Charles Jeremy "Chaz" Jankel (born 16 April 1952)
is an English musician and songwriter. In a music career spanning more than 50 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist and keyboardist of the
rock band
Ian Dury and the Blockheads. With Dury, Jankel co-wrote some of the band's best-known songs including "
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", "
Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" and "
Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3".
In addition to his work with the Blockheads, Jankel has had a solo career which has resulted in ten studio albums. He has a long list of credits as both a performer and as songwriter.
Early life
Charles Jeremy Jankel was born on 16 April 1952 in
Stanmore
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. Inspired by
skiffle
Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...
singer
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...
, he started to learn how to play the
Spanish guitar at age 7, and then went on to study the piano.
He attended the boarding school
Mill Hill School
Mill Hill School is a 13–18 co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Day school, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and became a fan of the American rock, funk and soul band
Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...
during his time there. Jankel's fondness for this style was later responsible for much of the
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
influence on the Blockheads' music and also influenced Jankel's solo career. As a student at the art college
Saint Martin's School of Art
Saint Martin's School of Art was an art school, art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's beca ...
he played with a rock band called
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...
from 1972 to 1973.
Career
In 1973, Jankel contributed a track titled "Let's Go" to
Long John Baldry's studio album ''
Good to Be Alive''. He then joined the folk rock band
Jonathan Kelly's Outside and played lead guitar on three tracks on their only studio album ''
...Waiting on You'', released in February 1974. Jankel first started working with
Ian Dury
Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...
as part of the
pub rock band
Kilburn and the High Roads in the early part of the 1970s. He went on to work with Dury on studio albums such as 1977's ''
New Boots and Panties!!'' and the Blockheads' albums including the 1979 release ''
Do It Yourself
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals ...
'' before leaving the band. He wrote funk songs such as "
Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick", and "
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll". In 1981, Jankel joined Dury again, without the Blockheads, for his second solo studio album ''
Lord Upminster'', which spawned the US Top 40 dance hit "
Spasticus Autisticus
"Spasticus Autisticus" is a song written by Ian Dury and co-written by Chaz Jankel, released both as a single and on Dury's second solo studio album '' Lord Upminster'' (1981).
History and ban by the BBC
"Spasticus Autisticus" was written in 1 ...
", which he co-wrote.
After leaving the Blockheads, Jankel pursued a solo career and issued four studio albums for
A&M, including his 1980
self-titled debut and 1981's ''
Chasanova'', which was also released under the title ''Questionnaire''. This album featured major lyrical contributions from Ian Dury, and musical contributions from two of the Blockheads, bassist
Norman Watt-Roy, and drummer Charlie Charles and also contained the US dance hit "
Glad to Know You", which was one of the tracks with lyrics written by Dury, plus the
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
music video of its title track.
In 1981,
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
had a UK chart hit with a cover version of Jankel's "
Ai No Corrida", which reached No. 14 in April of that year. The song was also covered by
the Nylons, and Laura More with
Uniting Nations. In 2005, the Uniting Nations' version peaked at No. 18 in the UK.

Jankel hit No. 1 on the
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1982 with the triple A-side "
Glad to Know You"/"3,000,000 Synths"/"
Ai No Corrida". His single "Number One" went to No. 1 in the clubs in France and was used in the American science fiction comedy film ''
Real Genius
''Real Genius'' is a 1985 American science fiction comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, written by Neal Israel, Pat Proft, and PJ Torokvei, and starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret. The film, set on the campus of Pacific Tech, a scie ...
'' (1985), starring
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...
. He went on to release the studio albums ''
Chazablanca'' in 1983 and ''
Looking at You'' in 1985.
In 1985
Jerry Moss, the recording executive of A&M, rejected the release of his fifth studio album, and terminated his
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...
with the label.
After both of Jankel's parents died, he moved to the US in 1988 and lived there for several years before returning to the UK to rejoin the Blockheads, working with Dury on their final two studio albums with him: ''
Mr. Love Pants'' (1998), and ''
Ten More Turnips from the Tip'' (2000) on which later album he took lead vocals on the song "I Could Lie". After Dury's death in 2000, Jankel continued to write and perform with the Blockheads, with Dury's former friend and minder Derek Hussey being Dury's replacement.
Jankel has several composer credits for films, including ''
D.O.A.'' (1988), starring
Dennis Quaid and
Meg Ryan, which was co-directed by his sister
Annabel Jankel, and ''
K2'' (1991), starring
Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn ( or ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens (film), Aliens'' (1 ...
. Jankel composed the majority of the music for the Dury biographical film ''
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll'' (2010), in which he was portrayed by
Tom Hughes. Jankel received a
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
nomination for the film's music.
In 2010, Jankel released his first
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
titled ''My Occupation – The Music of Chaz Jankel'' which included the songs "Ai No Corrida", "Glad to Know You" and "You're My Occupation". This album also contained the additional song "Get Myself Together"
Since 2001 Jankel had issued records on his own CJ Records label. Jankel recorded a single with Cherry Cameron in 2016.
Personal life
In September 1988 Jankel moved to
Venice, Los Angeles
Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...
, where he lived with his Swedish girlfriend Catharina Hemberg. They were married on the island of
Kauai
Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands.
It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...
in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. Jankel and Hemberg have a son, Tao Hemberg Jankel, born in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
in 1990. Tao lives and works in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, Norway and is a successful DJ; when he was very young, his parents divorced and his mother moved back to Sweden.
In 1992 Jankel moved back to the UK, where he met artist Elaine O'Halloran, on the set of the comedy drama film ''
The Rachel Papers'' (1989), where she was assistant editor. The couple married and have a son, Lewis Shay Jankel, born in 1993, who is a DJ, record producer, singer and songwriter, using the stage name
Shift K3y. He went on to have hits with his 2014 singles "
Touch
The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...
", which peaked at number 3 on the
UK Singles Chart, and "
I Know".
His sister
Annabel Jankel is a film and television director who, in 2018, directed the British film drama ''
Tell It to the Bees''; Jankel wrote a piano piece called "Unresolved" which features in the soundtrack.
Discography
Solo albums
Singles
References
Further reading
* ''
The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' 7th Edition – 1988
External links
Official website*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jankel, Chaz
1952 births
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
20th-century English guitarists
21st-century English guitarists
20th-century multi-instrumentalists
21st-century multi-instrumentalists
A&M Records artists
Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art
Jewish English musicians
English film score composers
English male film score composers
English rock guitarists
English male guitarists
English rock keyboardists
English multi-instrumentalists
English new wave musicians
English rock pianists
English record producers
English male songwriters
English tenors
English lead guitarists
Living people
Musicians from the London Borough of Harrow
People educated at Mill Hill School
People from Stanmore
Polydor Records artists
Singers from the London Borough of Harrow
Stiff Records artists
The Blockheads members
English male pianists
21st-century English pianists
20th-century English male singers
21st-century English male singers
Varèse Sarabande Records artists