Jamie Wednesday was a British 80's jangle-pop band that released eight songs on three records between 1985 and 1987. At first they were called The Ballpoints and then Dead Clergy and finally settled on Jamie Wednesday.

The band consisted of:
James Morrison - acoustic guitar, lead vocals
Leslie Carter - bass guitar, backing vocals
Dean Leggett - Drums and percussion
Lindsay Lowe - Trumpet
Simon Henry - Saxophone

The story is that James and Dean and Lindsay and Simon were in the studio rehearsing or recording or something and they needed a bass guitar player. Leslie was in the studio recording with another band and James saw him. James had known Leslie from before and in fact they had performed together. James asked Leslie to come and play bass for Jamie Wednesday.

They recorded and released two EPs and contributed to two compilations on the Pink Records label but they never sold well and the band remained virtually unknown. In an interesting sidenote, Jamie Wednesday are responsible for the name of the band Pop Will Eat Itself when an article about Jamie Wednesday in the NME, written by David Quantick mentioned that pop music is ever-recycling its ideas and that eventually, pop will eat itself.

Jamie Wednesday split up in 1987 just before a scheduled appearance at an opening gig. James Morrison and Leslie Carter stuck together and filled in for that gig. Thus was Carter USM born. James and Leslie became Jim Bob and Fruitbat respectively.

Dean Leggett went on to play drums for a band called Bob - a band which has played with Carter USM many times.
Lindsay and Simon were a couple and Fruitbat reckons they still are. Last he heard, they were playing in a jazz band.

UPDATE: Both Lindsay and Simon appeared on Jim Bob's most recent albums: School and A Humpty Dumpty Thing.

The first EP was called Vote For Love (Pinky 06).
Released in 1985 on Pink Records, it contains four songs:

Vote For Love | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Morrison/Carter, who would later become Jim Bob and Fruitbat of Carter USM.
This song is ludicrously catchy. I love it. It gets stuck in my head for days at a time. It's very upbeat and happy.

The Wall | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Harlan Howard in 1959; Recorded by Johnny Cash in 1968.
This is a very typical Johnny Cash type song. It's sad and slow and set in a prison.

White Horses | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Michael Carr and Ben Nisbet in 1968 for the British transmission of the Yugoslavian children's TV series "White Horses".
I think it's kinda cheesy. It's certainly not my favourite JW song.
This song was also recorded by All About Eve in 1988.

Buttons and Bows | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Morrison/Carter, who would later become Jim Bob and Fruitbat of Carter USM.
This song could be on 1992: The Love Album if it had a drum machine. I dig it.
Remember the line in the Carter song Young Offender's Mum? "This time there's no buttons and bows"

The second EP was called We Three Kings Of Orient Aren't (Pinky 10).
Released in 1986 on Pink Records, it contains three songs:

We Three Kings Of Orient Aren't | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Morrison/Carter/Henry/Lowe/Leggett
This is the best Jamie Wednesday song. It's very Carter with it's sad, drunken lyrics and pop culture references.
Listen for the line "Pinch and the punch for the first of the month" which turns up again in the Carter song Being Here.

I Think I'll Throw A Party For Myself | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Morrison/Carter/Henry/Lowe/Leggett
This is very fast and upbeat - much more so than anything on the first single, even Vote For Love, but it's not quite as happy.

Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Ed McCurdy in 1950; Recorded in 1964 by Simon and Garfunkel
This is a pretty straight-up cover of the well-known folk song.

In 1987, Pink Records released a four song album called It Sells Or It Smells (Pinky 11).
Jamie Wednesday contributed one song to this sampler record.

Side A
The Wolfhounds - Stars In The Tarmac | www |
McCarthy - In Purgatory | www |

Side B
Rumblefish - Solid Wood | www |
Jamie Wednesday - Till The Cows Come Home | lyrics | mp3 |
Written by Jamie Wednesday
This song is really pretty and is a clear predecessor of the lighter piano-based Carter songs like Girls Can Keep A Secret and G.I. Blues.
This is my second favourite Jamie Wednesday song. It seems to be about the wife of an American soldier mourning the loss of her husband in an overseas war.

Pink Records also released a compilation album called Beauty (Pinky 15) in 1987.
This album has ten songs from various bands including one song from each of the JW EPs.
Most of these are jangle-pop tunes in a similar vein as the JW stuff only often a little edgier.

Side A
Rumblefish - Theatre King | www |
The Wolfhounds - Another Hazy Day On The Lazy A | www |
The June Brides - Every Conversation | www |
That Petrol Emotion - Keen | www |
Jamie Wednesday - Buttons and Bows | lyrics | mp3 |

Side B
McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty | www |
Jamie Wednesday - We Three Kings Of Orient Aren't | lyrics | mp3 |
The Wolfhounds - The Anti-Midas Touch | www |
The Ringing - Caprice | www |
The June Brides - In The Rain | www |