Jet Harris - 'New' Old News

[Uncle Fiesta]

I don't remember the date, except that it was sometime in late '62.* I remember my parents saying something about the high-ups 'deciding whether or not we were going to have a war' and teachers making some reference to it in assembly, and everybody standing around looking serious and worried, but that's about it. I suppose at the age of eight such things have little impact.

* Just looked up the date on Wikipedia. It was October 16th to 28th, the US blockade finally being lifted on November 30th, after the last bit of Soviet hardware had been removed.

[geoff1711]

I said I was 14, but may have been 15, can't recall the date but it was Autumn and cold, mind it was always bloody cold when we played football.

But you should be able to find the date on a search.

Some say that by standing up to Kruschev on that day Kennedy signed his own death warrant.

Geoff

[geoff1711]

October 62, according to information, the crisis ended on the 28th but exactly when the stand off was is unclear

So I was 15 - 16 a month later

Geoff

[timrothwell]

The end of the stand-off was indeed Sunday 28 October 1962 - the crisis lasted for about a fortnight or so. Telstar was number one. I was 13 at the time and wondered whether the football played on the Saturday 27th would be the last ever. Spurs (who were the FA cup holders) were at home to Manchester United on Wednesday 24th. Spurs won 6-2 and Greaves scored a hat-trick. I was hoping my new Subbuteo team would arrive before the end of the world! But seriously they were very frightening days.
Tim

[Arpeggio]

Yes indeed. No wonder the Decca 'suits' and executives blanched (to say the least) at Jet's proposed title of "Verge Of World War III" (the track was completed on October 20th, 1962). Mind you - knowing Jet as I came to know him - I can almost 'hear' him 'thinking' - "Well, if the bleedin' world is going to be destroyed an' we're all annihilated....who cares what the record's called?"* (* pure supposition on my part - but it probably was Jet's logic!!!). Undoubtedly he would have been miffed when the Decca executives refused to countenance the title and their publicity people probably forbade him from mentioning it in any further interviews! Ever since I first heard "M F Nowhere" as a youngster, I've always loved it for it's doomy, threatening intensity and Jet's powerful, rumbling, opening note immediately after the pounding intro always seemed to represent some kind of 'crack of doom'. If, as noted by Jim, Jet / Decca had proceeded with the release (& the title) - it would have come out just as the crisis had been defused and with Christmas just around the corner. Pardon the pun, but would it have struck a chord with the British public?? I feel sure that it would have been a hit - but the changed title, I imagine, may have been critical!!! All pure speculation now and we'll never know. Ah well......I now feel inspired to play the aforementioned track at full blast. 'The six - string thunder thrill indeed'. God bless you Jet!

Bests....Rob

[neil2726]

I imagine that with its so called original tiltle the BBC would have put the record on its banned list anyway. They seemed very sensitive in those days - remember "Tell Laura I Love Her" ?

[Arpeggio]

A very good point Neil. A record with the title "Verge Of WWIII" would have undoubtedly have been banned by the BBC at that time - probably as being both insensitive and in appallingly bad taste. Yes, even as the end of the world as we knew it may have been approaching, we could still rely on the BBC to uphold standards of taste and decency!!!

[George Geddes]

Looking for something else on a memory stick, I found this, extracted from a Rolling Stones database...

"On 19th May [i.e. Jet]he was apparently cutting a single for Decca with Musical Director Andrew Loog Oldham, being The Duke Of Earl (Eugene Dixon) and an instrumental B-side written by Andrew Oldham and Brian Jones. If this is true, the 7” never saw the light of day. Oldham apparently produced at least one more session at an unknown date for Jet at IBC Studios, London with involvement and/or compositions by Keith Richard and Bill Wyman - The Verge Of World War II / Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me A Bren Gun"

Note that the title is given as World War II not III, which would tie in better with the B side title.

George

[Arpeggio]

Wow! Fascinating! Thanks for this George. Jet recorded "Besame Mucho", "Chills And Fever" & "Rave" in April 1962. Nothing at all mentioned in the official archives for May, 1962. So, as you say, whatever WAS recorded in May was presumably wiped - or only survived on acetate - copies of which have never been found to this day. But.....the fact that one track was to be titled "Verge Of World War II" is definitley significant. Fast forward 5 months - with the Cuban Missile Crisis at its height. Having recorded "Man From Nowhere" & with a potential World War possible - Jet harks back to May & decides that a better title for his new single would be "Verge Of World War III"!!!! Yes, typical Jet....but small wonder that Decca went apeshit over his pronouncement and banned the title (not that "M F Nowhere" was released unti 1963 anyway). As for May 1962....intriguing.

Bests....Rob

[George Geddes]

I have now looked at the database itself... The entry I quoted is listed under 1964! Puts a completely different complexion on it!!

George