12/10/2009 Jennie’s recorded a brand new track ‘Let Me Entertain You Boy’ currently playing exclusively on DJ JR’s myspace page.
04/09/2009 The Crabs Corporation featuring Jennie Matthias and Dave Barker is due for release on 14/09/2009. See more details here at the 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE website blog.
01/08/2009 Here’s a live version of ‘Sign of the Times’ performed by Jennie Matthias and Nick Welsh.
29/07/2009 ‘Let It Go’ by The Crabs Corporation featuring Jennie Matthias and Dave Barker is due for release on 14th September 2009 as a 45rpm and a digital download.
22/07/2009 Check out some live videos of 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE’s debut gig at The 12 Bar on 18th July 2009. More information is available on the official 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE website where you can also become a member.
11/07/2009 Biggest news is that Jennie’s new band 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE now have their own website. Do check it out! Click here or on the photo to enter the website.
Stella Barker has a myspace page currently with one unreleased track ‘Meet me there’. Great ska track with a catchy chorus.
Sorry there haven’t been any updates recently; I’ve bought a new pc and it’s taken a while to transfer the website. In the meantime, I’ve managed to upload the promo video to 80’s Romance. As far as I know I think the whole video was only aired once (after Sons & Daughters!).
10/06/2009 Jennie Bellestar and Nick Welsh are feature guests on Garry Bushell’s latest podcast at Rancid Sounds on Total Rock. Features tracks from Rhoda Dakar and Nick Welsh’s current album ‘Back to the Garage’ and also tracks from 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE. Jennie and Nick also perform an exclusive acoustic version of their BIG 5 track ‘Shame’.
08/06/2009 Jennie’s new band 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE is playing their first London gig on 18/07/2009. Check out the 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE gig page for more details.
06/06/2009 ‘Iko Iko’ features in the new film ‘The Hangover’, a Las Vegas-set comedy centered around three groomsmen who lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.
The Dance Brigade, featuring Jennie Matthias, have uploaded a new instrumental track ‘Jackie Mittoo said’ to their myspace page.
31/05/2009 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE are running off 500 CDs of 5 tracks as a limited edition for everyone that has been asking where they can obtain their music. If you are interested then please send an email to intelligentska@yahoo.co.uk with ‘BUY CD’ in the subject line. More details on the 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE page.
18/05/2009 Jennie did a radio interview yesterday for the Dave Charles show on Harborough FM to publicise her new work with 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE. Jennie spoke about her time in The Belle Stars and other various ventures, they played Skaville UK’s ‘She’s made about the 80s’, ‘Sign of The Times’ by The Belle Stars and 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE’s ‘Headless Chicken’, ‘Peeping Tom’ and ‘Hope’.
1-STOP-EXPERIENCE’s ‘Peeping Tom’ video, filmed by Colin Ross, will be showcased at TAKES on 7th June. More details on the 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE page.
1-STOP-EXPERIENCE’s debut gig is on 8th August at ‘The Run to the Hills Scooter Rally’ in Debry. More details on the new 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE gig page. 15/05/2009 Some trivia news. Stella Barker’s former guitar stolen! Maximo Park are appealing for the return of a guitar stolen before the first night of their UK tour at Newcastle Academy on Wednesday night (May 13).
Guitarist Duncan Lloyd's missing instrument is a 1979 brown and gold Gretsch Country Gent.
Lloyd had purchased the guitar from Stella Barker of the 1980's pop act Belle Stars, but more significantly it previously belonged to late Clash legend Joe Strummer.
The band have promised a significant reward for the safe return of the guitar and say that all information will be treated in strict confidence. Any information should be emailed to maximopark@warprecords.com
15/05/2009 Jennie’s new band 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE have uploaded a new song to their myspace page called ‘Peeping Tom’. There’s also a video which can be found on the 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE page.
23/04/2009 New track ‘Headless Chicken’ featuring Nick Welsh on bass guitar and backing Vocals now available to hear on Jen & Friends myspace page. Check out further details on the new 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE page; Jennie’s new band.
20/04/2009 I’ve transferred some news about Jennie’s new venture to a new page 1-STOP-EXPERIENCE. This is Jennie’s new gigging band and new tracks can be heard every Wednesday on her Jen & Friends myspace page. Exclusive: Debut gig will be at the Derby scooter rally! Further details to follow.
Sign of the Times - Jennie’s recorded a new version with her friend Nick Welsh, current band member of Skaville UK and former band member of Big 5. You can hear it now on Nick’s myspace page.
