Sun-60 (later Sun 60 without the hyphen) were a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band from 1987 to 1996.
The band was notable for the vocals of Joan Jones, the guitar riffs of David Russo, clever song-writing, and an eclectic combination of styles, including
folk
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*Nation
*People
* Folklore
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* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
,
alt rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
,
pop
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* Pop music, a musical genre
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* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
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Album ...
, and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
.
Despite a cult following, and moderate success both as a touring live act and on record, the band split in 1996.
History
Sun-60 began as an acoustic folk duo, composed of Joan Jones and David Russo playing under the name ''Far Cry''. Gradually their sound became harder-edged, and they added various musicians to form a rock rhythm section.
They were signed by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
in 1990 and released the eponymous ''Sun-60'' in 1992. ''Sun-60'' is a glossily-produced, high-energy folk/pop/rock album showcasing Jones' voice and hook-laden songwriting.
''Only'' (1993) is primarily blues-based hard rock, although folk and pop influences are still audible. The album features guest performances from several notable musicians such as
Dave Navarro
David Michael Navarro (born June 7, 1967) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock band Jane's Addiction, with whom he has recorded four studio albums. Between 1993 and 1998, Navarro was the guitarist of Red Hot Chili ...
.
''Headjoy'', released in 1995 is
grungier.
Jones and Russo split in 1996. Russo concentrated on film scores.
Jones released the solo album ''Starlite Criminal'' in 1998. It has much the same sound as ''Headjoy'', and might be considered "the fourth Sun-60 album". She continues to perform and to release singles and collections from her web sites as well as her additional albums "Atlanta Sessions", "Velvet Underdog" and "Brown Blonde". Joan Jones and Bret Jensen who was a guitarist in the band SUN 60 and with Joan Jones now, collaborated and sang together for the song "Heartbeat" in the recent feature film "P.S. I Love You", starring Gerard Butler from "300" and Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank. Jones is currently at work on a new album due out in 2009.
As of January 2009, Joan Jones is on a nationwide tour with Big Head Todd and The Monsters from February 2009 through May 2009, as their opening act for various dates with them.
Discography
References
Trouser Press: Sun-60
External links
Joan Jones websiteDavid Russo MySpace page
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Alternative rock groups from California