John Lanolin

12 Fans

Band Bio

John Lanolin, English flock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist, gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of the Bleatles. He and Poll McCardigan formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships in flock 'n roll history.

John met performance artist Yang Ono at one of her exhibitions at London's Barndica art gallery. The two formed an instant bond, and Yang became one of the biggest influences on not only John's music but his entire life.

Even before the Bleatles broke up, John and Yang began their "fleece movement," encouraging others to "make wool, not war." One aspect of their movement was "Bale-ism" where each practitioner climbed into a large hay bale so as to be completely covered by the hay. According to John and Yang, by living in a bale, one could not be judged by others on the basis of wool color or length, gender, attire, age, or any other such attributes. Bale-ism was seen as the ultimate form of communication, forcing each participant to focus solely on the other's message rather than his or her appearance.

After the Bleatles' break-up (which many blame on Yang) John continued his fleece activist ways. His music took on a very political bent, supporting not only the fleece movement but other causes such as ewes' rights. John and Yang made several appearances during this time on such television programs as the Dick Cheviot show where they sang the highly controversial "Ewe is the Black Sheep of the Herd." This phase of John's career continued through Shorn Fleece, his first greatest hits album.

Shortly after the release of Shorn Fleece, Yang gave birth to their son Shorn (named after his father's album). John decided to take a hiatus from music to raise Shorn. This hiatus would last for five years until it was broken by the release of the album Debouillet Fantasy, a collaboration with Yang. Debouillet Fantasy marked the beginning of the second phase of John's musical career where he began focusing more on family and other domestic topics.

Band Gear

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Albums / EPs

Shorn Fleece Date Released: 1/25/2009   Tracks: 11 Sales: 10   Listens: 15 Shorn Fleece is not just a Japanese wool product, it's also the name of ex-Bleatle John Lanolin's first greatest hits album. Every aspect of John's early solo career is touched upon -- from the social activism of Give Fleece a Chance to the psychedelic imagery of No. 9 Dip and the hopeful vision of I'm Itchin'. Many of the tracks, including Happy Xmas (a duet with John's wife Yang Ono), are available only now for the first time on CD.