Jennie’s also working with Nick again so expect some new tunes.
I also stumbled across an old interview with Jennie Bellestar from 1994 which I’ve uploaded to the interviews page.
10/03/2009 Super fan Denny McClain from the USA achieved an ‘A’ in his essay paper after he asked Jennie Belle Star some questions. Jennie, as always, was glad to help out a fan. Well done Denny! Check out his paper on the interviews page.
01/03/2009 Jennie performed The Dance Brigade track ‘Who’s That Girl’ and a new track ‘Didn’t Listen’ at yesterday’s gig at the Cellar Door Vaudeville show. ‘Didn’t Listen’ is a great new ska track that Jennie had only just written and was a great crowd pleaser. Sadly, she wasn’t able to perform her track ‘Trippin’ with Skip MacDonald due to timing issues on the night, but as always she gave an energetic and enthusiastic performance. Photos to follow shortly!
26/02/2009 A new song “Let it Go” by The Crabs Corporation featuring Jennie Matthias and Dave Barker can now be heard on the Jen & Friends myspace page.
21/02/2009 Jennie Belle Star has set up a new myspace page. It’s eventually going be a mixture of top draw ska, reggae, latin, dub and pop-ska and these will be tracks that Jennie has written over the last few years with her friends. Expect some music up there at the end of the month. Come on and be Jennie’s friend on myspace!
16/02/2009 Although the Belle-Issima album has been available on download for a couple of years now, I noticed that Disc One has been repackaged as ‘The Singles’ and was made available for download on 15/09/2008. Available on most download sites. It has not however, been released as a seperate CD.
15/02/2009 Myspace bulletin post from Jennie about The Dance Brigade: “It’s official folks, THE DANCE BRIGADE album with new tracks also is back on to be finished, we are currently going through the tracks now and over the next few months to fatten them up and finish them off. We are also working on putting up new tracks for this myspace page and there will be a freebie track coming soon for all the people that have been waiting patiently and have been asking for new tracks. This will be a gift to us from you for being so patient. I will add to this blog as and when we get further down the line with the tracks but in the meantime please keep listening and looking out for our blogs as we are now back on track with a mission to finish off what we have started…God bless you all for being so sweet with all your concerns and messages each and every one of us have noted this and really do appreciate yur kind words.We will be back with hopefully something that is both conducive to your ears and feet, we are THE DANCE BRIGADE after all…all the best from THE DANCE BRIGADE “
11/02/2009 Jennie will be appearing at the Cellar Door Burlesque show on Saturday 28/02/2009 at The Last Days of Decadence. See Jennie’s gig page for more details.
09/02/2009 Mini interview with Jennie Bellestar on Sky 1. Features a very rare clip of all The Belle Stars performing Iko Iko.
03/02/2009 Ok, this news is a bit old but The Clapping Song was featured in Nathan Jenden’s Spring 2009 collection runway show last August/September 2008. See a clip here. Please don’t ask me how I found this!
30/01/2009 Miranda has been a successful make-up artist for years now and I haven’t noted all her achievements on this site only because they are not normally music related and there are so many! However, I love Lily Allen and so had to let you all know that Miranda is responsible for Lily’s make-up on her new single ‘The Fear”. Stumbled across this piece of news accidently on YouTube.
28/01/2009 Humanitarian Rave - Jennie will be performing live at the Humanitarian Rave on Saturday 07/02/2009, Here’s the full line-up ADRIAN SHERWOOD + GUESTS- BROTHER CULTURE (LIVE) MAN LIKE ME (DJ SET) BEARDYMAN (OBVIOUSLY LIVE) JENNIE MATTHIAS (LIVE) AMYL JP SANDMAN (LIVE) FUZE JAMMA GREEDY JOE LOUIS WEST …and more *maximum respect to all artists who are PLAYING FOR FREE and backing the cause”.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH @ THE LAST DAYS OF DECADENCE 145 SHOREDITCH HIGH STREET LONDON
8PM-3AM £6 all night Over 18’s No Daily Mail readers
24/01/2009 Social Disco Club have released a 12 inch titled ‘Clap Pat Clap Slap’ which is a re-edit of The Clapping Song, and a good one at that. Social Disco Club is focused on bringing forgotton disco to a new audience, and DJ Humberto (from Portugal) is adding his own personal disco touch to it. Check out his myspace page or blogspot for other classic re-edits.
