Jill Sobule

Jill Sobule, who tragically died in a house fire in Minneapolis, in the early hours of 1 May 2025, had forged a career largely under the radar over thirty years, but was hugely admired by the myriad of musicians from both sides of the pond who had worked with her.

While her name was vaguely familiar, her story and musical legacy had sadly passed me by. But today we pay our respects and use her varied and interesting career as a starting point for a Six Degrees Of Kevin Shields. As ever, we will twist and turn down some (hopefully) interesting musical roads, on our way to making six(ish) connections between Sobule and Shields. 

---

Jill Sobule was from Denver, and launched her musical career in the 1990's. Over the years, she had released eight studio albums, and in the late 2000's she was one of the pioneers of crowd funding, in order to get her seventh record, California Years, made.

Her brief moment adjacent to the spotlight though, came in the mid-90's. Her song, I Kissed A Girl (no, not the Katy Perry one) reached the Top20 of the Billboard Modern Rock chart, and the lower reaches of the main Top100. It was an early LGBT anthem, being about a lesbian relationship and had an humorous video that featured Italian model (and apparent actor), Fabio. That same year, another of her songs, Supermodel, a send-up of American teenage lifestyles, was included in the movie Clueless.

Jill Sobule: I Kissed A Girl (Official music video)

Over the years she collaborated with the likes of Lloyd Cole, John Doe (of L.A. punk pioneers, X) and the actor Julia Sweeney (SNL, Stuart Little). Her tragic death, at the age of 66, came in a house fire, which at the time of writing, police are still investigating the cause.

***

Clueless was a 1995 movie, written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It is loosely based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma, but was adapted to tell the tale of a wealthy and beautiful high school student (Alicia Silverstone) who befriends a newbie at her high school (Brittany Murphy), while trying to figure life out, date boys and try and match-make teachers.

It featured a soundtrack with a range of indie and pop-punk tracks of the era, by the likes of Luscious Jackson, Radiohead, Supergrass and Beastie Boys. There is also an interesting and somewhat different acoustic cover of The Ghost In You done by Counting Crows.

Counting Crows: The Ghost In You (Audio only)

***

While Counting Crows might have made a name for themselves in the 1990s, with their brand of rootsy rock and the monster album August And Everything After - the original The Ghost In You was penned by brothers Richard and Tim Butler of British indie band, the Psychedelic Furs.

The Psychedelic Furs: The Ghost In You (Official music video - because it is so different (and better) than the cover, it's worth sticking this version in too)

It was a minor hit from their fourth record, Mirror Moves, released in 1984 and produced by the then in-demand Keith Forsey. He made quite the contribution to the record, as well as producing, with the bands original drummer Vince Ely having left before recording started, Forsey also did most of the drumming on the album too.

***

The early to mid-80's was a popular time for Keith Forsey. The London born producer had started out as a drummer with various fairly avant-garde rock bands in the 1960's, before switching across to work in disco as the 70's progressed - teaming up with the likes of Boney M, and drumming for the legendary Giorgio Moroder (working on records by Donna Summer and Sparks).

In the 80s he was producing rock records; there was Billy Idol's solo debut in 1982, and that same year, the breakout second LP, Primitive Man, by Aussie band Icehouse. He also co-wrote the Oscar winning movie title track, Flashdance… What A Feeling, with Moroder.

There is another bit of a movie cross-over here - the Psychedelic Furs, who as we now know worked with Forsey around this time, provided the title track for John Hughes' teen film Pretty In Pink, and he also co-wrote and produced Simple Minds U.S. breakthrough hit, Don't You (Forget About Me), which is forever synonymous with the massive hit John Hughes film, The Breakfast club.

Simple Minds: Don't You (Forget About Me) (Live in Rotterdam, 1985) 

***

One of the artists who was offered a chance to sing Don't You, was Bryan Ferry. He passed on that offer, as did Billy Idol, but he provides us with an interesting avenue to pursue.

Bryan Ferry is the Washington born (that's Durham, not D.C.) singer best known for his work with Roxy Music and his style and silky, seductive singing voice. He is so cool, the author and broadcaster Peter York once described him as "an art object [who] should hang in the Tate."

As well as his work in Roxy Music, Ferry has had several long spells as a solo artist. While his work in the 70's and 80s probably produced his best known songs, like The Price Of Love and Slave To Love - he has kept on recording (perhaps if nothing else, because the Roxy reunions don't tend to generate any new music).

In 2002, for his album Frantic, he enlisted the help of the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, who co-wrote several of the tracks on the record. He also played guitar too - and there were other notable guest musicians including Brian Eno and Paul Thompson (both Roxy bandmates), Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), top session player Chris Spedding and Andy Newmark (Sly & The Family Stone).

Bryan Ferry: Goddess Of Love (Live on Parkinson, 2002)

***

David A. Stewart (coincidentally from the same north-eastern corner of England area as Ferry) is of course best known for his work with Annie Lennox  in The Tourists (who had a hit with a cover of Dusty's I Only Want To Be With You) and the Eurythmics.

After the Eurythmics split in 1990, Stewart didn't stand still for long. He formed a new band, The Spiritual Cowboys, who released two albums in quick succession. Then he collaborated with Terry Hall (The Specials) as the band Vegas, with one self-titled LP released.

Vegas: Possessed (Official music video)

He has produced lots of big names too. There was Southern Accents for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Feargal Sharkey's (The Undertones) debut LP (which includes his big hit, A Good Heart), Mick Jagger, Jon Bon Jovi, Ringo Starr, and as mentioned, Bryan Ferry.

***

Curve were a London-based band who had a fifteen year career (1990 - 2005) on the alt-rock scene, largely known for their 'shoegaze' style of electronica. The band's Dean Garcia had toured and recorded for a while in the mid-80s with the Eurythmics, while singer Toni Halliday had been signed to Dave Stewart's Anxious Records (although neither of these are the main link we will use this time).

Fate pulled the two of them together (short-lived group called State Of Play), pushed them apart, and then back together - this time forming Curve. They released three well-received EP's and a Top20 album, Doppelgänger.  There was an also an appearance at 1992's Glastonbury Festival and a North American tour with The Jesus And Mary Chain and Spiritualized.

Curve developed a long relationship with Alan Moulder, an English producer and engineer. He had mixed their debut, Doppelgänger, then also played guitar and mixed the follow up pair of albums, Cuckoo and Come Clean. He also made a musical contribution to fourth record Gift.

Curve: Missing Link (Official music video)

He was also the engineer on the EP's Glider (1990) and Tremolo (1991), as well as the debut LP Loveless, for My Bloody Valentine - of course featuring the talented KEVIN SHIELDS.