Jona Lewie plays at free Christmas party in Northampton

The Roadmender is getting in the festive spirit with a free Christmas party next week.
Jona Lewie is best known for his hit Stop The CavalryJona Lewie is best known for his hit Stop The Cavalry
Jona Lewie is best known for his hit Stop The Cavalry

The night of festive fun and frolics will feature a full Christmas production, hats, party poppers and Jona Lewie - famous for the songs Stop The Cavalry and You’ll Always Find Him In The Kitchen At Parties.

Seasoned solo performer Lewie is a name synonymous with Christmas. Stop The Cavalry won an Ivor Novello Award, while You’ll Always Find Him In The Kitchen At Parties was used for a TV advertising campaign for IKEA after originally being a hit in 1980.

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Jona’s first taste of band life was aged 17 when he played in rhythm and blues group The Corsairs who also backed Gene Vincent. He first played professionally in 1968 as a solo singer-songwriter, blues pianist and vocalist on the London circuit. His first professional gig came about because Dave Brock, who went on to form Hawkwind, took Jona to a club in London where his piano playing got him noticed.

Jona went onto back Arthur Crudup along with Tom McGuiness of The Manfreds, Hughie Flint from McGuiness-Flint, Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle. He continued to write songs with Brett Marvin & The Thinderbolts and wrote one on an accordion which became known as Seaside Shuffle and reached number two in the UK charts. In 1977 Jona signed to Stiff Records and released his first solo album, On The Other Hand There’s A Fist and by the summer of 1978, he was invited to take part in the infamous Be Stiff ’78 Train Tour with the likes of Lene Lovich, Rachel Sweet, Wreckless Eric and Micky Jupp.

The 1990s saw Jona supporting The Blues Band on a 50 date UK tour while the 2000s brought more writing and performances at Rebellion Festival and the London Ukulele Festival. Jona stayed with Stiff Records until their demise and became the longest serving act at the label and one of its most successful artists in Europe.

The Roadmender X-Mas Party 2016 is on Saturday, December 17. Admission is free. Doors open at 7.30pm. Visit www.theroadmender.com.

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