16/01/2009 Jennie Bellestar and Dave Barker are being busy. They have also been working with myspace band The Crabs Corporation, a ska outfit from Buenos Aires. Expect to hear a new track on their myspace page soon.
13/01/2009 Jennie Bellestar and Dave Barker are currently collaborating with Adrian Maxwell Sherwood’s ‘On-U Sound’ label. New music hopefully to be released later in the year. The ‘On-U Sound’ website is currently undergoing a revamp.
07/01/2009 New cover of The Belle Stars version of The Clapping Song The Young Punx have taken part in the legendary Buffet Libre "Rewind" project, in which 100 artists do cover versions of tracks from the 70s, 80s and 90s for a free online digital download compilation. The Young Punx chose to cover the Belle Stars version of "The Clapping Song" from 1982, which is itself a cover of Shirley Ellis' 60s original. Featuring vocals from Laura Kidd and virtuoso guitar from Guthrie Govan the track starts out as a fairly faithful cover version, until Phonat takes the helm half way through and it turns into a kind of electro drum and bass freak out version! Hal Ritson of The Young Punx comments, "What attracted us was the combination of the innocence of the playground rhyme pop style with the sulky thatcher-era vocal delivery. Also it seemed fun to do a cover version of a song that was ALREADY a cover version of a 60's song. A cover of a cover."
You can download The Clapping Song by The Young Punx for FREE at The Younger Punx website.
05/01/2009 New Year message from Jennie’s myspace added to the Blog page. Watch out for a new Jennie myspace page in the New Year featuring new music.
24/12/2008 On 28/12/2008, Clare Hirst has a guest spot with Tony Heiburg at The Kingston Gate, 204 London Road, Kingston Upon Thames KT2 6QR, Telephone 020 8549 9474.
03/11/2008 A sample of ‘Iko Iko’ is used on the track ‘Grindin and Shakin’ on Yo! Majesty’s album ‘Futuristically Speaking, Never be Afraid’ released earlier this year. They’re an American hip hop group consisting of rapper Shunda K and singer Jwl B, produced by UK based electro due ‘Hard Feelings UK’.
02/11/2008 The Dance Brigade are putting some finishing touches to a selection of songs in the hope of releasing an album. Check out my blog page for more info.
20/10/2008 The Gonad’s album ‘Live Free, Die Free’ is finally released today. It features Jennie on ‘Long Ska Summer’. Order your copy here.
20/10/2008 Clare Hirst’s third CD ‘Touchy’ was released on 15/09/2008. See Clare’s page for more details.
09/09/2008 Ok, I have no idea how this slipped through but Skaville UK’s second album ‘Decadent’ was released at the end of June! It features ‘One Way Street’ with Jennie Matthias. Available on Moon Ska World records.
09/09/2008 Jennie’s featured on Garry Bushell’s September 2008 podcast promoting The Dance Brigade.
21/08/2008 Hot 2 Go’s The Clapping Song featuring Jennie Bellestar on vocals is now available on i-tunes. Their EP Australian Kiss is also available to buy and this too features the new version of The Clapping Song with Jennie.
09/08/2008 A medley of Red Jen songs is now available on the Red Treasure / Red Jen page. (No longer available 21/11/2008).
08/08/2008 The Dance Brigade receive their first piece of publicity following their photo shoot at Littledean Jail. Check out the press here.
24/07/2008 Jennie recently did a PA at the Queens Crescent community. She sang ‘Radiostars’ by her former band ‘The Radiostars’ and was joined by a couple of local kids who provided extra rapping. Check out the video!
12/07/2008 Jennie was a guest with The Camden Cowboys at Bermondsey Beat and sang a couple of The Dance Brigade songs, ‘Minds Made Up’ and ‘Give It Some’. Although the band had only rehearsed the songs twice, you’d have never guessed. The crowd loved it, singing along with ‘Give It Some’, which I think is really going to prove to be the band’s signature tune. Remember to book your tickets here for the official debut gig of The Dance Brigade at the 100 Club on 17/09/2008!
09/07/2008 Joe Wein’s short movie, Goldfish, won the GrandJury Award at Gen Art. The film, shot last year, features The Clapping Song performed by The Belle Stars. See the trailer here.
08/07/2008 Iko Iko, performed by The Belle Stars, features in the new TV commercial for Littlewoods Direct.com. The TV ad also features comedy duo Trinny & Susannah. You can see the TV ad here.
