Heavy Load
Mick Jones
The Foreigner guitarist on playing with Chuck Berry, a 60-foot waste of money and meeting the other Mick Jones.
Since the early 1960s, Mick Jones has worn a variety of hats. Best known as the key songwriter and guitarist with the enduring giants Foreigner, the Englishman co-wrote Bad Love with Eric Clapton and has produced Van Halen, Bad Company, The Cult and Billy Joel. He also released a selftitled solo album in 1989. Jones is the only original member still with Foreigner, who during a career of more than 40 years have sold around 80 million records worldwide.
How was your childhood?
It was great. I was born in Somerset, a very peaceful setting. Though I’ve lived in America for years, I still like to go down to the West Country and soak it all in.
Were you a good student?
I was average. I really loved music and would tinker away on the piano. When I used a piano on the first Foreigner album [released in 1977], I realised that I played in special keys that nobody else used, which gave me a style all of my own.
Elektra, MCA, A&M and other labels passed on Foreigner’s first demo. Had John Kalodner of Atlantic not picked it up, what might you be doing now? That’s not something I think about too often. But John had then recently joined Atlantic and he lit a fire for us at the company. He was incredibly enthusiastic and is still a massively important figure in the career of Foreigner. But until we started selling records, John wasn’t very popular at the company because he would badger people until they caved in.
Do you recall hearing a song of yours on the radio for the first time?
I still remember it with crystal clarity. I was in traffic between New York and Long Island, and the DJ from the sadly long-gone WNEWFM instructed us to “turn our windows down and floor the accelerator” as he played [Foreigner’s] Feels Like The First Time. I went mad in the car, jumping up and down.
What inspired the use of a fifty-eightpiece orchestra and a sixty-strong choir on Foreigner’s new album? The proposal came right out of the blue. We were offered the chance to experiment with an orchestra and choir. I spent six challenging months working on the arrangements, but I soon realised that my songs would adapt to that treatment. Some orchestral projects just sound like a band with an orchestra plonked behind them, ours really doesn’t.
Who’s the most famous name in your mobile phone contacts? There are a few of them, but I talk to Billy Joel quite a bit. Do you still want to know what love is?
I think I’ve been aware several times, but I can never tell whether this will be the last one [Jones and his wife divorced in 2007 and remarried a decade later]. And I never fail to be amazed by the reaction when we play I Want To Know What Love Is. I’m very happy to have written something that will live on long after I’m gone.
What was your biggest waste of money?
I was foolish enough to buy a sixty-foot powerboat. The stupid thing conked out before leaving the harbour and we had to be towed back to shore. I never saw it again.
Which of the recent rock star deaths hit you the hardest?
I really admired Chuck Berry. Very early on – I was about eighteen – I played on a couple of cross-Channel boat trips with Chuck.
The bar was free and everyone got utterly plastered – the bands and audiences. That was one of the most disgusting experiences of my career, but I really loved Chuck.
What is your biggest regret?
My indulgence in drugs and alcohol affected my family life and my work. I was lucky enough to have changed that around fifteen years ago. Doing so gave me back those things.
Have you met the ‘other’ Mick Jones, your namesake from The Clash?
Yeah, a few years ago at a festival in Portugal. He was a really cool guy and we got on well. Chatting backstage we got on to songwriting. He joked about sometimes wishing they’d send my royalties to him.
How would you describe your current relationship with original Foreigner singer Lou Gramm?
Crazy to say, it’s never been better. Last year, celebrating the fortieth anniversary, the current band was joined at a couple of shows by Lou, Ian McDonald [rhythm guitarist], Rick Wills [bassist], Al Greenwood [keyboards] and Dennis Elliott [drums]. I got a real thrill out of that.
What’s the meaning of life?
I consider myself slightly spiritual and I meditate, so I really wish that I had an answer to that question. The current international outlook is not very promising, and I worry that we are on the verge of destroying this planet. If there’s a higher power, maybe they’re deciding that it’s all a waste of time and maybe they should move on to another planet. Right now it’s good versus evil in the world, and I really don’t rate our chances.
“I’m very happy to have written something that will live on after I’m gone.”