Live: John Shuttleworth

It might have been the right time for Sheffield’s finest synthesiser entertainer John Shuttleworth to instruct the nation in moral matters.

But instead, thanks to his  agent Ken Worthington’s mistyping, his tour is now A Man with No More Rolls.

But as the man responsible for bringing his character to the stage, Graham Fellows, reveals, Shuttleworth is more than happy to wax lyrical on the new title.

“John is very happy to go along with that as he sees the roll as being threatened by Italian flatbreads, crusty cobs and new paninis and ciabbattas,” says Graham, ahead of his Drill Hall gig.

“It’s not about the plot, it’s about the details of his life. He’s concerned about the things that really matter to him, such as whether crab paste is being affected by our love for pesto and being hidden behind it on the supermarket shelves.

“It’s a piece of theatre, an illusion. We’re laughing at John but with him too. The audience can see themselves and people they know in John. We’re all a little like that really – emptying the bin is important.

“John talks about the cafetiere because he thought the plunger was to keep the coffee warm. You only make that mistake once so he threw is out and went back to Mellow Birds.”

John is also a composer and musician, as listeners of his radio shows will know only too well.

Smells Like White Spirit (with a nod to Nirvana), advises on how best to clean your paint brushes, while the ballad How’s Your Nan? is in praise of naan bread while also touching on caring for elderly members of the community.

Graham, who lives in Lincolnshire, admitted he was a little surprised at Shuttleworth’s longevity, although his success had allowed his creator to live in “wonderful Louth”, only returning to the south for work appointments before retreating back into a Lincolnshire life.

And he loved the fact his creation is a character, which enabled him to live a normal life away from work, going virtually unnoticed.

“I enjoy that,” he says. “I had a few months being recognised when I was Jilted John.

“I don’t like being noticed: much of my creative work is with observing people and it stops you doing that.”

He is famous for hitting the charts in the late 70s as Jilted John, with the No4 hit single Jilted John.

Listening to his records, it is clear that Graham is a fan of telling it how it is - both through the lyrics of Shuttleworth and those of his one-hit wonder.

“Here’s a throughline there in that I always like to capture the way that people sound, “ he says.

“Going Steady [the B side to Jilted John] is very basic and told in the vernacular. It still irks me that lyrics are still so unrealistic. Even punk didn’t really break new ground with realistic lyrics.”