Popdose - Latest Comments in Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 17:06:53 -0000

Hi, Michael. I added a caption to the photo above a few years ago after I figured out who was who, but I guess I forgot to delete the comment you responded to.

I'm surprised too that Sturmer has remained "off the grid" to such an extent, especially when considering how rabid Jellyfish fans are. But they're respectfully rabid, I guess you could say, which is to their credit.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Mike F — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:32:56 -0000

Hi Bob. That's Chris Manning, Roger's brother who stepped in as bassist during the Bellybutton year. Another thing that intrigues me though is how someone of Sturmer's popularity and success, in this day of the Internet and Social Media, can be so anonymous. You literally cannot find a single photo of him beyond the late nineties.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Yarmouth — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:03:57 -0000

Granted there was too much talent in one band. But, even if Sturmer was tyrannical, the 2 Jellyfish records are the best things either Manning or Falkner have done. The first Falkner record is fantastic as was Imperial Drag, but ... anybody who saw Manning/Falkner open for Cheap Trick would immediately conclude that Sturmer was more than half the act. He writes better songs, has a killer voice, and is a drummer/lead singer/frontman, which is one of the things that people immediately found fascinating about the band! Egos f-ck up everything...if they reformed, released something new and toured there would be tremendous interest again...and it would be the best thing any of them have done in years.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

nickmarocco — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:31:07 -0000

Can you plze upload these again? When i click on them to download them it says they are no longer available or if anyone has them plze email them 2 me @ nick_marocco@yahoo.com

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:17:30 -0000

Sorry, Fuzz, links only stay active for a week on average.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Fuzz — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:09:43 -0000

Excuse me, the dead end is still UP↑

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Fuzz — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:03:44 -0000

Be that as it may, what is the purpose of dead links? Sorry I missed it. I didn't realize 46 days=months and months.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

jefito — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:02:35 -0000

TOTALLY. How dare we take anything down?

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

JohnHughes — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:53:23 -0000

You're right, we should totally leave the files up for months and months, since the magic Bandwith Fairy has endowed us with unlimited resources.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Fuzz — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:08:21 -0000

Error opening file. Very nice.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

SteveShark — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:33:45 -0000

I love a lot of the Puffy stuff - it's lightweight, yes, but who wants serious all the time? Good pop music is a precious and rare commodity these days.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

SteveShark — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:11:52 -0000

There's this stuff. How recent is it?

http://popfair.blogspot.com...

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

MC_Snocap — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:30:52 -0000

Hear hear.

It's a shame Puffy gets dismissed as a novelty in the US (thanks, Cartoon Network!) There's genuine energy and affection for a wide range of American and Brit pop and rock in their catalog. Genre-hopping and unshakable foreign-ness probably relegate them to the "synthetic" table instead of the "traditionalist" table for the likes of, say, Amy Winehouse or whoever's biting Zep this year.

I actually discovered Jellyfish through Puffy.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:50:27 -0000

No love at all for Puffy AmiYumi?

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

DwDunphy — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:38:53 -0000

Where does that song ("I Don't Believe You") Manning and Sturmer did on the Ringo Starr album Time Takes Time fit in (as well as the other song where they provided backing vocals, "We Don't Know A Thing About Love")?

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

The Man I Used To Be — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:46:54 -0000

Thierry is correct. Andy has been MIA from everyone in the band since Split Milk.

He has produced for the before mentioned Puffy in Japan and has been doing solo TV Cartoon work. He showed up out of nowhere for the Merrymakers 1998 release, Bubblegun, which he played drums and wrote a couple of tracks.

It's a serviceable, pedestrian album which is enhanced my Sturmers talents. But, in its whole, it offers a fraction of what Jelly displayed.

As I wrote on the Jellyfish mailing list this evening:

It is a shame that:

1) Its been 15 years since we have heard anything of significance from Andy.
2) I have one Andy song on my iPod (I Build Me A Bridge) from the last 15 plus years.
3) He rather work with two bit players then the top shelf talent (Roger, Jason, Eric, Jon) that he had in his own band.

To me it is pretty simple. Jason and Roger are not the issue. Thanks to them I have from Roger two great tunes (You Were Right, Down In Front), from Jason two great albums (Author Unknown and CYSF?) and one great side project (the Grays). From Andy I have a ton of fluff (or Puff if you will) and years of wasted talent.

The jury of my minds eye says the case is closed.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

Thierry — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:07:28 -0000

Sturmer hasn't played or sung on anything Manning or Falkner have done post-Jellyfish. while Manning and Falkner - who were friends before their days in Jellyfish - have worked together on several occasions: both played on Beck's Sea Change as well as in the band T.V. Eyes, and Falkner appears on Manning's "soundtrack" for the non-existent Logan's Sanctuary.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:23:30 -0000

Well, after reading your article about the band, I'm curious -- does Sturmer appear on albums with Manning and Falkner after 1993? Judging by the Magnet article, I would think he hadn't, but maybe the writer of that article decided to leave out that information to make it sound like Manning and Falkner were even more estranged from Sturmer.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

SteveShark — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:38:08 -0000

'Joining a Fan Club' everytime...
It's almost a mini-opera with its various sections and changes of key.
BTW - many thanks for clearing up some of my questions about the internal politics of the band. I suspected that Sturmer may have been a little 'difficult' to work with but couldn't find anything to support this theory.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

DwDunphy — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:33:37 -0000

I find "I Wanna Stay Home" is a big crowd-pleaser, so if I am inclined to a little salesmanship, that helps. Oddly, my brother who liked metal mostly at the time really liked "Brighter Day", mostly for the line:

'Cause right behind you in the back
of the fray
is a blade he's a renegade
turning bullshit into marmalade

He liked it not for the curse, but because it is an extremely descriptive turn of a really old phrase - you know exactly what was meant by that line. He didn't think pop-rock lyrics could actually carry across those ideas so well.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

The Man I Used To Be — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:26:17 -0000

Robert,

You folks really have a wonderful music site here, keep up the good work. The content of Popdose is as refreshing as the writing is inspired. You can tell you guys truly love and feel the music, regardless of the genre.

Thanks again,
Brendan

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:12:54 -0000

Agreed -- great job, Steve. And Brendan, I agree that "New Mistake" and "Calling Sarah" are great introductions to the band. Both are highly accessible pop songs. Sturmer may not have been a great collaborator, but it's hard to argue with the results.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

The Man I Used To Be — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:46:40 -0000

Nice work Steve, fine writing. Jellyfish is one of those little nuggets-of-a-band that not many people know about, but once you share it with them, they fall for them right away.

You seem to be a fan - When you are introducing Jelly to someone, which song do you lead with? For me it depends on their musical taste. I tend to lead with New Mistake or Calling Sarah. You?

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

rwcass — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:42:25 -0000

Thanks! I added a caption to the picture.

Re: Bootleg City: Jellyfish

SteveShark — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:39:09 -0000

Many thanks - writing that piece was a true labour of love.