerly bassist with '60s psych warriors John's Children but, by the early '70s, moving into management. It was he who introduced guitarist White to singer/songwriter Ian Kimmett. White was a former memeber of the A-Jaes, a band once regarded as Britain's answer to the Beach Boys, Kimmett was working at a music publisher's office in London. Following the common trend of the day, the pair immediately decamped to Jedburgh, Scotland, intending to "get their heads together in the country"; there they encountered bassist Ian Hampton before returning to London to hook up with another John's Children graduate, drummer Chris Townson. The band name was supplied by Hewlett, adapted from Gene Chandler's "Jook [Duke] of Earl."

Signed with RCA, the Jook was launched in summer 1972. Hardly surprising, the label promptly christened them the new John's Children -- another former band member guitarist Marc Bolan was currently the hottest thing around and the connection, it was hoped, would power the Jook to similar heights. Unfortunately, it didn't. The Jook's debut single, "It's All Right With Me," appeared that summer; over the next two years, the group released four further 45s, including a cover of Gallagher & Lyle's "City and Suburban Blues" (backed by a wildfire interpretation of "Shame Shame Shame"); the stomping and delightfully self-aggrandizing "Oo Oo Rudie," King Kapp," and finally, the prosaically titled "Bish Bash Bosh."

None charted and the band members themselves have since gone on record claiming that the only releases they truly enjoyed were those cut with no thoughts whatsoever for chart success and which were promptly buried away on B-sides -- or worse: "Shame Shame Shame," taped during rehearsals one day and never intended for public consumption, "Rumble," a Trevor White riff extemporized during rehearsals one day with passing pianist Pete Wingfield, and "Crazy Kids," a riotous piece of proto-punk buried on the flip of their final single. Other material was recorded for a full album which has still to see the light of day, while even the attentions of producer Mickie Most, who signed the Jook to a publishing deal in early 1974 could not alter their luck.

Completely at odds with the fate of the band's vinyl, the Jook's live appeal was vast. They had a monthly residency at the Edmonton Sundown in north London, where the band's uniform of braces, boots, and cropped hair drew a deeply loyal skinhead audience to their side. The suggestion that, the Bolan connection aside, they were also following in Slade's footsteps did not phase the band members any. It was more alarming, however, for Townson to switch on the television one evening in early 1974 and catch the Bay City Rollers in their own variation on the same look -- only weeks earlier, that the Jook had met the Rollers at a gig in Scotland and been flattered by the local band's admiration for their image.

The Jook struggled on for another six months, finally breaking up after manager Hewlett invited White and Ian Hampton to join another band in his stable, Sparks, as replacement for bassist Martin Gordon. Intriguingly, Gordon then formed his own new band, Jet, with Jook drummer Townson and yet another former member of John's Children, vocalist Andy Ellison.

There would be two further Jook releases. Following his own departure from Sparks in 1976, White cut a solo single for the band's then-current label, Island, a remake of "Crazy Kids" backed by the Jook's previously unreleased (and uncredited) "Moving in the Right Direction." Two years later, a four-track EP comprising the band's last-ever recording session was issued by U.K. indie Chiswick. One track from that set, "Aggravation Place," was later included on the Bomp label's The Roots of Power Pop anthology.

2.) A Bristol based grime producer.

Aggravation Place
Jook Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm a creature of the street
And I rip off all the money
I was kicked in the teeth
Shoved face first through a window
I got a gangland name
And a teardrop tattooed eye
They call me Little Caesar in the brotherhood of crime
I know about the pain

Dyin' in an alley with an
Air-conditioned brain
I know, it's for real
Flatlined in an ambulance
Without a pulse to feel
Hey blood brother, you're one of our own
You're as sharp as a razor
And as hard as a stone
Hey blood brother, you're bad to the bone
You're a natural killer
In a bad place alone
They call me Smoky Joe
And I'm as thin as a coroner's needle
I got a pocket full of rocks
Man, I shake like a cold chihuahua
I got a runny nose
And a road map on my arm
I blew my gig pokin' 'round the gallery
With someone else's rig
I know, I understand
I watch my body hauled off
By the local garbage man
Hey blood brother, you're one of our own
You're as sharp as a razor
And as hard as a stone
Hey blood brother, you're bad to the bone
You're a natural killer
In a bad place alone
We're cool, we're cold
We're stiff, we're tagged
We're slabbed, we're croaked
We're whacked, we're cracked
We're smoked and cured and
Slammed and slurred and
Sliced and diced and put on ice

