Origin: New York (USA)

VOODOO X

Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen - Ivan Wong - Jean Beauvoir - Tommy Lafferty - Luecke Lake

Voodoo X albums:

	Vol. I The awakening - 1989 (with lyrics)
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Notes about Voodoo X:

 Text in English

- Jean Beauvoir was born in Chicago into a family of Haitian origin [1, 2]. As a child he played drums and sang, and in his teens he switched to bass [1, 2]. While he was still a teenager, a manager of Gary U.S. Bonds saw him playing with his band at a club on Long Island, and Beauvoir became Bonds's musical director [2, 3]. By the age of fifteen, as he later recalled, he had toured the United States with Bonds, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley [3, 4], and he also sang with the doo-wop group the Flamingos, as their youngest member, on Dick Clark's revival shows [2, 4].

Drawn to Manhattan's Lower East Side, where the punk movement was in full swing, he joined his first punk band, N.Y.N. With them he opened for the Plasmatics at My Father's Place, on Long Island, where he met their singer, Wendy O. Williams; afterwards he answered an advertisement in the *Village Voice* in which the Plasmatics were looking for a new bass player, and auditioned [4]. He joined the band in 1979, on bass and keyboards [5], and recorded *New Hope for the Wretched* (1980) and *Beyond the Valley of 1984* (1981) with them [3, 6]. It was with the Plasmatics that he first came to public attention, with the blond mohawk that would remain his trademark [2, 7]. He left the band after *Beyond the Valley of 1984* [1, 2].

While he was looking for a solo record deal, he met Steven Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band [4, 8]. By 1982 he was the bass player in Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul [5, 8], with whom he recorded two albums: *Men Without Women* (EMI America, 1982), on which he also sang backing vocals, and *Voice of America* (EMI America, 1984) [1, 7, 9, 10]. The videos for "Forever" and "Under the Gun" were played in heavy rotation on MTV in the channel's early years [5, 9].

In 1984 and 1985 he also worked with Kiss. With Paul Stanley he wrote "Thrills in the Night" for *Animalize* (1984), an album on which he also played bass on several tracks and which was certified platinum in the United States [3, 11]. For *Asylum* (1985) he wrote "Who Wants to Be Lonely" and "Uh! All Night" with Stanley and Desmond Child, and he played bass and sang backing vocals on both; that album was certified gold [3, 12].

With the Ramones he worked as songwriter and producer. With Joey and Dee Dee Ramone he wrote "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)", released in Britain by Beggars Banquet in June 1985 as a single titled "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg". He then produced and mixed *Animal Boy* (Sire, 1986), which included that song and two more he had written with Dee Dee Ramone, "Something to Believe In" and "She Belongs to Me", and on which he also played additional guitar and keyboards [13]. In 1989 he and Daniel Rey produced "Pet Sematary", which Dee Dee Ramone and Rey wrote for the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel; Beauvoir also played bass and synthesizer and sang backing vocals on the track, which reached No. 4 on *Billboard*'s Modern Rock Tracks chart [14]. The song was included on *Brain Drain* (1989), together with "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)", which the two of them also produced [15].

His first solo album, *Drums Along the Mohawk*, was released in 1986, on Virgin in the United Kingdom and on Columbia in the United States [1, 16]. Its title played on his hairstyle and on the novel and film *Drums Along the Mohawk* [17]. Beauvoir produced and arranged the record, wrote nearly all of the songs and played most of the instruments himself; the guests included guitarist Tommy Lafferty [16, 18]. The album reached No. 93 on the *Billboard* 200 [17], and Beauvoir took it on the road as opening act for Eurythmics in North America [17, 19]. Its first single, "Feel the Heat", was included on the soundtrack of *Cobra* (1986), starring Sylvester Stallone [17, 20], and reached No. 73 on the *Billboard* Hot 100 [1, 21]. A second album, *Jacknifed*, followed on Columbia in 1988; again written and produced by Beauvoir, it was recorded in New York, Paris and Stockholm, among other places, with Lafferty once more playing guitar on several tracks [18, 22].

