JYNX

groovetunnel@btconnect.com

Until 1998, the hottest thing to come out of Dunoon was a tiny rowing boat carrying drug runner Howard Marks and 15 tonnes of dope. But 5 guys aimed to change all that. Armed with a fistful of attitude, a skinful of hope and bin bags of talent, Jynx were busting their guts for a shot at the big time.
Jynx were just 5 guys, most of whom would have been blowing around the rainy streets in Scotland if they hadn't decided to get together to make brilliant music. And they were all dedicated to the cause. Drummer Brian turned his back on a lucrative job in the sun-drenched Cayman Islands to join the band.
Hammond star Rod had just missed out on a crack at joining the Charlatans to make it with Jynx.
Paddy and Mal turned their backs to a life on the dole. And Tommy just dropped out of School.
The feverish 5 piece may have only been around for 2 years prior to Rod joining but they had a rock'n'roll history the Stones would have been proud of. Plagued by bad luck - they played a charity gig and had £600 worth of cymbals nicked - they changed their name to Jynx after being inspired by the irony of a crossword clue for "curse".
Since then they never looked back, but they had their fair share of bumps and scrapes. Singer Paddy jumped on stage one night unaware his drink had been laced with speed. The rest of the band only realised when he completed the set in 3 minutes and leapt off to join the party. Rod managed to crack 2 of his ribs in a Karate incident mere days after the Jynx coach crashed on the way back from a gig landing most of the occupants in hospital. Not content with this, Rod then managed to roll a 4X4 jeep. Jynx by name…….
In keeping with their name the band's gruelling full-time rehearsal schedule had attracted the eye of the dole inspectors. Tommy the only non professional was stunned when he were hauled into Dunoon jobcentre to find Jynx blasting from the speakers.
Attracted by the bright lights, they made regular trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh accompanied by a following of 200 from their hometowns, for a rabble of rousing gigs at famous venues such as King Tut's, Strawberry Fields, Nice'n'Sleazy, and the Jaffa Cake. Their manager then took them East and gave them the run of his country mansion near Edinburgh and from that they landed a support slot with Fish. Two weeks prior to that they were looking for a Hammond player and despite being told they would never get Rod, he'd just folded Groove Tunnel, and so they did!
Legendary songwriter Graham Lyle was also a fan of their swaggering melodies and flew over from France to catch them jamming in Dunoon. Other well known fans included Paul Buchanan from The Blue Nile, Mogwai who championed the band on Radio 1, Big George Webley writer of Have I Got News For You, the band Rico and the Kerr brothers including Jim formerly of Simple Minds.
Inspired by the Beatles, The Who and Hendrix, Jynx thrived on the unpredictable and cheekily played down a telephone line after listeners demanded more. Based in Wet, Wet, Wet's studios in Glasgow for most of 1998/99, most of the band commuted from Dunoon daily with Rod commuting in from Edinburgh. The band spent a lot of time in London playing for various record companies and were offered several deals, all of which the band turned down in the belief they would get better.
Unfortunately by then, Rod had become frustrated at the poor management and during the latter part of 1999, Rod, becoming more involved with television and film music, parted company with the band. Sadly, the band never managed to recover from Rod's departure and disintegrated gradually throughout 2000 while Rod went on to enjoy success from his media work.
(Compiled from The Sunday Mail, May 1999 and The Evening News, January 2001