Cooked and stewed and badly brewed
And splattered once or twice

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Jook's song Aggravation Place paint a vivid picture of a tough, street-wise character who has seen and experienced a lot of pain and violence. The opening lines establish the singer's predatory nature: he is a "creature of the street" who "rips off all the money." He has suffered physical violence as well, having been "kicked in the teeth" and "shoved face first through a window." He has an intimidating gangland nickname--"Little Caesar"--and a tattooed teardrop by his eye that signifies his status as a criminal.

Despite his tough exterior, the singer is also aware of the suffering that can come with life on the streets. He references dying "in an alley with an air-conditioned brain" and being "flatlined in an ambulance without a pulse to feel." These lines suggest that the singer has seen friends and colleagues die violent deaths, and that he himself has come dangerously close to dying as well.

The chorus of the song is addressed directly to the singer by his fellow criminals, who call him a "blood brother." They recognize his toughness and his talent for killing, calling him "sharp as a razor" and "hard as a stone." The repetition of the phrase "Hey blood brother" adds to the sense of camaraderie among these criminals, who recognize the shared risks and rewards of their lifestyle.

Overall, the lyrics to "Aggravation Place" offer a window into a world of violence, fear, and loyalty among career criminals. The singer is both predator and prey in this world, a tough guy who has seen and experienced more than most people can imagine.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm a creature of the street
I am someone who thrives on the streets and lives by its rules

And I rip off all the money
I steal money from others

I was kicked in the teeth
I was dealt a harsh blow

Shoved face first through a window
Violently pushed through a window

I got a gangland name
I have a name associated with the gang world

And a teardrop tattooed eye
I have a tattoo of a teardrop under my eye, representing a killing I may have committed

They call me Little Caesar in the brotherhood of crime
I am known as Little Caesar among my criminal peers

I know about the pain
I am familiar with the pain of dying on the streets

Dyin' in an alley with an Air-conditioned brain
I know what it's like to die in an alley with a drug-induced numbness in my brain

I know, it's for real
I am aware that this lifestyle is serious and dangerous

Flatlined in an ambulance Without a pulse to feel
I have been in a situation where I had no pulse and was close to death

Hey blood brother, you're one of our own You're as sharp as a razor And as hard as a stone
You are one of us fellow gang members, and you are tough and able to handle yourself

Hey blood brother, you're bad to the bone You're a natural killer In a bad place alone
You are a dangerous person even if you are alone in a dangerous place

They call me Smoky Joe And I'm as thin as a coroner's needle
I am known as Smoky Joe and very thin or emaciated

I got a pocket full of rocks Man, I shake like a cold chihuahua
I have illegal drugs on me and am nervous about being caught

I got a runny nose And a road map on my arm
I have a drug addiction, and there are visible signs of it

I blew my gig pokin' 'round the gallery With someone else's rig
I lost my job because I was caught using someone else's drugs

I know, I understand I watch my body hauled off By the local garbage man
I know and understand that this lifestyle can lead to a terrible end, like being thrown away like garbage

We're cool, we're cold We're stiff, we're tagged We're slabbed, we're croaked We're whacked, we're cracked We're smoked and cured and Slammed and slurred and Sliced and diced and put on ice Cooked and stewed and badly brewed And splattered once or twice
We, the people involved in this lifestyle, are cold and emotionless, often dead or almost dead, lying on a slab being identified or given an autopsy, or preserved in various ways. We have been struck, hurt, or otherwise injured, often in a brutal way, and we may have been treated badly, drugged, beaten, or even killed. We have also been experimented on with drugs, often with bad results.

Contributed by Claire E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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