Ian Hampton, Adrian Fisher and another members of band

Ian Hampton played bass guitar on Sparks''''''Propaganda'''' and ''''Indiscreet'''' albums.

Ian Hampton was born on January 4th, 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Soon he played in various outfits and became a star in his home town. Ian''s early influences were mostly The Beatles, The Kinks & The Beach Boys but he liked Beethoven''s music too. Except bass guitar he played guitar & some keyboards but was self taught. Ian Hampton''s other interests were Motor car racing, in which he had won several local awards.
Ian Hampton knew singer Ian "Ralf" Kimmet since age of 5. They attented the Royal High School together in Edinburgh and both played in local bands in Scotland. When Kimmet and guitarist Trevor White, spent some months in Kimmet''s native Jedburgh, they met Ian Hampton and with the addition of drummer Chris Townson they put Jook together.
The band was managed by John Hewlett (ex-John''s Children). John Hewlett secured a record deal with RCA and a publishing contract with producer Mickie Most.
Meanwhile, together with manager John Hewlett, Ron and Russell Mael were looking everywhere in England for potential recruits. The Maels liked Jook and an idea of merging the two bands was proposed.



Jook�s own future at that point looked promising and even Sparks were a great group when it came to it the boys felt so bad about breaking up the little family they�d been in for a couple of years.
Jook with Ian Hampton released five powerful singles which are now rightly regarded as classics of British Glam-Punk-Rock-Pop music. But Jook records were relative flops at time and on the other hand Sparks had become top stars in England with the release of "Kimono My House" Lp. As the chemistry between the Maels and bassist Martin Gordon wasn�t working well Ian Hampton replaced Martin Gordon in the band. Soon guitarist Trevor White was also recruited and Jook died. - read more about Jook....
During the "Kimono My House" era, the Maels wanted previous bassist Martin Gordon to use a Fender Precision bass instead of his Rickenbacker 4001 bass for live appearances of the band but the bass player didn''t. So they appreciated a lot Ian Hampton playing Fender bass guitars. Ian got a white Fender Precision and a superb gloss black finish Jazz bass and claimed it was a delight to play it.


http://www.amazon.com/Music-Victor-Davies-Ian-Hampton/dp/B0000044CS




Among British members of the "Kimono" line-up, Adrian Fisher was the quietest, himself admitting to �astral travelling� a lot of the time when he wasn�t playing. But Adrian''s habit of sticking a cigarette onto the bit of guitar string that sticks out at the top of the neck drove the Maels nervous. The Maels felt it was a clich�. Adrian Fisher justified it by saying "Eric Clapton do it, and that''s good enough for me"...

Joseph Fleury, fan club secretary and later Sparks manager, about Adrian Fisher''s departure : "Things were getting really difficult with guitarist Adrian Fisher. Adrian hated the band, he hated the music, he was simply in it for the money. So Ron Mael and Russell Mael were looking someone and it looked for a while as though Ian North from Milk n'' Cookies might be suitable, but he proved otherwise." (from "Glam Rock" by Dave Thompson, 1996)



During the late 80''s, Adrian Fisher moved to Thailand and worked as a musician in a holiday resort town called Lamai Beach in Ko-Samui. Then he moved to Bangkok around 1990 and started playing at clubs like "The Saxophone" and many others...
Bangkok had an exciting nightlife with a lot of interesting musicians, but Adrian Fisher didn''t like the traffic jam and the chaos and pollution... So, when Adrian met Juppa - his girlfriend -, they decided one year later to go down to Paradise Island Ko-Samui, where Adrian soon received guitar-hero status. He was well known for playing in suits and jackets despite the heat but was also a little bit... "thirsty".
Adrian Fisher played as a blues-troubadour with his own band and as a guest artist with other bands. Drummer Olof Bergius from Stockholm played drums with him on maybe 25 live gigs. Adrian also sang lead with a cool, slow Hendrix-sounding approach. He played only blues then. In 1999 the BBC had made a documentary about 3 people and their life destiny including the story of Adrian Fisher in Thailand...
As long as he could play the guitar, Adrian was happy for the moment. In his mind he knew that he had to change lifestyle but it''s difficult living on a holiday resort... When he finally did try to change things, it was already too late. Adrian Fisher dies on March 31, 2000.

Bassist
Hampton''s Artist Spotlight
Adrian Fisher
Dinky Diamond
Trevor White