In 1988 Beauvoir decided to launch a band project of his own [7]. Voodoo X was a multinational five-piece, with Beauvoir on lead vocals and guitar alongside his regular guitarist, Tommy Lafferty, Ivan Wong on bass, Luecke Lake on drums and Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen on keyboards; Wong, Lake and Fahrenkrog-Petersen also sang [7, 23]. Fahrenkrog-Petersen had been the keyboard player in Nena and was a co-writer of "99 Luftballons" [24]. CBS released *Vol. I – The Awakening* in 1989 [25]. It was produced and mixed by Max Norman, known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne, and by Beauvoir himself, with Fahrenkrog-Petersen as co-producer and Norman also engineering; the photography was by Mark Weiss [25, 26]. Beauvoir wrote most of the songs on his own. "A Lover Like You" is credited to Beauvoir and Paul Stanley; Lafferty and Fahrenkrog-Petersen co-wrote "Don't Bother Me" and the title track with him; Fahrenkrog-Petersen wrote the music of "What Can I Do", to lyrics by Beauvoir and himself; and Lafferty co-wrote the music of "Have You Had Enough" [3, 23]. "The Awakening" was also included on the soundtrack of Wes Craven's *Shocker* (1989), released by SBK, whose title song, performed by the Dudes of Wrath, Beauvoir co-wrote with Desmond Child and Guy Mann-Dude [27, 28]. *Vol. I – The Awakening* remained Voodoo X's only album [29, 30].

In the early 1990s he formed Crown of Thorns with guitarist Micki Free, formerly of Shalamar, drummer Tony Thompson, of Chic and the Power Station, and bassist Michael Paige [31, 32]. The band signed with Interscope, which never released its first album [3, 19, 31]; *Crown of Thorns*, on which Paul Stanley collaborated, finally came out in 1994 [31, 32], and in 1995 Tommy Lafferty joined the band [31].

Beauvoir also founded Voodoo Island Entertainment Group [1, 2], and from 2004 to 2010 he was chief executive of Renegade Nation, Steven Van Zandt's media company [1, 33]. As a songwriter he has also worked for the South Korean market: he is among the composers of "Destination", from SHINee's EP *Everybody* (2013), and, together with Fahrenkrog-Petersen, of "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)", from Jonghyun's *Base* (2015); both records reached No. 1 on South Korea's Gaon album chart [34, 35]. In 2022 Chicago Review Press published his memoir, *Bet My Soul on Rock 'n' Roll: Diary of a Black Punk Icon*, written with John Ostrosky and with a foreword by Kermit Blackwood [5]. -

Notas sobre Voodoo X:

 Texto en Español

- Jean Beauvoir nació en Chicago, en una familia de origen haitiano [1, 2]. De niño tocaba la batería y cantaba, y en la adolescencia se pasó al bajo [1, 2]. Siendo todavía un adolescente, un mánager de Gary U.S. Bonds lo vio tocar con su grupo en un club de Long Island, y Beauvoir se convirtió en director musical de Bonds [2, 3]. Según recordaría después, a los quince años ya había recorrido Estados Unidos con Bonds, Chuck Berry y Bo Diddley [3, 4], y también cantó con el grupo de doo-wop The Flamingos, como su miembro más joven, en los espectáculos de revival de Dick Clark [2, 4].

Atraído por el Lower East Side de Manhattan, donde el punk estaba en plena efervescencia, entró en su primer grupo punk, N.Y.N. Con ellos teloneó a los Plasmatics en My Father's Place, en Long Island, donde conoció a su cantante, Wendy O. Williams; después respondió a un anuncio del *Village Voice* en el que los Plasmatics buscaban un nuevo bajista, e hizo la prueba [4]. Se incorporó al grupo en 1979, como bajista y teclista [5], y con ellos grabó *New Hope for the Wretched* (1980) y *Beyond the Valley of 1984* (1981) [3, 6]. Fue con los Plasmatics cuando empezó a darse a conocer, con la cresta rubia que se convertiría en su seña de identidad [2, 7]. Dejó el grupo después de *Beyond the Valley of 1984* [1, 2].

