The arts in Dudley are set for a high-profile boost after the borough’s new mayor appointed ambassadors to promote music and culture.
Along with Eddie Morton and Trina Keane from Katie Fitzgerald’s in Stourbridge, Mayor Pete Lowe also nominated Jonn Penney, lead singer of one of the Black Country’s most successful bands - Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.
'The Ned’s' had hits around the globe in the late 80s and 90s but the singer revealed his musical roots go way back and are connected to Cllr Lowe.
Jonn Penney said: “I have known him since 1981, we first met when we started at secondary school. Pete was always very outgoing and I was quite quiet, we got on really well and were both into performance.”
Jonn’s first band included Cllr Lowe which was not their only arty collaboration.
Jonn Said: “Pete was the guitarist, there was a friend of his friend called Egg, his Bontempi organ provided the precision, my best mate John Baker played bass.
“We actually wrote a song called Screaming Green – it was atrocious.
“While we were at Thorns we were also a comedy duo, I was the straight man. We came fourth out of four in a talent competition at Great Malvern, we lost to an Elvis impersonator.”
Despite a less than auspicious start, Jonn went on to find musical success and believes the region’s musical heritage is rooted in the Black Country mindset.
He said: “In the Black Country, we do stuff, we don’t talk about it, we don’t brag about it, we crack on and actually do it.
“I think that Black Country attitude has stood us in good stead through the centuries.
“We had an art college in Stourbridge that was nationally recognised, it was very hard for people to get into that college, you had a lot of very creative people knocking around.”
While it is impossible to ignore past glories, Jonn is looking also at the present for inspiration in his new role.
He said: “I don’t think there is any reason why that couldn’t happen again.
“We have got bands like Gans coming out of Stourbridge and making it big on the world stage.
“You see the logos popping up around Stourbridge, the reaction and the way people got behind them to make them happen has been wonderful .”
Although it is early days in his new role, Jonn already has plenty of ideas to promote Black Country arts.
He said: “I was massively honoured that he asked me to be an ambassador.
“Pete said he wants to celebrate the heritage of the area, you see the murals going up around Stourbridge.
“I’d love to see a big picture of Sir Lenny Henry in Dudley, I’d like to see a blue plaque on the side of JB’s as well.
“Where you get austerity the first thing to suffer is the arts, we want to make sure they get our full backing.
“We want to be doing some events to support grassroots venues, we want to get some arts trails and things like that going, help support local theatre companies in whatever ways we can.
“We can point out what can be done; if you don’t give it a go – you don’t know.”
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