Biography
Jamiroquai
Want a shorter biog? Try this. A decade and a half is a long time to be at the top of your game; no
matter what that game might be. In music, it's a near
impossibility. While many set off as next big things, few stay the
distance to arrive as genuine international icons. After 15 years, 159
weeks on the UK singles chart, 232 weeks on the albums chart, more than
20 million album sales and five mammoth world tours - playing to 5
million people in 38 countries - it's fair to say that Jay Kay, the
quick stepping 37 year-old professionally known as Jamiroquai, has
finally made it. What's more, he's got 6 multi-platinum albums, 5 MTV awards, the
Grammy, the Ivor Novello and enough lurid tabloid headlines to prove
it. And now, just in case there was any doubt, he's got 'High Times -
The Singles 1992-2006", a singles collection which rams home the point
and tracks the decade and a half journey via his irresistible rare
groove and unmistakable barbed disco. It's an album which Kay has openly resisted for the best half of his
career; determined that Jamiroquai's greatest hits wasn't going to be a
couple of top tens and some well chosen filler. As it is, their 6
consistently on-point albums have proved such a reliable source of
danceable hits, that there wasn't enough room to fit them all on the 19
track CD. For sure, the mark of a true pop survivor. From the vanguard of the early '90s acid jazz revolution to one of
the most recognisable musicians of a generation. From a squat in
Ealing, West London, to a lush green Buckinghamshire Manor. From a
skateboard to a garage full of Ferrari's. The first 15 years of the
Jamiroquai story has been nothing if not memorable. And, more
importantly, from organic, horn-laden funk to computer-ramped glitter
ball moments, every move has been soundtracked by Kay's bankable mix of
sly grooves and addictive melodies.
The effect was instant. On the strength of that one song EMI
Publishing got their cheque book out and Sony Records put their now
fabled 8 album deal on the table. Not to be outdone, the music press
branded him "a wannabe Stevie Wonder" - which Kay described as
"flattering, misguided, but above all, boring" - and started one of the
most enduring love-hate relationships in modern music. Whatever his detractors said about the hats, the dancing, the
loose-limbed funk or the save-the-planet message - in 1993 singing
about pillaging their planet, ending illegal wars and cancelling third
world debt got you laughed at, today it gets you a knighthood -
Jamiroquai's fans had the louder voice, giving him a top ten single
with unshakable anti-war anthem 'Too Young to Die' and making
'Emergency on Planet Earth' the year's biggest selling debut album as
it entered the charts at Number One. A year later, Kay & Co continued to carve their own very
distinct niche with second album, 'Return of the Space Cowboy'. Through
a haze of drugs and frustration its darker grind and jaded inner-city
social commentary established Jamiroquai as the face of British Urban
music. Still to this day the song 'Return of the Space Cowboy' is Kiss
FM's most played track of all time. Enough said really. Still, it was down to third album, 1997's 'Travelling Without
Moving', some logic defying dance moves and a moving sofa, to
take Jamiroquai over the top and to the masses. The album was a
slotting together of the pieces, all the planets coming into
alignment. Kay's dedication to sly grooves, coalescing with the
refinement of both his songwriting skills and pop sensibility,
resulting in party anthems 'High Times' and 'Alright', 'Cosmic
Girl"s intergalactic boogie and 'Virtual Insanity', and irresistibly
catchy warning against genetic engineering, accompanied by a
mind-bending video which captured the imagination and took Jamiroquai
global.
Since then Jamiroquai has been a firm fixture of the charts, the
headlines and music television; their stunning collection of videos
causing almost as much interest as Kay's private life. The voyage
hasn't always been plain sailing, nor for that matter, a flurry of
awards. Despite being the UK's biggest musical export of the '90s after
Oasis and the Spice Girls, recognition in official circles has, at
times, been thin on the ground - Jay Kay stands as The Brits unluckiest
nominee, having yet to win after 15 nominations. But the good ship
Jamiroquai is, "still floating" as Kay himself puts it, "because it was
made with solid great lumps of oak, not cheap fibre glass." As well as weathering pop's ever fickle tastes, Kay's groove
devotion has also survived just about every music cliche going, from
departing band mates to the rigours of the rock'n'roll lifestyle and
all the excesses that go with it. In fact, Kay's positively thrived on
adversity. The (at the time) acrimonious departure of bass player Stuart Zender
resulted in one of Jamiroquai's strongest albums to date, 1998's
'Synkronized', complete with singles 'Canned Heat' and UK
Number 1 'Deeper Underground'. Similarly, at a time when Kay's personal
life was constantly on the front pages, he delivered club classic
'Little L' and 2001's shimmering dance album, 'A Funk Odyssey', the
second biggest selling of Jamiroquai's career. And with his dark days of over-indulgence firmly behind him, Kay
tackled the tricky issue of a comeback with 2005's banner-waving
declaration of health, 'Dynamite', which garnered both the best reviews
of Jamiroquai's career, and a second Grammy nomination, this time for
the ferocious grind of lead single, 'Feels Just Like It Should'.
"There's a hell of a lot of pressure to come up with two new hit
singles for your greatest hits, but I think we've cracked it," said Kay
of 'Runaway"s glistening disco strings and 'Radio"s salacious rock
hook. "We're very pleased with them. We just went straight for the
kill. I wanted to do something very instant which they both are. I love
'em." "Radio's great fun, a cheeky little track about when you meet a
lovely young lady and find out that she likes girls even more than she
likes boys. I think we'll leave it at that." 'Runaway', on the other
hand, like all Jay's best disco moments, comes from a slightly more
poignant place. "I really like the sentiment. I think it's something
everyone can relate to. 'I just want to runaway'. Sometimes you do feel
that you just want out. When the pressure's on, you just want to leave
all this behind." But fans and detractors alike can relax. 'High Times - Singles
1992-2006' is very much volume one of the greatest hits, he's not ready
to retire just yet. "I like the sense of closure it has about it," says Kay. "I've
closed that chapter of my career and I'm ready to start the next. We've
already got tracks lined-up that are very different. Very exciting. So
it makes sense to do the greatest hits now. It feels like the right
time, in readiness for the next phase." That Kay's already planning the next phase of the Jamiroquai saga is
indeed, good news. Because not only is he the last of a dying breed:
the genuine rock star - from the near indecent obsession with Italian
sports cars to designing his own signature range for Hugo Boss - he's
also a genuine character. In an era when everything's a sanitised sound
bite, jay Kay is one man who can be relied upon for his full, frank and
unedited opinion. For that alone he should be applauded. But most of
all, as 'High Times - Singles 1992-2006' proves with every single
frenetic track, music, like life, would be a hell of a lot duller
without him.
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The current biography:
Back in Ealing in 1992, the impact of one particular groove can't be
overestimated. The minute 'When you Gonna Learn' was released on Acid
Jazz, a career and a movement were born. Vintage jazz-funk, complete
with sweet horn groove, string quartet and an impassioned eco-political
message that was a decade ahead of its time, it rescued rare groove
from the chin stroking few and introduced the world to Jay Kay, his big
hat, quick feet and unique way of doing things. 
By the time the dust settled, the album, singles and 'Virtual
Insanity' video - directed by Jonathan Grazer and based on Kay's
original idea - had netted 5 MTV Awards, a Grammy and an Ivor Novello,
put Jamiroquai on the cover of USA Today and sold more than a million
albums in America. 
Which brings us up-to-date, to the here and now and the question of
how to follow such a staggering catalogue of hits. Well, new tracks
'Runaway' and 'Radio' certainly live up to Kay's claim to have "plenty
more cracking stuff to come."
