Here’s a guide to comics artist Jim Baikie’s comics career, including his lesser known British girls’ comic work, revealing his huge contribution to many titles. Jim died in December 2017; you can read our obituary here and an Appreciation by Alan Moore here
Most of the credits below were compiled by David Roach for Jim during his lifetime.
Additional credits/ corrections are welcome. We have included some reprint titles should you wish to track down Jim’s work more easily.
Our thanks also to Colin Noble David Hathaway-Price, Paul Scoones, Shaqui le Vesconte for his help with this list; and the work of the Jinty Resource site for their work documenting British girls’ comics.
Note: all UK dates listed are cover dates – this is not the on sale date in the case of UK titles but the off sale date, when the title should be taken off newsagents shelves
1966
Valentine – 20th August 1966
(Jim is credited on various web sites as working on “Space Family Robinson” for Lady Penelope at this time, but comics archivist Shaqui Le Vesconte believes the accreditation comes from a mistake in an early index in which the writer (possibly Denis Gifford) mistook John M Burns ‘JB’ signature to mean Jim Baikie. David Roach notes his early strips were signed “Jaimie”).
1967
Valentine – 14th January 1967
Valentine – 4th March 1967 – two strips
Valentine – 18th March 1967
Valentine – 8th April 1967
Valentine – 29th April 1967
Valentine – 1st July 1967
Valentine – 29th July 1967
Valentine – 5th August 1967
Valentine – 16th September 1967
Valentine – 22nd October 1967
Valentine – 30th December 1967
• Lady Penelope – “The Monkees”
Jim took over from Harry Lindfield on “The Monkees”
1968
Valentine – 10th February 1968
Valentine – 27th April 1968
Valentine – 10th August 1968
• Go Girl – “Girl Friday” – April – August 1968
• Lady Penelope – “The Monkees”
• Lady Penelope Annual 1968
• TV Tornado Annual 1969 – Cover and illustrations
It’s come as a surprise to some to learn that Jim may have worked on the World Distributors annuals of this period (and there is still some question about this particular credit), but as Shaqui le Vesconte notes, “on the scant correspondence I had a few years back, Jim Baikie mentioned having an Anti-Mysteron sticker on his set square… but he couldn’t recall where it came from!
“This was issued with the merger issue of TV Tornado with Solo in 1967. So while we don’t have any concrete ‘evidence’ that he worked for World, there is a vague link there, and it may be he worked in an uncredited/ unattributed capacity on either publication and possibly others.
“Something little known is that World did the distribution for the Century 21 Annuals (the weekly titles came under City Magazines), and this is confirmed by contemporary trade press. This was possibly because Century 21 Publishing was a small set up in comparison to an established and widespread company such as World, who at the time had a showroom in London. The early Annuals, Stingray and TV Century 21, also bear the hallmarks of having been co-produced by World, having the same dimensions and production hallmarks. Some of the annual art also turned up at World, and was saved from their skips when the company junked a load of originals in the 1980s/90s.
“My own gut instinct comes from looking at Jim Baikie’s style for ‘The Monkees’, and other work in the early 70s such as ‘Tarzan’ and ‘Star Trek’, when it was slightly looser (in TV21 comic, as opposed to the tighter colour annual work for the 1973 TV21 edition).”
1969
Valentine – 22nd March 1969
Valentine – 16th September 1969
• Star Love Stories Issue 307 – “Dangerous Curves” – August 1969
• Look and Learn – “Passport to Adventure” – 4th October – December 1969
• June and Schoolfriend – “Gymnast Jinty” – Cover date 27th December 1969
• TV Tornado Annual 1970 – Cover
1970
• June and Schoolfriend – “Gymnast Jinty” – January – December 1970
• Look and Learn – “Passport to Adventure” – January 1970 to Issue cover dated 15th August 1970
• Star Love Stories Issue 340 – “Lois in Love” – May 1970
• TV21 & Joe 90 – “Star Trek” – Issues 24 – 31 Cover dated 7th March 1970 – 2nd April 1970
Reprinted in Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics Volume One
• TV21 & Joe 90 – “The Adventures of Tarzan”
Steve Holland noted Jim may have worked on “The Adventures of Tarzan” in around 1970 and might have also contributed Star Trek to the TV21 Annual 1971 – the third annual, published in 1969, although it doesn’t have any copyright date inside. The “Tarzan” strip was largely drawn by Harry Bishop or Antonio Borrell, but David Roach suggests Jim may have drawn later episodes. Given that this was around the time he and his family were about to move back to the Orkneys the extra work might have come in handy to finance this.
