Jody Harris is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer who was born in Kansas and became a central figure in the seminal no wave scene in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the 1970s.

Career history

Harris was lead guitarist in

the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

, an influential No Wave band. He was also a key member of a number of bands that emerged from the no wave scene, including the

Raybeats The Raybeats were an American instrumental neo-surf rock combo from New York City that arose from the No Wave musical scene. The original line-up consisted of Don Christensen (drums), Jody Harris (guitar), Pat Irwin (guitar, saxophone, Acetone o ...

and

the Golden Palominos The Golden Palominos were an American musical group headed by drummer, producer, arranger and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership has been wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guita ...

. Harris has also recorded as a solo artist and with guitarist

Robert Quine Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist. A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown. Critic Mark Deming wrote that "Quine's eclect ...

. In 1977, he joined Quine in a band backing rock critic

Lester Bangs Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, critic, author, and musician. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock music c ...

on Bangs' 7" single, ''Let It Blurt'', produced by

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

. He was also briefly a member of

the Voidoids Richard Hell and the Voidoids were an American punk rock band, formed in New York City in 1976 and fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers. History Kentucky-born Richard Meyers moved to New ...

and played on many recordings by a wide range of artists, including

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

Syd Straw Syd Straw (born 1958) is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw (''The Pajama Game''), she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined ...

Kip Hanrahan Kip Hanrahan (born December 9, 1954) is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist. Personal life Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. His father left when he was 6 m ...

and

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

. With Quine, he composed all the music on their collaborative album, ''Escape'', as well as co-writing virtually all the

' material. He also composed all the songs and instrumentals on his one solo album, except for one song co-written with Don Christensen. As part of

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

's supergroup

, he co-wrote the majority of the songs on the band's acclaimed second album, '' Visions of Excess''.

Critical appraisals

One esteemed critic described Harris as a "seasoned campaigner from the late-1970s flowering of American

postpunk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

", while another called him "one of the most underrated guitarists" on the New York scene. Robert Palmer, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1987, praised "the luminous clarity" of Harris's lead guitar work for the

Golden Palominos The Golden Palominos were an United States, American musical group headed by drummer, record producer, producer, arranger and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership has been wildly elastic, with only ...

, while the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

obliquely criticized what he called a "weakness for the genre exercise". Quine himself, however, declared Harris's work "tragically underrated -- he's so far advanced, way past me and people can't hear it".''Perfect Sound Forever''
Nov. 1997

Discography

The Contortions

* ''

No New York ''No New York'' is a compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, some consider it to be a definitive single album documenting Ne ...

'' (

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

1978) * '' Buy'' (1979) * ''Paris 1980 Live Aux Bains Douches'' (1980) * ''Live in New York'' (1981) * ''NY No Wave'' ( ZE 2003)

The Raybeats

* ''Start Swimming'' ( Stiff 1981) (live compilation) * ''Roping Wild Bears'' (Don't Fall Off the Mountain 1981) * ''

Guitar Beat ''Guitar Beat'' is the debut album by the neo-surf band the Raybeats. It was released in 1981 and produced by Martin Rushent. The album features ten original instrumentals, plus a Jan and Dean cover. In tongue-in-cheek fashion, the original LP ...

'' (PVC/Passport 1981) * ''It's Only A Movie!'' ( Shanachie 1983) * '' Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976-1995'' (

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

2005)

Solo

* ''It Happened One Night'' (Press 1982) * ''"Mr Control"'' (

Tellus Tellus is a Latin word meaning "Earth" and may refer to: * An alternative name for the planet Earth * Tellus of Athens, a citizen of ancient Athens who was thought to be the happiest of men * Tellus Mater or Terra Mater, the ancient Roman earth mo ...

#1) (1983)

Jody Harris & Robert Quine

* ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'' (Infidelity \ Lust/Unlust Music 1981) * ''Come Together: Guitar Tribute to the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

, Vol. 2'' (NYC 1995) (compilation)

The Golden Palominos

* '' Visions of Excess'' (

Celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporar ...

1985) * ''Blast of Silence'' (Celluloid 1986)

Richard Hell and the Voidoids

* ''Funhunt'' (

ROIR ROIR (pronounced "roar"), or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper. Background ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label ex ...

/ Important 1989)

Other artists

* ''Let It Blurt'' -

(SPY 1977) * ''

Off White Shades of white are colors that differ only slightly from pure white. Variations of white include what are commonly termed off-white colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme or yellow that looks like brown. In color theor ...

'' - James White & The Blacks (ZE 1979) * '' Press Color'' - ''

Lizzy Mercier Descloux Martine-Elisabeth "Lizzy" Mercier Descloux (16 December 1956 – 20 April 2004) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter. Early life Mercier Descloux grew up in Lyon, France, but returned to her native Pari ...

'' (ZE 1979) * ''Stop Vicious Cycles'' - Jill Kroesen (Vital 1982) * ''Desire Develops an Edge'' -

(American Clavé) * ''

The Big Gundown ''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian. Plot Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, r ...

'' -

(

Nonesuch __NOTOC__ Nonesuch may refer to: Plants * ''Lychnis chalcedonica'', a wildflower * ''Medicago lupulina'', a wildflower Places and structures *Nonesuch, Kentucky *Nonesuch Island, Bermuda *Nonesuch Mine, Michigan *Nonesuch Palace, mis-spelling of ...

1986) * ''

Inside Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

'' -

( Columbia 1986) * ''Surprise'' -

(1989) * ''What Baby?'' - Canine Tricycle Bereavement (1990) * ''The Trouble Tree'' -

Freedy Johnston Freedy Johnston (born Frederic John Fatzer in 1961) is a New York City–based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas. Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation, and disappointm ...

(

Bar/None Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Early history Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his n ...

1990) * ''Music for Films'' (

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

)

References

External links

Jody_Harris-penned_tribute_to_Robert_Quine
_in_Perfect_Sound_Forever.html" ;"title="Robert Quine">Jody Harris-penned tribute to Robert Quine
in Perfect Sound Forever">Robert Quine">Jody Harris-penned tribute to Robert Quine
in Perfect Sound Forever May 2007
Interview with Dusted webzine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jody Living people No wave musicians American punk rock guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists American session musicians The Golden Palominos members Richard Hell and the Voidoids members Year of birth missing (living people) Raybeats members James Chance and the Contortions members