Mientras buscaba un contrato discográfico en solitario, conoció a Steven Van Zandt, guitarrista de la E Street Band de Bruce Springsteen [4, 8]. En 1982 ya era el bajista de Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul [5, 8], con los que grabó dos discos: *Men Without Women* (EMI America, 1982), en el que además hizo coros, y *Voice of America* (EMI America, 1984) [1, 7, 9, 10]. Los vídeos de «Forever» y «Under the Gun» se emitieron con mucha frecuencia en la MTV de los primeros años [5, 9].

En 1984 y 1985 trabajó también con Kiss. Con Paul Stanley compuso «Thrills in the Night» para *Animalize* (1984), álbum en el que además tocó el bajo en varios temas y que fue disco de platino en Estados Unidos [3, 11]. Para *Asylum* (1985) escribió con Stanley y Desmond Child «Who Wants to Be Lonely» y «Uh! All Night», en las que también tocó el bajo e hizo coros; ese álbum fue disco de oro [3, 12].

Con los Ramones trabajó como compositor y productor. Con Joey y Dee Dee Ramone escribió «My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)», que Beggars Banquet publicó como sencillo en el Reino Unido en junio de 1985 con el título «Bonzo Goes to Bitburg». Después produjo y mezcló *Animal Boy* (Sire, 1986), que incluía esa canción y otras dos que había compuesto con Dee Dee Ramone, «Something to Believe In» y «She Belongs to Me», y en el que tocó además guitarras y teclados adicionales [13]. En 1989 produjo con Daniel Rey «Pet Sematary», que Dee Dee Ramone y Rey escribieron para la adaptación cinematográfica de la novela de Stephen King (*Cementerio viviente*); Beauvoir tocó también el bajo y el sintetizador e hizo coros en el tema, que llegó al número 4 de la lista Modern Rock Tracks de *Billboard* [14]. La canción se incluyó en *Brain Drain* (1989), junto a «Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)», que también produjeron los dos [15].

Su primer disco en solitario, *Drums Along the Mohawk*, se publicó en 1986, con Virgin en el Reino Unido y con Columbia en Estados Unidos [1, 16]. El título jugaba con su peinado y con la novela y la película *Drums Along the Mohawk* [17]. Beauvoir lo produjo y lo arregló, compuso casi todas las canciones y tocó él mismo la mayoría de los instrumentos; entre los invitados figuraba el guitarrista Tommy Lafferty [16, 18]. El álbum llegó al puesto 93 del *Billboard* 200 [17], y Beauvoir lo presentó en directo como telonero de Eurythmics en Norteamérica [17, 19]. Su primer sencillo, «Feel the Heat», se incluyó en la banda sonora de *Cobra, el brazo fuerte de la ley* (*Cobra*, 1986), protagonizada por Sylvester Stallone [17, 20], y alcanzó el puesto 73 del Hot 100 de *Billboard* [1, 21]. En 1988 llegó un segundo álbum, *Jacknifed*, también con Columbia; compuesto y producido de nuevo por Beauvoir, se grabó en Nueva York, París y Estocolmo, entre otros lugares, y Lafferty volvió a tocar la guitarra en varios temas [18, 22].

