john kennedy

Top 12 Gigs

The Cruel Sea - City Recital Hall, Sydney. 31/05/2025.
Set list full of older songs and deep cuts. 

The replay of last week's Thursday Evening Gunk, the I-94 Bar Internet show, is here so kick back and watch. Host Chris Virtue of 2RRR speaks to Sydney's King of Urban and Western, John Kennedy, and bassist Phil Hall (Dropbears, Sardine v, Lime Spiders) about the John Kennedy's 68 Comeback Special album "Raining Treasure Vol 2" before a set by the band.

This Thursday at 8pm Sydney time go to the Moshpit Bar Facebookfor the "Chicks Who Rock" episode, in which guest host Heather Goodman of Orbital Radio will talk to Jess Finlayson (Rasing Ravens, Nitrocris) and Bianca Kotoulas of young Sydney band Euterpe about the Sydney scene and women bands.  Join the Facebook event here.

Raining Treasure 2: More Australian Indie Gold Covers – John Kennedy’s 68 Comeback Special (MGM/Foghorn)

Tribute bands are mostly a blot on the musical ecosystem, right?. OK, they provide a fertile spawning pond for young players and pay bills for the oldsters, but most cover acts faithfully mimic role models just to milk money from morons.

This isn’t about the odd cover thrown into a set of originals because the drummer and the rhythm guitarist like the song or the band jammed out a loose approximation of a chart hit at rehearsal two nights earlier and wants to be ironic.

No, this is a gripe about hacks making money by mindlessly sating the appetites of dim RSL club masses who don’t know what they like but sure do like what they know. These people dance when they should know better or clap hopelessly out of time in the way that only middle-aged white people can.

Which is not territory into which “Raining Treasure 2” ventures on this eclectic collection of songs by Aussie bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s .

Always the Bridegroom – John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong (Foghorn)

This 1987 album was a much-maligned chapter in Sydney artist John Kennedy’s back pages. For a few understandable reasons. The first long-player for Kennedy and his then-band, Love Gone Wrong, got a mixed critical reaction. Its sonic character rankled the band leader, and it presaged the line-up’s dissolution.

The story’s all there in Kennedy’s breezy liner notes (“The Album That Killed My Career”) and a few things stick out: The band was a relatively new line-up and lacked confidence. They’d tried too hard in preceding demo sessions that failed to raise interest from major labels, and the studio approach for the album’s recording killed any prospect of a vibe by using a click track to guide drummer Vince Sheehan.

Live at The Marrickville Bowl. - John Kennedy  and the New Originals(I-94 Bar Records)

Lately, I have been thinking about the Australian movie “Death in Brunswick”, a bona fide classic and a brilliant black comedy. It features a kitchen from hell in a decrepit nightclub, populated by the dodgiest of characters. The smell of rat poison and mouse shit, and there’s a cockroach invasion that resembles an army removing food scraps. 

Now, I once worked one night as a kitchen hand at the notorious Kardomah Café (aka "The Dark Coma") when I was living in Kings Cross. The kitchen was not as horrifying as the one as in the movie, but I did feel like the Sam Neil character, channeling Dostoyevsky as I chopped onions, prepared soggy fries and tried to cut over-ripe tomatoes to sit forlornly atop nondescript cheeseburgers. 

Australian singer-songwriter John Kennedy has survived a stroke, crossed continents, and emerged with an album on I-94 Bar Records that sounds nothing like business as usual.

"The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)" is released on 25 September and pre-sales are open on Kennedy's Bandcamp and the label Bandcamp. 

Following his stroke in 2025, Kennedy relocated to Berlin, where former bandmate Moe Jaksch challenged him to leave his familiar pop-rock territory behind. Their Rocking Chair Studio sessions produced three songs Kennedy dubbed "The Berlin Trilogy", a tongue-in-cheek nod to David Bowie’s Berlin years.

The project grew after Kennedy moved to Spain, bringing together an international cast including Peter Loveday, Paco Peneranda, Frank Kearns, Paul Scott, Hybride Goldking, Peter O’Doherty and Hunting At Dawn. 

The next release on I-94 Bar Records will be “Live at The Marrickville Bowl” by John Kennedy and The New Originals on November 15.

The album captures the farewell gig by urban and western troubadour Kennedy and his all-star band, performed under the Copperart ceiling of the beloved Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney’s inner-west in May 2022.

Kennedy upped stakes and relocated to Spain shortly after the sold-out show, unaware that in-house soundman Richard Ball had captured the gig on hard drive. A post-show listen by bassist Phil Hall (ex-Dropbears, Sardine v and Lime Spiders) confirmed that something special had been recorded. He and Kennedy oversaw some minor polishing before Melbourne’s Ernie O sprinkled his mastering magic dust.

