Bazooka Joe or Bazooka Joe and the Lillets were a British pub rock band formed by John Ellis and Danny Kleinman in 1970. They featured bass player Stuart Goddard, who would later change his name to Adam Ant. Both Ellis and Goddard would go on to find success with The Vibrators and

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...

, respectively. Besides the later fame of their members, Bazooka Joe are primarily known as the band that headlined when

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

played their first concert on 6 November 1975 at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Ant has since recounted how he left the band directly due to a dispute over Sex Pistols' performance, which he was the only member of the band to have enjoyed. The band's line-up was Danny Kleinman, Chris Duffy, Bill Smith, Robin Chaphekar and Mark Tanner. Another band member was Dan Barson. His brother ( Mike Barson) gained fame as the keyboardist for Madness. Pat Collier was also in the group for a while before being replaced by Goddard. Collier joined Ellis in The Vibrators (eventually being replaced by another future Ant, Gary Tibbs) and later became a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

for The Wonder Stuff and

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves song), Walking on Sunshine". They won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the ...

. The comedian

Arabella Weir Arabella Helen Weir (born 6 December 1957) is an American-born British comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series ''The Fast Show'', ''Posh Nosh'' and ''Two Doors Down (TV series), Two Doors Down'', and has written sev ...

was one of the "Lillets" or backing singers of the band. Madness covered the Bazooka Joe song "Rockin' in A♭" on their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' One Step Beyond...'' which was written by Bazooka Joe's keyboard player, Willy "Wurlitzer" Smith.

References

English pub rock musical groups English protopunk groups Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 {{UK-rock-band-stub