Draft:Johnny 'Tub' Johnson (musician)

Johnny ‘Tub’ Johnson also known as Johnny ‘Mother’ Johnson (born John Anthony Rowland, 17 January 1961) is an English musician, song writer and composer.

Career
Since the late 1970s, Johnson has played guitar and bass in a number of British bands including ‘The Cannibals’, ‘The Vibes’, Fire Dept, The Flaming Stars, and Billy Childish's group ‘Thee Headcoats’. Primarily working in the genres of Trash Rock, Garage Rock, Punk and Psychobilly, Johnson was a prominent member of the Medway Scene. As a composer, he has written works in the field of classical/ experimental and has contributed award-winning soundtracks to independent documentaries and films. He now lives in Sicily, Italy, with his wife.

The Cannibals
Playing rhythm guitar, Johnny ‘Tub’ Johnson debuted with Mike Spenser's The Cannibals in 1982 at the age of twenty-one. The group, initially offering a punk edged take on R&B music, supported British artists such as 'Gypie Mayo’ and American guitarists ‘Bo Diddley’, and ‘Johnny Thunders’ and was soon to become a regular feature at Dingwalls in North London. In May 1982, with Johnson now on lead guitar, The Cannibals released the Garage Rock/ Trash Rock album … Bone to Pick, which included two songs co-written by Johnson: The Dreaded Lurgy and Mind Your Own Business. However, the album had little success and Johnson soon left the band.

The Vibes
In December 1984, after having studied classical music at Morley College, Johnson joined 'The Vibes', a Garage Rock band led by drummer, vocalist Gary Bonaface. Fueled with the spirit of punkified blues inspired by the US rock band The Cramps, and playing regular gigs at The Clarendon in Hammersmith, 'The Vibes' released an EP The Inner Wardrobes Of Your Mind which led to a live John Peel session recorded at Maida Vale studios in April 1985. The album that followed, What's Inside, was released that summer on Chainsaw and, featuring Johnson on lead guitar, hit the Top 10 of the UK Independent Charts. A European tour followed.

The Purple Things
Morphing out of 'The Vibes', and moving away from the sharp sounds of The Cramps to a noisier, more psychedelic vibe, 'The Purple Things' formed in 1985 and, with Johnson on guitar, produced one self-titled album as well as two 12 inch EPs.

The Headcoats
How Johnson ended up joining the Garage Rock band ‘Thee Headcoats’ was a quirk of fate: Billy Childish, artist, writer and musician, as well as being the founder of the group, says that “We ran into Tub (Johnson) and knowing him from when he was guitarist with 'Mike Spenser and The Cannibals', we asked if he’d like to twang the onion twine.” In fact, Johnson had known Childish for years having first met him in the record shop ‘Rocks Off’ in London when Johnson was in his late teens, and the two had gone on to share a stage in the days of The Cannibals; this when Childish was with The Milkshakes.

Johnson actually joined what is considered the largest of Billy Childish’s musical projects, 'Thee Headcoats', in 1990. Despite being more than capable as a guitarist, he was asked to play bass as Billy Childish was already the band’s guitar player. Pretty soon, Johnson was to become "the definitive bassist with the band" as well as a backing vocalist. The group would rehearse in May Road, Rochester and Johnson would take his then girlfriend along with him. That’s how the off shoot group Thee Headcoatees was formed: “We were backing vocals originally on the Murgatroyd album and then Billy said we should make a record, just the girls. Johnson played guitar with the resulting female group on a number of albums.

Over an 11 year period, Johnson was to appear on over 14 albums with 'Thee Headcoats', each record showing 'the trio’s (Childish, Brand and Johnson's) raw anger and joyful exuberance'. Keeping up with it all can be a daunting task often laced with humour: Johnson is credited as "Sir Tubbe Johnson on onion twine" on the album Knights of the Baskervilles; his amplified harp (harmonica) was considered suitably "trashy" and his guitar playing as "appropriately cheesy" on the album The Jimmy Reed Experience; and reviewers mention how the "guitar, bass (Johnson) and drums lineup can still kill when handled just right" on the Conundrum album.

