Representative Albums: "The Outer Marker", "Overtones", "All Night Cinema
Representative Songs: "Paradise (Lost & Found)", "Triple Tone Eyes", "Snowflakes
Biography
Sometimes a little Madness can help a lot. Jack Allsopp -- better known as Just Jack -- had worked as a flower arranger, gardener, and cleaner ("anything to put crust on the table") before he landed a job at RGRecords. Allsopp casually handed over a copy of his demo to the label's owner, Chas Smith, the man who used to sing and dance up a storm in Madness. Smith fell in love with Just Jack's sound and quickly signed Allsopp to a four-album deal. It was a long time coming for the Camden, England, rapper. Allsopp had been in love with all forms of black music since he was a young lad, and he had been DJing since the age of 14. He never really cared for the indie guitar scene, but electro, hip-hop, and house always excited him. Allsopp fused elements of all his favorite genres, added his own English twist, and recorded the "Snowflakes" single for RGR in 2003. Support from the U.K. press came quickly and a mash-up mix of "Snowflakes" and the Cure's "Lullaby" by Eddy Temple Morris and Jay Reynolds became an instant club smash. The popular mash-up was added to the U.S. release of Just Jack's debut, The Outer Marker, released by TVT in late 2003. In 2006 he released the elaborate and laidback album Overtones. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
Born in North London, Allsopp grew up listening to dance music including breakdance, electrohip hop and house. An amateur breakdancer at eight, he started DJing at the age of 15 and he soon became submerged in DJ culture and UK garage.[1]
After completing a degree in Furniture Design at Kingston University, he enrolled in a community music production course, so that he could better his awareness of sampling and its potential for use. He went on to practice on perfecting his sound by night and to take on a series of jobs by day.
Career
Allsopp's debut album, titled The Outer Marker and released in 2002 by the independent label RGR Records, was a collection of songs about modern life, relationships, and the pressures of social situations. The album spawned three singles "Paradise (Lost & Found)", "Snowflakes" and "Triple Tone Eyes".
He did not gain fame until 2007, following his TV debut on BBC2's Later with Jools Holland, and then on the Channel 4 show The Friday Night Project, where he performed the single "Starz In Their Eyes", which reached No.2 in the UK Singles Chart; the following three singles didn't make the top thirty. "Starz In Their Eyes" was also featured in the Dolce & Gabbana Summer 2008 fashion show. Kylie Minogue also did a collaboration with him, "I Talk Too Much", for the American release of his Overtones album.
He was set to release his third album, titled All Night Cinema, on 31 August 2009, preceded by first single "Embers", which had its premiere on BBC Radio 1 on 12 January 2009 and second single "The Day I Died", which became Jack's second highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart. Both singles peaked inside the top 20. The original choice for second single was "Doctor Doctor" but the single release was subsequently postponed.
