Elton Motello

Elton Motello was two things at once: the stage name of singer and songwriter Alan Ward and the band he fronted, a punk and new wave outfit with a sharp sense of mischief. Ward had come up through Bastard, a glam-punk crew that included Brian James of the Damned, Dez Lover, Yves Kengen and drummer Nobby Goff.

For Elton Motello he rounded up Peter Goff on guitar, Willie Change on bass and Nobby Goff on drums, with Ward singing and banging on percussion. That lineup made Victim of Time in 1978, with former Pretty Things and Pink Fairies drummer Twink sitting in alongside guitarist Tony Boast and Mike Butcher, billed as Jet Staxx, who played guitar on the single version of "Jet Boy, Jet Girl". The song is a buzzsaw rush of chords and a snotty sneer, over almost before it starts, and it's the one that stuck.

Ward came back in 1980 with Pop Art, backed now by Butcher, Andrew Goldberg, J.P. Martins and Walter Mets, put out a couple more singles before the year ran out, and then called it quits.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.