Kennedy’s band, The New Originals was Hall, Murray Cook (Wiggles, Soul Movers) and Matt Galvin (Barbarellas, Scruffs, Happy Hate Me Nots) on guitars and longtime drummer Pete Timmerman.   

Kennedy will support CD’s release with a string of homecoming gigs with The New Originals and also in solo mode in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in December and January.

The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations) - John Kennedy: (I-94 Bar Records)

This album marks a watershed in John Kennedy’s life and musical journey. It represents a special time, with him surviving a stroke a year ago, making a move overseas to become a grey nomad with life partner Anja before settlement in sunny Spain where this record tookshape.

Early discussions with former bandmate Moe Jakschin Berlin produced three songs (“The Rocking Chair Studio sessions”). Further collaborations with an international cast of talented players (see Album Credits) morphed to produce this interesting and sensitive album of 12 songs. In collaborator Moe Jaksckin’s own words a departure  and “not the same old Kennedy shit”.

Before we delve into the new release, it’s worth noting what John has done in his prolific career. Working as an architect in Brisbane and Sydney, he’s has been a player in the alternative Urban and Western music space in Australia since the mid-‘80s. With various band projects - the Cuban Crisis, Love Gone Wrong and more - recently collaborating with Phil Hall (Drop Bears, Lime Spiders), Red Wiggle Murray Cook (Soul Movers) , and Peter Timmerman (recently The Smoking Ruins) to form The New Originals. 

The same supergroup (with gun for hire, Matt Galvin) produced two wonderful indie cover releases as the ’68 Comeback Special, the two volumes of “Raining Treasures”. It’s noteworthy that John crowd-funded those and the latest project, engaging fans who were asked to invest in releases. A clever way of controlling and owning the music production and distribution process. In these tough times it shows that experience and wisdom counts. 

A look at the tracklist for “The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)” shows an introspective and thoughtful John Kennedy, reflecting a longing for love, and sharing of wisdom and reflection.

John has stripped back the sound and this allows his mellow and deep vocal to shine. He channels the best of past crooners and this produces some lovely slow ballads backed with gorgeous twangy guitar - aka the recently departed Ron S Peno and Cam Butler from The Superstitions. 

With this release marking 40 odd years of work, it places JFK in the same bracket as other stayers of the local industry. People like Steve Kilbey, Paul Kelly, Robert Forster and even Dave Graney, all of who have been prolific in their output. True to his Urban and Western roots, “The Berlin Trilogy (and Other Collaborations)” is very easy to listen to and enjoy.

The standouts for me are songs “Sweet Thing” which features some fine harmonica and a nice dreamy arrangement, and “I’ll Wait For You” with its beautiful twangy guitar and spacious introduction. This one takes fans down memory lane via a music trail of past Sydney venues like The Manzil Room, Springfield Avenue and Khardomah Cafe. There's a singalong chorus and perhaps the song hints at romantic times for JFK. Why not? We were along for the ride as well!

“(I Won’t Be) The First To Leave” is an upbeat anthem for us all that shows when love goes wrong in youth, the wisdom shines through. It recalls The Mentals’ quirky “If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too”.

“Ohh, Woollongabba” with John’s wonderful deep vocal is instantly captivating. It’s an ode to Brisbane (the city of Kennedy’s youth) and its surrounds like Coolangatta and its teen dreams and beer gardens that’s nostalgic but not syrupy!

At nearly 10 minites long, “Red Dust Rider” is an instant classic, a spacey spoken word story filled with dreams and wishes. This is such a departure from regular JFK stuff that I had to hear it again immediately to be sure it was the same John Kennedy and not a Presidential impostor! Evocative, compelling and moody. Cinematic and complete with tragedy the protagonist is too late for the rendezvous. It’s worth investing in this LP, IMHO for this track alone!

The other tracks offer plenty more; “Come Into The Light”, “Time to Leave Berlin” and “Long Time John” reveal many a recurring theme to be found in the thoughtful lyrics.

This is a fresh sounding album that’s aged well (along with JFK.) Raw at times, it’s a very personal release with loads of positivity. And don’t we all need that in these troubled times.

Ironically, there is little or no Bowie in the songs or music and I guess that’s the whimsical part of the release. The cover shot of a drab John in his Stetson, posing like Bowie, is priceless!

John Frances Kennedy is touring the Australian East Coast during November and December ’26. John hasn’t been idle off-stage and there’s a memoir, “Have Songs Will Travel”, being published to coincide. - John Ventoura

Buy it 

John Kennedy
Australian Tour
20 November - Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney
5 December - Yorkshire Stingo Hotel, Melbourne
12 December - Smith’s Alternative, Canberra
19 December - Side B, Blackheath (Solo)
9 January - The Cave Inn, Brisbane

These days, when I hear the little box of CDs clunk into the mailbox, I react with a sense of awe. What, more people out there pouring their hearts and souls into a couple of handfuls of songs, putting them out in a physical format and launching them out into the world like coracles attempting an Atlantic Crossing?