There were also numerous tours: Johnson featured with 'Thee Headcoats' on three tours of Japan (1991/1994 & 1998) supporting bands such as Mudhoney, as well as five tours of the USA (1990, 1991, 1997, 1998 & 1999) including a notable evening at Chicago’s The Empty Bottle in 1998. Here, the Chicago Tribune said that one of the key features that drew fans to 'Thee Headcoats' was the “stripped-down, no frills, guitar-bass-drums (bass and drums provided by Johnny Johnson and Bruce Brand, respectively).”

It was Johnson’s departure from the band that caused the eventual breakup of 'Thee Headcoats'. The final show was at London’s Dirty Water Club on the 12th of May 2000. Played in front of a capacity crowd, NME magazine lamented the fact that "the trio of Childish, bassist Johnny Johnson and drummer Bruce Brand must be due a rest from playing Link Wray‘s ‘Comanche’ forever."

Fire Dept
Johnson took over bass on stage with British Punk rock group Fire Dept around 1994 and would play with the group in live shows for the next few years. He also played bass on Fire Dept's second album, the punk rock concept record Elpee for Another Time, released in 1996.

The Earls of Suave
The Trash Rock, six-piece group, The Earls of Suave, featuring Johnson on guitar and harmonica alongside others including Bal Croce and Max Décharné, formed in 1992. The group released two singles and one album, The Basement Bar at the Heartbreak Hotel. The album includes the "hilariously titled" Mondo Moodo (Nein Danke) composed by Johnson, who is also credited with co-writing three further tracks: You Can Call (But I Won't Answer), Cheap Wine, and Nobody Knows.

The Flaming Stars
The Garage Punk band The Flaming Stars had already been going for a year when Johnson joined in 1995. Formed by singer Max Décharné, The Flaming Stars were more of a side-project for Johnson. Playing guitar and occasional harmonica, he featured on one album, a number of singles, as well as a John Peel Session aired on June the 15th, 1995. It was Johnson’s second session for the BBC Radio 1 John Peel Show and featured a track written by Johnson himself: Tub's Twist. Johnson is also the composer of the song Davy Jones' Locker which appears on The Flaming Stars 1995 EP Hospital, Heaven or Hell.

Ug and the Cavemen
Johnson got together with Ug and the Cavemen, a band put together by Bal Croce formerly of The Stingrays, in 1997. Labelled as a "Garage Trash supergroup", the band produced one self-titled album including one song credited to Johnson: Switchblade; as well as a second which he co-wrote with Bal Croce; Tarzan’s Jungle Home.

The Headcoats (revival)
In 2008, the Headcoats trio of Billy Childish, Bruce Brand and Johnson got together for one last fling. Performing 3 songs after a gig by the MBEs (The Musicians of The British Empire) in London, the performance was described as “totally unrehearsed, shambolic, and brilliant.” Further collaborations have followed, most notably the 2023 studio album, Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) about which Johnson is quoted as saying "If I remember correctly, we kicked off role-playing like we detested each other. Then we got started and well, you can hear the result."

Compositions & Soundtracks
SInce 2019, Johnson has composed a number of soundtracks for films and documentaries. Working as John Anthony Rowland, Johnson’s soundtrack for the Christopher M. Armstrong 2019 film Memory Man won Best Soundtrack for both the Los Angeles IndieX Film Fest August 2019 and the London Movie Awards September 2021.

Johnson also contributed music to the soundtrack for Mark Christopher Lee’s 2023 film ''Inspired! The 30 Second Song Movie'', a movie that explores the indie band ‘The Pocket Gods' campaign for fairer royalties from music streaming. In addition, Johnson has also produced numerous soundtracks for short films and documentaries including collaborations with the German Public Radio (ARD) journalist Karl Hoffman, as well as the former drummer from Terminal Cheesecake, Joe Whitney.