Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - J
    Artists - J Music - 1990s 2 Mins Read

    Jamiroquai

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Best known for a video where a room tries to escape from him, Jay (real name Jason Cheetham) Kay is more familiar to the 30 million people who bought his albums as Jamiroquai, and to the bitter minority of haters who found him annoying as The Twat In The Hat.

    In the mid-90s, the UK charts were full either of American bands in plaid shirts pretending to be on heroin or British bands in Fred Perrys pretending not to be on heroin.

    Jamiroquai – the band, not just the singer – were the rarest of things, a UK group rooted in soul and jazz, rather than The Kinks or punk.

    Vilified by sections of the music press at the time for being “Music for estate agents,” Jamiroquai’s hit singles and albums brought a snaky funk sound to a chart world which only permitted dance acts to be cool if they were Fatboy Slim or The Chemical Brothers (and generally even then only if they were remixing Feeder or Oasis).

    Jay Kay was out of step with his contemporaries and all the better for it. A survivor of the acid jazz scene, he’d unsuccessfully auditioned for The Brand New Heavies.

    Undaunted, he formed Jamiroquai and his bounteous sense of self and brimming self-confidence enabled the band to take on music which most people were then approaching with crate-digger reverence.

    His love for Roy Ayers, Sly Stone and – perhaps most extremely obviously of all – Stevie Wonder put him funny hat and shoulders above most of his rivals, who were too busy struggling with old Wire riffs to be any serious challenge.

    Infectious singles like Space Cowboy and Virtual Insanity did no harm and Jay Kay was all over the 90s like a Kappa tracksuit.

    Fittingly for the time, he had a touch of the eco-warrior about him. He also remains the only successful artist apart from Rolf Harris to have regularly incorporated a didgeridoo into his music.

    Original keyboard player Toby Smith died in 2017. He was just 46.

    Jay Kay (Jason Cheetham)
    Vocals
    Gavin Dodds
    Guitar
    Andrew Levy
    Bass
    Toby Smith
    Keyboards
    Stuart Zender
    Bass
    Nick Van Gelder
    Drums
    Maurizio Ravalico
    Percussion
    Wallis Buchanan 
    Didgeridoo
    Derrick McKenzie
    Drums
    Sola Akingbola
    Percussion, vocals
    Simon Katz
    Guitar

    Related Posts

    • J Geils Band, The
      J Geils Band, The
      Formed in Boston, Mass. in the late 60's from two rival local bands (The J Geils Blues Band and The…
    • Manic Street Preachers
      Manic Street Preachers
      Formed in Wales in 1988, and obsessed with The Clash and Public Enemy, the Manic Street Preachers survived early media vitriol to emerge…
    • Red Hot Chili Peppers
      Red Hot Chili Peppers
      The Red Hot Chili Peppers came together in Los Angeles in 1983, formed by high school friends Anthony Kiedis and…
    • Pavement
      Pavement
      Pavement were three friends from California: laconic singer Stephen Malkmus, guitarist Scott Kannberg, and unruly hippie drummer Gary Young, who…
    • Soundgarden
      Soundgarden
      Chicago guitarist Kim Thayil formed Soundgarden in Seattle in 1984 with bass player Hiro Yamamoto and Chris Cornell, a local…
    • Stone Temple Pilots
      Stone Temple Pilots
      Initially dismissed by critics as grunge latecomers and Pearl Jam wannabes, California's Stone Temple Pilots proved adept at twisting the…
    • Johnny Moped
      Johnny Moped
      Johnny Moped formed in Croydon, south London, in 1974 and bridged the gap between mid-seventies pub rock and punk with their…
    • Johnny Rebb
      Johnny Rebb
      Johnny Rebb was the first Australian artist to be signed by Lee Gordon's Leedon label in 1958.  The local media dubbed…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleRod Brown, Rocket Ranger
    Next Article Ramatam

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
      Southside Johnny Lyons (the moniker derives from the South Side […]
    • Matt Helm
      1 9 7 5 – 1 9 7 6 (USA) 14 x 60 minute episodes The […]
    • Go-Set
      The Australian music magazine Go-Set was launched in February […]
    • Computers
      The first true computers were only built around the 1940s, and […]
    • Hook (1991)
      J.M. Barrie must be turning over in his grave with fury. This […]
    • Legend of Lylah Clare, The (1968)
      The Legend of Lylah Clare exposes all the fictional characters […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.