How can this be? How can they be so determined, so optimistic?

Yeah, well. This time, I'm looking at the new release by a legendary Sydney “urban cowboy”, an architect/musician who just won't be forced off of the stage. Apparently, apart from a brief stint in Berlin (hence the title), he's putting his socks over the hearth in Spain these days.

Who, you ask? Why, John Kennedy, I reply. Ain't you ever heard of him? Uh-oh. Yeah, that's a bit of an issue, isn't it? Especially in these days of excessively lengthy instant search results, almost all displaying results for the wrong fucking bloke.

Okay, it takes a bit of whittling. No, he's not the American bloke who got shot because some other septics wanted a war in South-East Asia and he didn't. Nor is he the other American singer-songwriter who grew up in Nashville (unless the bugger was cloned whilst young). And, as you can imagine, there are innumerable characters who also apparently merit our attention, including a much-loved DJ, and I expect there's also an interminable list of portly housecats and slipper-chewing rug-soiling hounds who answer to the name "John Kennedy" or "JFK".

If I am ever gonna interview this chap, that'll the first question: Why the everloving fuck didn't you change your fucking name to something else? Surely "Arnold Snodgrass" would've stood out more? "Bertie Hurdygurdy"? "Bill Sniffling"? Hell, "Iggy Squeezevomit"?

Oh, well,. I suppose sharing the name with a US president whose head got famously splattered like a dropped punkin’ filled with grey and red goo would cause a certain amount of infamy - and therefore attention. Perhaps that was the reason. I mean, JFK & the Cuban Crisis was a band name that really would have been fairly confronting (or, decadently amusing).

I mean, you'll recall that, in the USA, The Dead Kennedys copped rather a lot more than media attention. JFK & the Cuban Crisis appeared less than 20 years since the rather more-famous JFK had been shot; imagine if some japester band were to call themselves 'The Bali Bombers' today. Or, perhaps, 'The TISM Killers', or 'Pauline's Pogrom', or 'The Cronulla Nullas'.

And, back in the early '80s, pop was stuffing all manner of influences into the blender; as I'm sure you also know, punk and new wave caused an extraordinary explosion of innovation and talent to walk the earth. Must've been an interesting, rather busy time for the man - particularly as I understand he had a day job - an architect. Useful, as I assume his work kept him in strings, amps, a crappy touring van and petrol.

If there's a style which folk like to hang around Kennedy's neck, it's "Urban and Western", but really... despite all the US country-tinge, I find his songs more reminiscent of laid-back pop best suited to chillin' on the balcony with a few mates and a hearty supply of coldies. A classic example might be "Strangers Kiss", from the John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong LP "Always the Bridegroom".

Anyway, I'm sure the readers in Sydney are all familiar with John Kennedy by now: he's released records and CDs under his own name, but with other bands too, John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong, John Kennedy and the Honeymooners, John Kennedy and the Lone Gunmen, John Kennedy's '68 Comeback Special and more lately John Kennedy and the New Originals; the bands play his own songs but he's released at least three collections of covers... and... here we are today.

I suspect he's something of a culture junkie, as the Community Broadcasting Association describe him as "living, performing and recording in LA, Berlin, Hong Kong, Holland and London" for ten years before returning to Sydney "in the 2000's".

The record company's Bandcamp pageexplains that Kennedy had a stroke in 2025 before relocating first to Berlin - and then Spain. That this record exists at all indicates that not only is Australia's John F. Kennedy somewhat harder to kill off, in typical Australian tradition, he's clearly something of a determined bugger, if not a stubborn old sod. 

The Bandcamp page further explains; "former bandmate Moe Jaksch challenged him to leave his familiar pop-rock territory behind... the result is a fresh, contemporary take on Kennedy’s distinctive Urban and Western sound — adventurous, collaborative and, in [Jaksch's] words, “not the same old Kennedy shit”.".

"The Berlin Trilogy" was produced by Kennedy himself, and mastered by the increasingly infamous Ernie Oppenheimer, and features Moe Jaksch, Peter Loveday, Paco Peneranda, Frank Kearns, Paul Scott, Hybride Goldking, Peter O’Doherty and Hunting At Dawn.

There's a lot of languid, gently exploratory beauty here - "The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)" is an LP for (older) lovers. Call it groovy, laid-back pop if you like, but essentially the man has sewn his heart onto his cowboy hat. If these songs are any indication, he's found love (again), which means the LP is positive, upbeat yet sensitive and... yeah, where were we on the balcony? Ah, yes, someone special and a chilled light red.

