Information about the northern Michigan rock band
* JET PLANE JANE *
STORY:
Information about the northern Michigan rock band
* JET PLANE JANE *
STORY:
Jet Plane Jane was a rock band that toured various northern Michigan clubs in the early 1990's. Don't ask me to remember the actual dates, because I can't. Just trust me on this. It was formed by two members of a band called 'Rock Candy', by Todd Moore, and Jeff Thompson. Todd and Jeff sought a bass player, and found Ross Ross, a quality musician from American Samoa, who made his way to the mainland by singing Elvis covers on cruise ships. I'm not making this up! Jet Plane Jane was known for it's big harmony vocals, and diverse set list that had elements of metal, pop, punk, country and R&B.
Two member changes were made between the first gigs at 'Marty's Bull Pin' in Standish, and the final gigs at Powsers lost creek lodge in Luzerne. Mark Girrard came on to play bass after Ross left, and Kevin (Forgot your last name, dude!) also stepped in to play bass for the last half year or so. Over the three-or-so years the band was active, we managed to work pretty steadily, and play many shows around Michigan. While it sometimes seemed like a drag back then, I can honestly say that we had some great fun!
THIS SITE:
My mother recently unearthed a copy of a Jet Plane Jane Demo tape that was recorded back in 1990 or 91. I hadn't heard this tape in quite some time so I was excited to get it and put it in a digital medium where it could be protected and shared. While recording the tape to the PC, I decided that it would be cool to put up this 'info' site, just in case any of the members or 'fans' of the band decided to do a google search for the band name. So, here it is; The Jet Plane Jane tribute Page:
MEMBERS:
Not pictured: Kevin - Bass
Tim Moore - Sound/light tech guy.
FLYER:
Interesting story about the flyer:
We never played this gig! The day before we were supposed to play the first show, the bar got seized by the IRS, along with ALL of our gear! Jeff spent a frantic day on the phone with an IRS agent, before we were cleared to go in and pull all the stuff out. We had a window of a half hour to get in and get it done, and we made it.
Unfortunately, all we got from that gig was the memory of not playing it.....And this stupid flyer.
PHOTOS:
Jet Plane Jane's first gig, at Marty's Bull pin, Standish Michigan.
Todd and Mark hamming it up. Most likely playing 'Detroit Rock City'.
Jeff, Singing and playing
Todd, singing about something or other at Powsers Lost Creek Lodge.
SET LISTS:
I found this notebook with an actual Jet Plane Jane set list in it. Click on the pages for a larger view to see the stuff we were inflicting upon people!
DEMO TAPE:
After forming the band and doing a little practice, we decided that we needed to record a demo tape to send to area clubs so they could hear what we were about. This may have been a bad idea, in retrospect! (grin)
We rented a 4 track recorder from a local musician, and started off recording. We recorded the Guitar, Bass and Drums live from the subgroups on our mixing board one evening, and I spent the rest of the night ping-ponging the band tracks down to one track. The next morning we did the vocals, that afternoon I did some guitar overdubs, and that night we did the final mix down
Everything was pretty much done in one take, as you will be able to tell. We recorded two songs that didn't make the tape, for no apparent reason that I can think of.
MP3 FILES:
01 - Fly Me Courageous Jeff If you were a rock band in the early 90's, you played this song. One of only Two Drivin' and Cryin's 'hit' songs, this was a driving way to open a set. 02 - Girl Like You Todd Smithereens classic hit that we learned all wrong. The main riff isn't supposed to go like that, as the timing between the D and the F is all off. I know that.... NOW! Geeze! 03 - Sweet Emotion Jeff I had intended to do some guitar stuff over the boring intro there, but I never did. This is our version of that Aerosmith song, but doesn't have a lot in common with its namesake (smile). If you think the lyrics sound out of order, it's only because they are. This song was pretty messed up on the tape my mum found, so I did some digital editing to fix all the parts that were gone. The first verse is on here twice, and the third verse not at all. Ross This song makes me smile. Ross' delivery in broken english is wonderful. The guitar sounds like crap, because it was a crappy guitar, with a crappy pickup stuffed in the sound hole. This is a lesson in 'how not to record acoustic guitar', 101. 05 - Stone Cold Crazy Jeff The great Queen rocker, and most likely our favorite song to play at the time. It is everything good about rock music. 06 - Every Rose has it's Thorn Todd Our girlfriends liked this song. We can all admit that now. End of story. 07 - The Munster's Jeff talks. We used to end our second set with this 'Metal Musters' theme we worked up, and we figured it would be a good one to add to the tape as our introduction. Don't call the number - Jeff doesn't live there, and I doubt we'll be planning any reunion tours in the near future. OTHER BANDS FROM OUR CURCUIT (that I can remember):
Big Trouble
Tantrum
French Kiss
Cat's Meow
Rosetta Stone
Well, That's it! If you found this page and know me from the club days or were an old band mate, drop me a line and tell me how you've been! If you have anything to add to this page, send it and I will. (For example; Jeff still has the picture of when we shared the Marquee out in front of a club in St. Ignace with Night Ranger, and Rick Derringer - that would be a cool photo to put on here.).
If you just accidentally just wandered in here, SORRY! Geeze!
