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| Jesse Rae does his "extra in
a Kurosawa film" impersonation |
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It's a damn shame really. When you do
the research, everyone who comes across Jesse Rae is impressed by
his sincerity and niceness. Which is maybe just as well, because his
music is terrible.
Jesse, a Borderer, is a man of many parts.
A big part of him loves getting dressed up in Scottish warrior regalia,
complete with muckle big broadsword, and making music videos to
accompany some of the shite songs he has written.
Anyone who has heard "Over the Sea",
will know what we mean. The first time FirstFoot heard it we were
on the floor laughing. It's awful, he can't sing and can't hold
a note for toffee. The accompanying video complements it wonderfully,
with Jesse on top of an American skyscraper whirling the broadsword
round his head. Unfortunately, for music lovers everywhere, he didn't
fall off.
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| Jesse, replete with the regalia that
made him so tediously infamous |
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Or "The Thistle", an unmelodious
dirge which features a video of Jesse running through the waves
of an American city beach, complete with pneumatic Baywatcherettes,
and standing on top of a moving steam train in Scotland whirling
the infamous sword. And, once again, an opportunity was missed.
Despite the combined desires of music lovers everywhere for him
to fall off the train, Jesse managed to stay on his feet.
I guess that one of our problems with his
persona is the same one that Scots generally have about Harry Lauder.
It's an embarrassing caricature that does poor service to his home
country.
And it all started so well for Jesse. In
1981 he wrote "Inside Out" for the American disco group,
Odyssey. It was an international hit which still gets radio play
today. He would probably still be getting regular royalty cheques
if he hadn't been declared bankrupt in 2002.
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| Guess what ... Jesse's all dressed
up again |
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He's been around too. Anyone who remembers
the real fun, heavy duty funk madness of Bernie Worrell and Funkadelic
or Parliament, might be surprised to know that Jesse Rae was hanging
around with Bernie Worrell and did an album with him under the name
of the Space Cadets.
He had worldwide deals with serious record
labels, won international awards for his early multimedia work and,
as well as his Odyssey hit, has also written for bands like Human
League.
Today, Jesse is back in the Borders. Pissed
off with the bank that bankrupted him. Doing rugby radio broadcasts
on Borders internet radio and possibly wondering where it all went
wrong.
But he has a locker full of memories that
many of us would kill for.
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