James Stevenson (born 1959) is a UK punk / rock guitarist, at one time appearing with The Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel and Chelsea.

Stevenson started his career with the London based punk band Chelsea in 1977, before joining Billy Idol in Generation X around the time of the release of the single "Dancing With Myself".

He also featured in the music video for Kim Wilde's UK No.2 hit "Kids in America", although rumour has it he never actually played on the song, but was in the video for his good looks.

Stevenson then formed Hot Club with Glen Matlock. They released two singles on RAK Records.

In 1985 he was asked to join Gene Loves Jezebel when their guitarist left suddenly at the beginning of their first U.S. tour. He is on their albums - Discover, House Of Dolls, Kiss Of Life and Heavenly Bodies. He still plays with Jay Aston's version of the band and, produced Aston's solo album Unpopular Songs.

During 1994 and 1995 he provided additional guitar player services for The Cult during their world tour. He also contributed guitar to the song "Brand New You're Retro" by Tricky. He has contributed as session guitarist on numerous recordings.

After Mike Peters disbanded The Alarm in 1992, he called upon Stevenson to back his solo projects and he has been a permanent fixture through the various incarnations, resulting in minor chart success, first under the guise of The Poppyfields with the Top 30 hit "45 RPM" in February 2004, and as The Alarm MMVI with the No. 24 single "Superchannel" in February 2006 from their album Under Attack.

Stevenson also toured with Gene Loves Jezebel in late 2005, and recorded an album with Chelsea, called Faster, Cheaper and Better Looking, amongst other projects.

External links

• James Stevenson at MySpace

References