BP FALLON & THE BANDITS

Blame Jack White.

"I'm not against a little darkness
I'm not against a little sin
As long as no-one gets hurt
Or lets the devil in"
-BP Fallon from I Believe In Elvis Presley (Fallon/Tasjan)
Produced by Jack White. Third Man Records TMR 022

Jack White invited BP Fallon to Nashville to cut a 45 for Third Man Records. Mr White produced it and played bottleneck guitar on Fallon's celebratory rocker I Believe In Elvis Presley.

So BP Fallon formed a band.

Note that at 109 years of age or so, Mr Fallon had already done pretty much everything else in rock'n'roll - publicist for Led Zeppelin and T.Rex and namechecked by Marc Bolan in the T.Rex hit Telegram Sam, worked at The Beatles' Apple Records where one of his jobs was testing Paul McCartney's grass, popped up on BBC TV's Top Of The Pops miming bass guitar with John Lennon on Instant Karma, managed Johnny Thunders and made Johnny's classic So Alone album with Phil Lynott, Steve Marriott, Steve Jones and Paul Cook of The Sex Pistols, Chrissie Hynde and Chris Wood of Traffic, toured with U2 under the official title of Guru, Viber & DJ. And so it goes...

BP Fallon is to rock''n'roll what a stamp is too an envelope. He'd been helping all these bands and having a brilliant time but wasn't making the music himself, not that he actually even thought to do it. Oh, he'd sometimes play tom tom drums with Led Zeppelin live on Whole Lotta Love or bash out congos with T.Rex on TV shows... or turn up as one of the backing singers on U2's Pride (In The Name Of Love). As one does...

So BP makes his record with Jack White and then makes three phone calls and everyone says yes. Says Fallon: "I sat there thinking 'Fuck me, what have I done now, now I'm the singer in a band'".

Thus BP Fallon & The Bandits, which reunites the classic Blondie Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame rhythm section of Nigel Harrison (bass) and Clem Burke (drums). The duo that propelled global hits like Heart Of Glass and Atomic are joined by the hottest young guitarist in New York, the extraordinary Aaron Lee Tasjan.

And out front the LV, the lead vocalist, this leaping-around timeless rock'n'roll philosopher BP Fallon creature in his trademark Derby hat who's been described as "a cross between Leonard Cohen on speed and a straight Quentin Crisp". That'll do.

BP Fallon & The Bandits photograph by Christopher Durst 2012

Stop Press! We are proud to announce that the amazing drummer Hector Muñoz from the Alejandro Escovedo band will drum with BPF & The Bandits at SXSW! Hector will join BP, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Nigel Harrison, violinist Brendan Anthony and backing vocalist Cara Delevingne. What a combo!