In the late ‘60s early ‘70s my only real recollection of music in our household was ‘Two Way Family Favourites’ on BBC Radio and occasionally hearing Mario Lanza (my father’s favourite) and Frank Sinatra (mother’s favourite). I do also remember having an early Beatles EP (Twist & Shout) but can’t remember where that came from. Around the age of 15 or 16, along with my school friends, we started listening to the likes of Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Lindisfarne, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Yes and more progressive stuff by more obscure bands like Amon Duul, Man, The Groundhogs & Faust. I was also fortunate enough to see many of those bands live at a number of long gone venues in my native Cardiff, Wales. Most people will remember the first single and album they ever bought and mine were Black Night & Fireball respectively, both by Deep Purple.

Against that background my musical taste took a complete change of direction in 1977. The late night music show in the UK at that time on BBC television was the brilliantly named ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’, introduced by Bob Harris. The show ran for many years and was famous for some great sessions by all the big names of the time and responsible for launching the careers of many lesser known names. I was only an occasional watcher but remember a few particularly iconic appearances by The Alex Harvey Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. One of those occasional viewings was that fateful night in April 1977, when an American band by the name of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes played a kind of music (The Fever) I had never heard before. Resplendent in their white, blue, yellow and red suits, I was just blown away by what I heard and saw. Incidentally if you fast forward 31 years, Bob Harris is still a fan of the Jukes and interviewed Southside on the recent UK tour. Later that year, low and behold, the Jukes were appearing in the Students Union at Cardiff University – I just had to go! My memory is a little vague but I do remember some of the band hanging around in their blue Jukes jackets, that the venue was packed to the rafters and that I stood on a table at the back of the room to listen to the most awesome show of my short life. I was hooked but never dreamt that over 30 years on I would still be saying the same thing.

It all started in 1977 and whilst I still enjoy music of all genres and various bands like Jerry Fish & the Mudbug Club, Van Morrison and others, the Jukes have always been at the top of the list. My wife, Margaret, would say it has verged on the obsessive but (fortunately for me) she has tolerated the racks of vinyl and CDs gathering dust, the road trips and the money spent and will admit nowadays she does enjoy the shows.

I can’t remember when I started collecting but fairly early on I made a conscious decision to aim for ‘completeness’. In the early days it was very difficult and early albums had to be ordered by post from the US. With the appearance of auction sites like E-Bay and others like GEMM it has become easier, but I have over the years begged favours from record companies and spent hours pouring over pages of ‘set sale’ lists in Record Collector Magazine. The Owen collection now extends to many hundreds of items including posters, jackets, harmonicas and other memorabilia. The search for completeness goes on but I know I am fairly close with just a few rarities left to find. So if anybody owns or knows the whereabouts of the withdrawn 7” Little Girl So Fine, with a catalogue number of EPC5230 (later used for Without Love) or the Westwood One album ‘With the Smithereens’ or a yellow beach towel (yup) used to promote On The Beach, please please get in touch (I told you I was not averse to begging!). There have been many questions on the message board about ‘does this single exist’ or ‘how many videos have there been’ so I can confirm that ‘Expressway To Your Heart’ was released as a promo only 7” in the UK on Sonet, ‘Better Days’ was released in Korea, ‘No Quiero Ir a Casa’ in Spain and there is a promo CD from Canada which includes ‘Its Been A Long Time’ 8 consecutive times! I did also start to catalogue all known recordings of Southside & / or the Jukes which stretches back to 1971 (at The Student Prince) but I gave up at 250 in 1994 because there were just so many.

I am very fortunate to have seen the Jukes live over 60 times in 7 countries, and there have been many adventures on the road. In 1992 I saw (and recorded on video) 7 shows in 7 nights, driving back home after every show, but I am really too old to do that any more. After the New Years Eve 2000 show at the Count Basie I was stranded in Red Bank with Margaret and my two sons who were in their early teens at the time. Readers may remember that was a particularly sub-zero and snowy night and although I checked there was a train back to Manhattan, I obviously messed up because none turned up. We were a very sorry and very cold group who were directed to a local taxi booth by two of Red Bank’s finest law enforcement officers. When the man in the booth stopped smirking he happily told me that Red Bank to Manhattan at that time in the morning would be $150! The ride back to hotel was also an experience as even though the heater was broken the driver insisted on travelling all the way with the front windows open. It took us several days to warm up again and of course I’ve never mis-read a timetable since. In 2003, in Malmo Sweden, Southside called my son Rhys up on stage and he played the drums on ‘Monster Mash’ (for Halloween) and one Jukes tune under Joe’s watchful eye. Rhys is now a musician in his own right, living in South London, playing mainly jazz sax, but also drums and piano.

Which have been the best shows? Well there have been many, including The Paradiso in Amsterdam, Cardiff Coal Exchange, The Astoria in London and The Brook in Southampton, but probably the best I’ve experienced were the late eighties and early nineties shows at The Town & Country Club in London. Shows I wish I’d seen? Well Knebworth festival definitely and the recent Grapefruit Moon performance at the Nokia Theatre. The best show of course is always the next one and we are heading to the Count Basie again this year for New Years Eve and cannot wait.

Before SouthsideJohnny.com it was very difficult get information this side of the pond. We had to rely on snippets in Melody Maker or a few fanzines that made brief appearances in the 80s. ‘The Jukes’ was a UK newsletter produced by a guy named Trevor Massey and then slightly later in the ‘80s there was ‘Jukebox’ produced by Linda T. When I was thinking of writing this it was great reading back through those early copies. One of my worst experiences was in 1984, waiting on a railway station in London, travelling back home to Cardiff after a weeks residential course. Imagine my excitement when I spotted a poster advertising a Jukes show at The Venue in London; and my disappointment when I read the date on the foot of the poster……..the night before!

I’ve met lots of great people over the years who share my love of the music. I hope they will forgive me if I do not name them all, but I must mention Mike (Statto) Saunders, Dave & Deb and Miss October.

The music lives on and is as strong as ever. I hope to meet old and new friends this New Year, and yes I have booked a hotel in Red Bank this time!

Peter Owen - October 2008.