Fans of Jimmy Century

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Fans of Jimmy Century got off to a roaring start when their 2008-2009 single “Hot Sahara,” received national attention on the dance charts climbing to #23, as well as featured spots on television shows The L Word (in a scene so steamy, it’s now referred to by L Word fanatics as “The Hot Sahara Scene,”) Melrose Place, Community, Ugly Betty, The Hills, and Samantha Who?  “Hot Sahara” and the related album, Twist of the Banshees, were also on the prelist of nominations for two Grammy awards in the electronic dance category last year.

Their 2009 EP Head Go Whoosh featuring “Lola Like This” and “Hush Madame X” was released last August and is now available everywhere. The lead track, “Lola Like This,” was remixed by Energy 92.7’s Trevor Simpson from San Francisco, Haki from Mexico City who  scored a big hit last year on Mexican radio with his remix of FOJC’s “Hot Sahara,” Rod Carrillo, the influential program director from Phoenix’s Energy 92.7 who was an early fan and supporter, and LA’s Dave Audé, the Grammy-nominated go-to pop dance remixer of the year. These remixes are available on Lola Like This: The Apache Dance Remixes.

Fans of Jimmy Century’s infectious live sets have made them a favorite on the West Coast festival circuit, giving them the opportunity to share the stage with artists such as Lady GaGa, Cyndi Lauper, The English Beat, Shiny Toy Guns, Berlin, The Bird and the Bee, and The Presets.

Currently in 2010, FOJC has a project going with Lucas Arts, assisting orchestral composer Mark Griskey with the new Star Wars video game launching soon.   They also launched a “Hot Sahara for Haiti” campaign partnering with Windows 7 & Reverb Nation in which their socially active fanbase known as “Hotheads” raised over $500 for Haiti earthquake response.  In May 2010, they were chosen to perform at the largest fashion show on the West Coast, Charity Fashion Show 2010, at Stanford University and were featured performers at The East Bay Express’ annual Best of the East Bay 2010 event in Jack London Square, Oakland in early August.

In the earlier years, 2006 marked their self-released debut EP, and in 2007 the full-length “Twist of the Banshees,” with “The Remixes of Hot Sahara & Blonde Ambition” rounding out the three in 2008. With popular media like Dancemusic.About.com championing them, they received awards and nods for both “Global Domination,” and “Top 10 Dance Record.” After faring well with the dance crowd (even the purists,) their out-of-the-box, alternative dance sounds gained them an invitation to speak on the “Clubland’s Hitmakers” panel at DJ Times-sponsored DJ Expo 2008 in Atlantic City alongside dance acts Lady GaGa & Jes.  2009 brought newest EP “Head Go Whoosh” featuring first single “Lola Like This” alongside “Hush Madame X,” “Hearts R Mustangs,” and “International.”   Both Hot Sahara & Dirty Little Love Train were again featured on television in the hit show “Community.”

Before FOJC, the distinctive core of vocalist/composer Alicia Perrone (Berkeley, CA) and musician/composer Victor James (Alturas, CA) played around the SF bay area clubs in popular modern rock outfit, Simon Stinger, which was discovered by Ric Ocasek during his a&r days at Elektra Records in 2004.

The Simon Stinger song “French Connection” was featured as “Single of the Week,” at which time the band charted at #96 of Top 100 Itunes albums overall and #15 of the Top 100 alternative albums. “French Connection” was also featured on the Itunes Anniversary Staff Picks album in the same year. AOL & Netscape Radio also took notice adding “French Connection” and “Madame X” to their “Best of ‘o4″ Station – SS was the only independent band being played on that station.   Known for their theatricality, SS songs also lended themselves well to film soundtracks and musicals. The Miramax film “Diamonds” featured “Fringe Authority” and an actual cameo from the band in the hit motion picture starring Dan Aykroyd, Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, and Jenny McCarthy. Similarly, their own version of the song “Jamie Smiles” from the hit movie “Just Friends” starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris was chosen as a winning submission by New Line Cinema and Myspace.   In the theater realm, SS was asked to perform as The Pixies/Breeders in Elastic Future’s musical production of “The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Deal.” They were featured in print as well with Alternative Press Magazine charting “Dead On” as the 4th most downloaded new alternative song at mp3.com. As a result of this, Stinger supported The Goo Goo Dolls and Tonic on MP3.com’s Music & Technology Tour. Rounding out the larger venues, they were invited to play Perry Mann’s Exotic Erotic Ball at the Cow Palace in their bay area home of San Francisco to an audience of 20,000+.  The MGM Grand in Las Vegas followed suit, showcasing SS.  Their performance there garnered them a Musicdish award for Best Band of the Eat’m Conference two years running and a featured spot on the Eat’m official compilation.

When Elektra folded into Atlantic & Ric Ocasek left the label, Perrone & James forged a new path into alternative dance.  They wanted a name that represented their affinity for boy names in particular, and once the boy name stuck, they were free to write every song about girls who would fight for position, attention, and eventually maintain their own Twitter accounts.  So far all Fans of Jimmy Century records have been released on their own indie label, Ann-Margrock Music, named after the Flintstones character responsible for Alicia’s favorite twist.

“We’re alterna-dance ‘n’ indie disco with a thing for black velvet paintings and beat poetry,” says offbeat lead singer Alicia Perrone. “And we tend to write songs about introverted girls who transform into twisting banshees on the dance floor — lured by the temptations that make their heads go whoosh.”

LIVE SUPPORT for:
Lady GaGa
Cyndi Lauper
The Goo Goo Dolls
Scissor Sisters
Bloodhound Gang
The Bird and the Bee
The Pre-sets
Shiny Toy Guns
Train
Berlin
Missing Persons
The Donnas
The English Beat
Goldfinger
Smash Mouth
Suicidal Tendencies
311
***with over 700 performances in 25 states overall.
***largest venue: Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA – 20,000 capacity (Exotic Erotic Ball.)

Alicia Perrone, from Berkeley CA, writes the lyrics/melodies, and attaches the kitchen sink to stagewear. Perrone spent much of her teen years dodging her dad on, the dean of her high school, on campus.  Later in college, while studying English & Sociology at UC Davis, she graduated to singing torch songs ala Julie London and Edith Piaf, and slinking around onstage at local beatnik joints,smoking foil cigarettes and mimicking Ann-Margrock from the Flintstones.

Co-founder Victor James, descendant of famed outlaw Jesse James, and from Alturas CA, comes up with the initial riffs, is the band’s engineer-producer, and plays keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums on all recordings. He was initiated into the music world at age 14 when the bass player for his cousin’s band went to prison — that’s when James was called to fill-in.. Once initiated into that band, “Tommy Atkins,” he toured with them from the time he was 14 to 17, released an album and appeared on MTV in the band’s video.

Stand-up drummer Allen Chiu, from Hercules CA, plays with the band live and collaborated creatively with Perrone and James on their recent songs. Chiu, performs hip hop (which he produces on the side), and heads up a successful events production company.

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