“Tarzan” also featured in TV Comic in the early 1970s, but that was drawn by Jim Eldridge.
1971
• Birthday Book For Girls 1972 – “Glen, A Dog On A Lonely Quest”
• Countdown Holiday Special 1971 – “Doctor Who: “The Thing from Outer Space!”, two illustrations for text story, May 1971
• Countdown Annual 1972 – “Doctor Who” (titled “Dr. Who” on strip, but known as “The Master-Plant”), 8-page colour comic strip, September 1971
• June and Schoolfriend – “Gymnast Jinty” – January – November 1971
• June and Schoolfriend – “The Reluctant Nurse” November – December 1971
• June Book Of Strange Stories 1972 (Cover and art)
• June Holiday Special (Cover)
• June Book 1972 (“Gymnast Jinty”)
• Tammy – “Glen, A Dog On A Lonely Quest” 11th – 16th October 1971
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1971 – “Tarzan”
1972
• TV Action + Countdown Holiday Special 1972 – “Doctor Who”: “And for my Next Trick…”, three illustrations for text story, May 1972
• June and Schoolfriend – “The Reluctant Nurse” January – February 1972
• June and Schoolfriend – “No Time For Pat” – 15th April – 10th June 1972
• June and Schoolfriend – “From Big House To Backstreet” – 22nd July 1972
• Sandie – “Our Big Big Secret” – 12th February 1972 – 15th April 1972
• Sandie -“Could This Be You?” – 4th March 1972
• TV21 Annual 1973 – “Star Trek” (two strips) Colour, Clue At Christmas
1973
• June and Schoolfriend – “Melody For Mimi” – 20th January 1973 – 14th April 1973
• June and Schoolfriend – “Stranger In The Family” – 21st April 1973 – 7th July 1973
• June and Schoolfriend – “Tilly’s Magic Tranny” – 14th July 1973 – December 1973
• June and Schoolfriend – “Christmas Miracle” – December 1973
• June Holiday Special 1973 (Cover)
• June Book 1974 (“Strangest Story”)
• Eagle Annual 1974 (“Dan Dare”)
• TV Action Holiday Special 1973 – “Doctor Who”: “The One Second Hour”, three illustrations for text story, May 1973
• TV Action Annual 1974 – “Doctor Who”: “The Hungry Planet”, 8-page colour comic strip, September 1973
1974
• June and Schoolfriend – “Tilly’s Magic Tranny” – January – March 1974 (?)
• June Book 1975 (“Miss Moneybags”, plus various illustrations)
• Judy – “Sampan Susie” – 21st September – 28th December 1974
• Jinty – “Left-Out Linda” – 10th August 1974 – 9th November 1974 (14 Episodes)
Also published in Dutch (in Tina) and Greek (in Manina) – Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
1975
• Jinty – “The Kat And Mouse Game” – 16 November 1974 – 5 April 1975 (18 episodes)
Also published in Dutch (in Tina) and Greek (in Manina) – Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Face The Music Flo” – 19th April 1975 – 30th August 1975 (20 episodes)
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Ping Pong Paula” – 6th September 1975 – 17th January 1975 (20 episodes)
Written by Alison Christie (now Alison May Fitt)
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Judy – “Singing For Joy” – 22nd February – 7th June 1975
1976
• Jinty – “Miss No-Name” – January – April 1976
• Jinty – “Willa On Wheels – 12th June – 28th August 1976
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Rose Among The Thorns” – 4th September – 27th November 1976
• June Book 1977 (“Easter Bonnet”)
1977
• Jinty – “Gypsy Rose Tales of Magic – The Ring of Death” – 29th January 1977
• Jinty – “Gypsy Rose Tales of Magic – A Storm of Vengeance” – 7th May 1977
– Read the “Gypsy Rose Tales of Magic” feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Spell of the Spinning Wheel” – 5th March – 25h June 1977
Written by Alison Christie (now Alison May Fitt)
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Fran’ll Fix It!” – 9th July 1977 to 12th November 1977
