The Autobiography of Jonny Polonsky
I am Jonny Polonsky. Born in Chicago and reared in "that coal mining town of
Wilmette, IL" (as emigrant Bill Murray often refers to it), I began my love
affair at a young age with the lady known as Music.
At the age of six I became obsessed with the Beatles and the Monkees. At
eight I discovered Top 40 pop music through MTV, and at nine I began playing
the baritone ukelele, with hopes of being able to learn the Monkees' theme and
the latest song by Duran Duran. I was soon burning up the fretboard on the
uke (even beating out my older brother's band in the annual talent show) but
my appetite for more was insatiable.
I switched to electric guitar and at age twelve acquired a four-track cassette
recorder. These four track recordings would become very well-known in certain
circles, attracting attention from many discerning ears.
As The Amazlng Jonny Polonsky I released three tapes: "Aw, Blow It Out Yer
Ass!"; "Premium White American" and "I Like Porn." While the first two tapes
showcased my sense of humor, the last was composed of the type of pop songs I
had been striving to write since my days of listening to the Beatles and the
Monkees.
I mailed tapes to anyone I could think of who might help me along the path of
Rock, particularly to those whose music I admired. Through mutual friends I
reached Frank Black and sent him my tapes. I was thrilled to learn of his
enthusiasm for my music, as I was a tremendous fan of his.
Soon after our initial correspondence, Frank helped me find a manager, and
after recording a demo (produced by Black) in the summer of 1994 in Los
Angeles, I started sending out tapes to record companies.
American Recordings expressed interest and they seemed like a lovely label, so
here I am now, with debut album in hand, and a proud member of Rick (or "Papa"
as we lovingly call him) Rubin's family.
But more about this record of mine.
In the sprlng of 1995 I bought some hi-tech home recording equipment, set it
up in my brother's old bedroom, christened the studio Ground Round Sound and
recorded my songs.
"Hi My Name is Jonny" is ten songs in twenty-four minutes. You will laugh,
cry, sing along and shake your thing.
The above is current through late 1995. January of 1996 saw the release of
"Hi My Name Is Jonny" on American Recordings. Jonny has recorded a follow-up
entitled The Power Of Sound, as yet unreleased. Following is a Jonny
Polonsky update.
Jonny Polonsky is on holiday in (location witheld by Mr. Polonksy's attorney
due to certain "complications") with some close friends, including (sorry, not
at liberty to divulge that information at this juncture) doing a (whoops,
can't really talk about that) and working on a (sorry) project with (...) and
(!). He will be back home at exactly (Mr. Attorney is giving me a dirty look
and shaking his head...) and will be ready to (we actually could reveal this
verb, but at this point, why bother).
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