22/06/2008 According to a Youtube blog by Lee Thompson and Jennie Matthias, The Dance Brigade are playing at Bermondsey Beat on Saturday 12/07/2008. However, the Bermondsey Beat website is advertising The Camden Cowboys (Lee Thompson’s band) at 7.00pm. Subsequent myspace bulletins indicate that members of The Dance Brigade will be playing as guests with The Camden Cowboys and that they will play 3 songs. Also appearing are Heatwave, the Mint Juleps and Forever ABBA.
17/06/2008 Hot 2 Go’s new EP Australian Kiss is now available to buy and features the new version of The Clapping Song with Jennie. The EP is also available on i-tunes with The Clapping Song due to appear in a couple of weeks.
Buy the CD!
15/06/2008 Clare Hirst’s new CD ‘Touchy’ should be released in June and she is performing on the following dates: 06/07/2008 - Streatham Festival 11/07/2008 - Leigham Arms, Streatham 21/08/2008 - The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells 27/08/2008 - August Bude Jazz festival 28/08/2008 - August Bude Jazz festival
28/05/2008 Sign of The Times has been released on CD in France with a new Extended remix. The new extended remix is just a mix of the single version and the original extended version.
15/05/2008 Jennie's new band The Dance Brigade will be playing their debut gig at the 100 Club in London on 17/09/2008. Check out the Blog on this site for more info or Gigs / Jennie page.
03/05/2008 Hot 2 Go's The Clapping Song, featuring Jennie, will be available on I-Tunes and similar sites soon and it is also going to be on their new EP. It will be through an Australian record company and a USA publishing/distribution company. More news to follow!
10/04/2008 The Hot 2 Go version of The Clapping Song featuring Jennie is now complete. Not sure when/if it's going to be released but hopefully we'll at least get to hear it on myspace sometime. As soon as I know anything I'll let you know.
31/03/2008 Hiawatha by The Belle Stars features on a free CD called The Dawning of a New Era with the latest edition of Mojo (May 2008). The magazine also features a very small photo of the early Belle Stars (with Penny).
Full tracklisting:
1. Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp 2. Desmond Dekker & the Aces - It's Mek 3. Toots & the Maytals - Monkey Man 4. Dandy Livingstone & Rico - A Message to you Rudi 5. Bob Marley & the Wailers - Concrete Jungle 6. Neville Staple - Gangsters 7. The Ruts - Babylon's Burning 8. The Untouchables - I Spy for the FBI 9. The Belle Stars - Hiawatha 10. Rico - Sea Cruise 11. The Equators - Baby Come Back 12. Laurel Aitken & the Loafers - Skinhead 13. Judge Dread - Skin Lake 14. Arthur Kay & the Originals - Play My Record 15. JJ All Stars - Dambusters March
29/03/2008 There are now three new tracks on The Dance Brigade myspace page featuring Jennie, Give It Some, Musical Lesson and Who's That Girl.
18/03/2008 Clare Hirst will be playing at The Brook Theatre, Chatham on 08/04/2008.
17/03/2008 New track, Musical Lesson by The Dance Brigade now playing on their myspace page. 12/03/2008 A new Dance Brigade track is due on their myspace page next week.
02/03/2008 Jennie's new band, The Dance Brigade now has a myspace page - THE DANCE BRIGADE . You can currently hear one track, 'Give it Some'. More information to follow.
31/01/2008 Oops, I somehow lost all the news from October 2007 to date. From what I can remember:
30/01/2008 Jennie's recording a new version of The Clapping Song with Australian band Hot 2 Go (see Jennie solo and Links pages for more info). Vocals are hopefully on the way to Oz as I type!
30/01/2008 Jennie's formed a new ska project with Lee Thompson (Madness) called The Dance Brigade. An album release and gigs should follow later in the year.
15/01/2008 Jennie features on the next Skaville UK CD, Decadent due for release in April. She appears on two tracks, 'One Way Street' and 'And I Said'. 'One Way Street' is currently playing on Skaville UK's myspace page. Although 'And I Said' is a Ska-coustica! song, the Skaville UK version with Jennie will be a full band version.15/01/2008 Jennie's recorded a track, 'Long Ska Summer' with The Gonads. This is Garry Bushell's band (TV critic) and should hopefully be released in March/April.
July 2007 The Clapping Song appears in the short movie 'Goldfish' currently doing the circuits around the film festivals. Here's a link to the trailer.
