Following the success of his one-man concert last year, John Partridge is currently preparing to release his debut album entitled Dames, Dudes + Cowboys Too on Monday 15th September with Big Hand Recordings.
The album, which is very close to Johnny’s heart, features three original songs as well as several covers such as ‘Jolene’ (Dolly Parton), ‘Love Runs Out’ (One Nation), ‘Me and Liza’ (Rufus Wainwright) and ‘Bite the Hand That Feeds’ (Nine Inch Nails). He will perform songs from the album live, headlining the Borderline, Orange Yard off Manette Street in London on Wednesday 17th September 2014.
Best known for playing Christian Clarke in EastEnders, Johnny has performed backing vocals and dance routines in videos and on world tours for the likes of U2, Pet Shop Boys, Neneh Cherry, Kim Wilde. He can currently be seen on BBC Saturday night programme Tumble. Johnny previously served as a judge on Over the Rainbow and presented The National Lottery Draws (both BBC).
Johnny left college at the age of 16 after being cast in the original UK tour of Cats. He went on to star as the Rum Tum Tugger in the West End production at the New London Theatre and was subsequently asked to play the role in the Cats film opposite Elaine Paige and John Mills. He was most recently seen starring as Zach in the West End revival of A Chorus Line at the London Palladium.
His other West End credits include: Robert in The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello), Gringoire in Notre Dame de Paris (Dominion), Hawker/Captain Walker in Tommy (Shaftesbury), Grease (Dominion), Electra in Starlight Express (Apollo Victoria) and The Butcher in The Hunting of the Snark (Prince Edward).
Johnny’s further theatre credits include: The Fix directed by Sam Mendes (Donmar Warehouse), Prospero in The Tempest (Northcott Theatre), John in Miss Saigon (UK tour), Roger in Rent (European tour), Black Goes With Everything directed by Arlene Phillips (Churchill, Bromley) and Marilyn in Boy George’s Taboo.
Last year you celebrated thirty years in the industry. Have you ever been tempted to do an album before?
If I’m really honest I’ve never wanted to do one before. To be fair I didn’t really even want to do one now! I did my one man show last year and the response to that show was as much of a surprise to me as it was to everybody else. I was approached to take Dames 'n' Dudes on the road and it was suggested to me that it is a good idea to release a record to promote a show. So really the album is a by-product of the tour – a marketing product. Having said that… once I had started the process of putting the album together it became something I really enjoyed and I’ve really loved the whole process of producing, it hasn’t just been about song selection because there’s original material on there.
