I met Jack in London 1986.I was a lawyer in a firm called Steggles Palmer in the Holborn area of the city.A studio had seized original tape recordings of Jack's material and were refusing to hand them over.Your grandpa wanted me to negotiate their release.We had the meeting in the firm's board room and in there was a fully stocked drinks cabinet.I took to Jack immediately and offered him a drink.I recall his tipple was vodka and there was a full bottle of Smirnoff in the cabinet.The meeting started at 3pm and went on until 7pm when the bottle expired.Jack's a lovely,warm ,friendlyand compassionate guy and a great story teller.He told men all about how he came to write Hanging on the Telephone with a picture book of Beatle's songs being the primary inspiration. Anyway,I guess we must have got a bit rowdy with Jack starting to sing and all!! and the senior partner of the law firm bounded into the room wondering what the hell was going on.He saw the empty vodka bottle and Jack in mid flow and started going apoplectic and glaring at me with a "You're fired!!" expression.All I had to say was "Boss,meet Mr Jack Lee,the original writer of Blondie's hit "Hanging on the Telephone"and the situation immediately calmed down and my boss asked Jack for an autograph for his daughter and insisted on taking the both of us out to dinner!! As the writer of Blondie's biggest selling UK hit my boss immediately realised that Jack was a valuable client to have for his firm!!
What a great breakdown of how he writes songs. I think he might be the first person I’ve ever heard actually explain his “process” in an interesting and humble way.
I was just looking up The Nerves and shocked to See Jack had passed Rest in Peace Jack, You brought many joy through your music that will last forever ! Thank you Jack
I've been a record collector and music fan for over 40 years and just now have I heard the most straightforward and honest premise of songwriting. RIP Jack, you may be gone but your music lives on forever !!!
I've never heard someone describe the songwriting process so succinctly and realised as Jack Lee does in this clip. It's a powerful feeling, "Like a lightning bolt". What an unrealised gem he was. Rest easy Jack. Your influence will be felt in waves for eons to come. Humble too.
Jack Lee must be really happy when he visits RU-vid and sees/hears all the great covers of his song that have been made. I was really surprised to see that there were more than a dozen here.
this film could have been done 20 years ago. We're not told. Check the dates on the comments below. It was very casual. I was afraid he was going to burn his finger. ashtray time!!!
Wow, this was posted in 2006 (the start of RU-vid?), it must be one of the older videos on the platform. Nice to see it. Appropriate he discusses Dylan and the Beatles while Dylan's "Tangled up in Blue" is playing in the background.
That's the process of inspiration, accurately described. It happens TO you and comes from somewhere else and passes through you into the rest of the world. If you cannot do this, it is magic. Hence celebrity and fame.
This really angers me. The link states Jack Lee with versions of Hanging on The Telephone and his version, Blondie's version, plus The Nerves and after the inteview finishes you are suddenly listening to something completely different. A marketing ploy I think is in bad taste and really isses me off.
This really angers me. The link states Jack Lee with versions of Hanging on The Telephone and his version, Blondie's version, plus The Nerves and after the inteview finishes you are suddenly listening to something completely different. A marketing ploy I think is in bad taste and really isses me off. Ann Munday
