Ian Rankin regularly references Jackie Leven in his books. I never really knew his music. Rankin eventually recorded a CD with him and curated (I think) a free CD that came with a music magazine a while back. That CD was my first exposure to the music of Jackie Leven, and it was pretty good.
More recently, a Leven shaped light bulb went off above my head. I'm not entirely sure why but I decided to listen to some more of his stuff on youtube and some of it really clicked. Tracks like 'My Spanish Dad' and 'The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ' really say something to me. 'My Spanish Dad', in particular, pulls my heart strings and often brings a tear to my eye for personal reasons.
Leven was a great talent but he never became famous. In the late 60s he started to make music, initially releasing an album under the name John St Field, on a Spanish record label in 1975. He then fronted the new wave band Doll by Doll. Sadly their music is not easily available in physical formats not. He was badly assaulted in 1984, losing his voice and he was subsequently addicted to heroin for a while. He collaborated with Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols in the band CBI in around 1988 before leaving the public eye for a while.
He returned to music making publicly in 1994 and released more than 20 records before his death from cancer in 2011. He played folk with a contemporary feel, employing samples with his acoustic guitar.
There is a lot of music and I have certainly not heard much of it. It is worth dipping a toe in. The Rankin curated CD was called 'Heroes can come in any size' and came with The Word magazine. It's also available in MP3 format from Amazon.
He should have been a household name.
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