En 1988 Beauvoir decidió poner en marcha un proyecto de grupo propio [7]. Voodoo X era un quinteto multinacional, con Beauvoir a la voz solista y la guitarra junto a su guitarrista habitual, Tommy Lafferty, Ivan Wong al bajo, Luecke Lake a la batería y Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen a los teclados; Wong, Lake y Fahrenkrog-Petersen también cantaban [7, 23]. Fahrenkrog-Petersen había sido el teclista de Nena y era coautor de «99 Luftballons» [24]. CBS publicó *Vol. I – The Awakening* en 1989 [25]. Lo produjeron y mezclaron Max Norman, conocido por sus trabajos con Ozzy Osbourne, y el propio Beauvoir, con Fahrenkrog-Petersen como coproductor y Norman también como ingeniero de sonido; la fotografía es de Mark Weiss [25, 26]. Beauvoir compuso en solitario la mayoría de las canciones. «A Lover Like You» está acreditada a Beauvoir y Paul Stanley; Lafferty y Fahrenkrog-Petersen firmaron con él «Don't Bother Me» y la canción que da título al disco; Fahrenkrog-Petersen compuso la música de «What Can I Do», con letra suya y de Beauvoir, y Lafferty fue coautor de la música de «Have You Had Enough» [3, 23]. «The Awakening» se incluyó también en la banda sonora de *Shocker, 100.000 voltios de terror* (*Shocker*, 1989), de Wes Craven, editada por SBK, cuya canción principal, interpretada por The Dudes of Wrath, compuso Beauvoir con Desmond Child y Guy Mann-Dude [27, 28]. *Vol. I – The Awakening* fue el único disco de Voodoo X [29, 30].

A comienzos de los noventa formó Crown of Thorns con el guitarrista Micki Free, procedente de Shalamar, el batería Tony Thompson, de Chic y The Power Station, y el bajista Michael Paige [31, 32]. El grupo firmó con Interscope, que nunca llegó a publicar su primer disco [3, 19, 31]; *Crown of Thorns*, en el que colaboró Paul Stanley, salió finalmente en 1994 [31, 32], y en 1995 Tommy Lafferty se incorporó al grupo [31].

Beauvoir fundó además Voodoo Island Entertainment Group [1, 2], y entre 2004 y 2010 fue consejero delegado de Renegade Nation, la empresa de medios de Steven Van Zandt [1, 33]. Como compositor ha trabajado también para el mercado surcoreano: figura entre los autores de la música de «Destination», del EP *Everybody* (2013), de SHINee, y, junto a Fahrenkrog-Petersen, de «Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)», de *Base* (2015), de Jonghyun; los dos discos llegaron al número 1 de la lista de álbumes Gaon de Corea del Sur [34, 35]. En 2022, Chicago Review Press publicó sus memorias, *Bet My Soul on Rock 'n' Roll: Diary of a Black Punk Icon*, escritas con John Ostrosky y con prólogo de Kermit Blackwood [5]. -

Sources/Fuentes

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[2] Beauvoir, J. (n.d.). Bio. Jean Beauvoir – Official Website. https://www.jeanbeauvoir.com/bio

[3] McPhate, T. (2010, March 11). Back to the Asylum with Jean Beauvoir [Interview]. KissFAQ. Reproduced on KISS Concert History Online. https://www.kissconcerthistory.com/interviews/interview_beauvoir.php

[4] Daly, A. (2022, July 19). An interview with Jean Beauvoir of The Plasmatics. VWMusic. https://vinylwritermusic.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/an-interview-with-jean-beauvoir-of-the-plasmatics/

[5] Chicago Review Press. (2022). Bet My Soul on Rock 'n' Roll: Diary of a Black Punk Icon, by Jean Beauvoir with John Ostrosky, foreword by Kermit Blackwood [Publisher's catalogue page]. https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/bet-my-soul-on-rock--n--roll-products-9781641604765.php

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[19] Ruggiero, B. (2009, August 5). Inquiring minds: Crown of Thorns and the Plasmatics' Jean Beauvoir. Houston Press. https://www.houstonpress.com/music/inquiring-minds-crown-of-thorns-and-the-plasmatics-jean-beauvoir-6759238/

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[26] Wikipedia. (n.d.). Max Norman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Norman

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[33] Ruggiero, B. (2022, March 29). Jean Beauvoir: A life of music and mohawks. Houston Press. https://www.houstonpress.com/music/things-to-do-read-bet-my-soul-on-rock-n-roll-by-jean-beauvoir-13096582

[34] Wikipedia. (n.d.). Everybody (EP). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_(EP)

[35] Wikipedia. (n.d.). Base (EP). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_(EP)