How Johnny Hates Jazz Scored With the Smooth Bitterness of “Shattered Dreams”

Ah, the 80s, when a band with a quizzical name could emerge from absolutely nowhere with a captivating single that captured the world. And, just as often, such a band would retreat to anonymity.

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That pretty much sums up the trajectory of Johnny Hates Jazz, a British trio that very nearly topped the US charts their first time out with “Shattered Dream”. The band never came close to matching its success. But the song remains as sharp and penetrating as ever all these years down the road.

All That Jazz

In the annals of wacky 80s band names, Johnny Hates Jazz wins points for its snarky sense of humor. An acquaintance of the band apparently disliked jazz music so much that he once snapped a record over his knee to make a spectacle of his displeasure.

But that’s jumping ahead a bit. After all, the three members of Johnny Hates Jazz came together quite suddenly before releasing their first single, even though they were all acquainted with each other for some time.

Clark Datchler, who would do the singing and songwriting on the first Johnny Hates Jazz album, previously worked with both Calvin Hayes and Mike Nocito, who ended up members of the band with Datchler. Hayes’ father was the legendary music producer Mickie Most, whose clout helped JHJ out once they did form.

Making “Dreams” Come True

Originally, Hayes and Nocito worked up a 1986 single called “Me And My Foolish Heart” with a cohort named Phil Thornalley. When a conflict prevented Thornalley from singing the song, Datchler came aboard to fill the role. Although the single failed, the trio pushed forth with the new project.

Datchler wrote “Shattered Dreams” by imagining the bitter feelings left behind by a divorce. Given a “sophisti-pop” arrangement, right down to a surprising bongo solo in the middle of the song, the song took Great Britain by storm in 1987. A year later, it made a similar surge in America, topping out at No. 2.

Johnny Hates Jazz fell apart almost immediately after they came together. Creative differences caused Datchler to skedaddle after their debut album, Turn Back The Clock. A follow-up album with a returning Phil Thornalley in 1991 went nowhere, leading to a hiatus of more than three decades before the band turned up again.

Behind the Lyrics of “Shattered Dreams” by Johnny Hates Jazz

The narrator of “Shattered Dreams” hasn’t yet reached the point where he can look at his failed relationship with anything short of bile. “So much for your promises,” Datchler sneers at the beginning of the track. “They died the day you let me go.” He realized too late that he was “caught up in a web of lies.”

His realization of her flaws cuts him to the bone. “Woke up to reality,” he explains. “And found the future not so bright.” “Feels like I could run away,” he complains in the chorus. “From this empty heart.”

The story of Johnny Hates Jazz took a happy turn when Clark Datchler and Mike Nocito put aside past differences and recorded the 2013 album Magnetized. As for their biggest hit, well, it’s doubtful that too many fans ever broke a copy of “Shattered Dreams” over their knee in disgust.

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