For a stubborn old sod, "The Berlin Trilogy" is deceptive: on the surface it might feel light, but as you listen and as the songs get beneath your epidermis, you find there's real weight, strength and value to them. The tunes tend to grow on you, too; I found myself humming "I'll Wait For You" or "(I Won't Be) The First To Leave" at several inappropriate moments (the doctor was curious enough to pause mid-injection). Don't ask. 

John Kennedy's memoir, "Have Songs, Will Travel", will be out soon, so he'll be playing a few select dates on the East Coast, starting in November. - Robert Brokenmouth

1/2

Buy it 

The new John Kennedy album "The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)" is now selling via his Bandcamp site and I-94 Bar Records with Australian shows to follow,

Brisbane-raised and Sydney domiciled utntil recent years, Kennedy is now based in Spain and his album was mostly recorded in Berlin. It brings together an international cast including Peter Loveday, Paco Peneranda, Frank Kearns, Paul Scott, Hybride Goldking, Peter O’Doherty and Hunting At Dawn.

John Kennedy Australian dates
NOV
20  — Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney
DEC
5  — Yorkshire Stingo Hotel, Melbourne
12 — Smith’s Alternative, Canberra
19 — Side B, Blackheath (Solo)
JAN
9 — The Cave Inn, Brisbane

It’s a brilliant idea so why didn’t someone do it before?

What’s that? you say. Record a bunch of iconic, mostly Sydney, underground songs in a way that honours the originals but makes them their own – at least for a few minutes.

UK-born, Brisbane-bred John Kennedy became a fixture on Sydney inner-city scene in the 1980s after cutting his musical teeth in his hometown. His distinctive “urban western” songs, and his bands JFK and The Cuban Crisis and John Kennedy’s Love Gone Wrong, earned him a healthy niche in a city that back then was groaning with musical talent.

John Kennedy was always backed by excellent bands and inevitably joined his peers in spreading their versions of the word on the national touring circuit, before moving overseas for a time. He and various line-ups of his John Kennedy’s ‘68 Comeback Special have been kicking around the now skeletal Sydney scene (read: Inner-Western Delta) for the last decade or so.

_{Mark Roxburgh fronting Joeys Coop. Murray Bennett photo}

In no particular order a bunch of music and music related things that have grabbed my attention. Some of it is shit and some of it I’m ambivalent about but all of it has fed my passion for music.

A.I. and music @ Skynet
I was researching AI and design about five years ago and saw that much of what designers did would soon disappear and design would split into two camps – bespoke design “crafted” by people or mass-produced design generated using AI via the prompts written by people. I suspect music will follow a similar path. 

People will still write and play songs the old fashion way and it will probably be a bit of a niche / bespoke activity. A lot of mediocre mass-produced music will be generated using AI via the prompts written by people. We’ll probably hear more of it in things like corporate videos or ad jingles and the ubiquitous Tik Tok videos to begin with but I suspect it will eventually dominate the popular music landscape. The precursor to this is of course sampling. 

The advent of sampling has led to a huge growth in genres of music that is not written so much as it is cut and pasted together. Honing one’s prompt craft to get a song out of AI is the next logical step. The soundtrack of Skynet. Meantime I’ll still write and sing songs no one will listen to apart from 15 blokes of a certain age in a dodgy bar somewhere.

JFK’s Top Ten For 2024

As some here will know, I’ve spent the last year on the road in Spain. So when I was asked for a Rock and Roll Top Ten, I couldn’t really scrape together a list of ten concerts or records because I just hadn’t attended or listened to that many. I’d done a lot of rolling down the road. But the only rock I’d experienced was at Gibraltar.

What I had been doing had more to do with bricks and mortar than rock and roll. While I spent most evenings in my life enjoying music, I’d been earning a living by day as an architect. So my travels around Spain were full of visits to architectural wonders. I can tell you, I’ve been enjoying architecture more in the last year than I ever did working in architectural companies. So here’s my Top Ten list of Spanish architecture listed in the rough chronological order that I discovered them in:

1. The Ferreres Aqueduct, Tarragona. I love Roman aqueducts. Finding a structure that’s still standing  and in reasonable condition 2,000 years after it was built is just amazing. The simplicity and geometric perfection of the design are so impressive.

The second instalment of “Raining Treasure”, the rather excellent countryfried salute to Sydney underground rock and roll’s heyday by Sydney’s Urban and Western master, John Kennedy, is on its way.

A crowdfunding campaign is in full swing and rewards range from autographed copies with your name on the cover to a show in your own home.  

You can make sure you’re part of the action with John and his band The 68 Comeback Special by going here.

The second in a series, “Raining Treasure Vol 2” will features covers classic ‘70s and ‘80s songs (and obscurities) by The Boys Next Door, The Riptides, The Passengersand  Radio Birdman.How do you say Yeah Hup with a country twang? 

Flaming Hands vocalist Julie Mostyn-Gilbert is a guest on the album and is pictured at the recording session with Kennedy.