{"id":7620,"date":"2026-05-07T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7620"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:11:22","slug":"jesse-hector-a-message-to-the-world-the-1998-shindig-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7620","title":{"rendered":"Jesse Hector: A Message To The World – The 1998 Shindig! interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

In memory of London legend, rock star and music obsessive, JESSE HECTOR. <\/strong><\/p>\n

JON \u2018MOJO\u2019 MILLS\u2019 history of a much-missed one of a kind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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If you frequent the collectors record shops in London you may bump into a healthy-looking middle-aged guy who wears his hair in a quiff and dresses in sharp \u201950s attire. He\u2019s usually standing around chatting with music fanatics, both young and old, about his memories of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. You could say he\u2019s eccentric, although he\u2019s got all of his marbles. He just likes to talk. The man in question is Jesse Hector. For those in the know he is most remembered for his \u201970s mod-punk trio, The Hammersmith Gorillas, who anticipated the UK punk rock scene with their 1974 Larry Page produced version of \u2018You Really Got Me\u2019. But there\u2019s a whole lot more to Jesse than that. Here, for the first time, we trace Jesse Hector\u2019s illustrious career.<\/p>\n

On Monday 25th August \u201998 some of the Shindig! <\/i>team (PJ, Mark Raison and I) took it upon ourselves to take Jesse Hector to his fave pub in Camden, North London, get him talking and leave the cassette recorder rolling. After three hours of listening to tales of riotous mod bands, heavy rock and Jesse\u2019s misfortune of never making it BIG, we all came to the conclusion that you won\u2019t meet a nicer bloke. I must note that far more was spoken about than is featured here. When I asked Jesse a question about a group called Shorty & Them he replied: \u201cYou gotta remember, there are a lot of bands I probably saw \u2013 but I might\u2019ve been pissed, pulling a bird, or out the back shagging. If somebody had said to me back then, \u2018Will you keep all of this knowledge in the back of your head because in \u201998 people are gonna start interviewing you?’ I\u2019d have come alive and stood at the alter and studied it. I really didn\u2019t think this was gonna last. If you\u2019re at the back of a hall with a nice bird and getting all excited, you\u2019re not gonna be thinking about seeing a band called Shorty & Them, are ya?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesse Hector was born in Kilburn, North West London in \u201947. He still resides there to this day, a Londoner born and bred. By \u201959 British rock \u2019n\u2019 roll was really coming into its own, and he was there as a part of it. \u201cThe flashy rock \u2019n\u2019 roll took off with Cliff Richard\u2019s \u2018Move It\u2019, which was really exciting and rebellious.\u201d So inspired was Jesse that he decided to follow suit and play this new \u201crebellious\u201d music himself. In \u201960, at the tender age of 13, he formed The Cravattes with his best friend Adrian Stambach (who later went on to join The Clique).<\/p>\n

In \u201961, Jesse experienced his first \u201cnear miss\u201d at fame \u2013 the band were gaining a following locally and even achieved some front page coverage in the local press. It looked to be taking off. \u201cWe cut a four-track demo which was supposed to be an EP for Pye but due to some confusion on my part it didn\u2019t get released.\u201d<\/p>\n