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Judy Annual 1978 – “Trader Tess”
• June Book 1978 – “Jennifer”
1978
• Jinty – “Two Mothers for Maggie” – 1978
• Jinty – “Wild Rose” 12th August – 30th September 1978
• Jinty – “Fran’ll Fix It!” – 7th October 1978 to 10th March 1979
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
1979
• Jinty – “The Forbidden Garden” – 24th March – 28th July 1979
Reprinted in Tammy in 1984, but unfinished due to Tammy’s cancellation
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “Village of Fame” – 4th August – 24th November 1979
– Read the feature on the Jinty resource site
• Jinty – “White Water” – 4th August – 24th November 1979
• Jinty Annual 1980 “The Bride Wore Black”
• Judy Annual 1980 – “First Time Faith”
• June Book 1980 (Cover)
• Look-In – “Charlie’s Angels” – November – December 1979
1980
• Jinty – “White Water” – 1st December 1979 – 26th April 1980
• Jinty – “The Romany’s Reading” – 26th July 1980
• Judy Annual 1981 – “First Time Faith”
• Look-In – “Charlie’s Angels” – January – December 1980
1981
• Jinty Holiday Special 1981 – “Gypsy Rose Tales of Magic – The Bracelet of Love”
– Read the “Gypsy Rose Tales of Magic” feature on the Jinty resource site
• Judy – “And Jumbo Went Too”
• Look-In – “Charlie’s Angels” – January – April 1981
• Look-In – “CHiPs” – June – December 1981
• Melvin’s Money Fun Number One
Features a two-page adventure strip by Jim – read Lew Stringer’s feature here
1982
• Look-In – “CHiPs” – January – 29th May 1981; 16th July – 16th October 1982
• Look-In – “The Fall Guy” – 5th June – December 1982
• Warrior Issue 2 – April 1982
1983
• 2000AD Progs 308 – 330 – “Skizz” – 19th March – 2nd August 1980
• Now available in The Complete Skizz
• 2000AD Prog 310 – “Judge Dredd – Victim of The Starborn Thing”
• Look-In – “The Fall Guy” – January – 26th November 1983
• Look-In – “Terrahawks” – December 1983
• Look-In – “Young Steve Davis” – one-off two page strip
• Warrior Issues 14 – 16 – “Twilight World” – October – December 1983
1984
• 2000AD Prog 369 – “Judge Dredd: The Switch” – 19th May 1984
• Eagle – “Bloodfang” – 9th June – 25th August 194
• Eagle Annual 1985 – ‘Doomlord’
• Judy Issues 1255 – 1266 – “Melody Moffatt” – 28th January – 14th April 1984
• Look-In – “Terrahawks” – January 1984 – 10th March 1984
• Look-In – “The Fall Guy” – 21st January – 31st October November 1984
• Warrior Issue 17 – March 1984 -“Twilight World”
• Warrior Issue 23 – October 1984 (Cover)
1985
• 2000AD #3 (1985, US Edition)
• Vigilante #17 – “Father’s Day”
• Vigilante #18 – “Father’s Day, Part II”
• Alien Encounters #3 – “Claustrophobia”
Written by Pedro Henry
• Laser Eraser and Pressbutton #1
Reprinted “Twilight World”
• Laser Eraser and Pressbutton #2
Reprinted “Twilight World”
1986
• 2000AD #1 – 4 (1986, US Edition)
Reprinting Skizz Volume One
• 2000AD Presents Volume One #5
• 2000AD Presents Volume One #6
• 2000AD Presents Volume One #7
• Amazing Heroes #87 (Cover)
• Electric Warrior #1 – “The Whole Nasty Night”
• Electric Warrior #2 – “Genetricks Berserk!”
• Electric Warrior #3 – “Sparking the Leks”
• Electric Warrior #4 – “Bloodstalker Mode”
• Electric Warrior #5 – “The Silver Savior”
• Electric Warrior #6 – “Upper Tiers”
• Electric Warrior #7 – “The Maker Man”
• Electric Warrior #8 – “Under Bad Signs”
• Laser Eraser and Pressbutton #3
Reprinted “Twilight World”
• Laser Eraser and Pressbutton #4
Reprinted “Twilight World”
• The New Teen Titans Annual #2
1987
• 2000AD Prog 546 – Judge Dredd: Oz (Part 2): Chopper is Out!
• Detective Comics #580 – “Double Image”
• Detective Comics #581 – “One out of Two…isn’t Bad…”
Electric Warrior #9 – “Future Frankensteins”
Electric Warrior #10 – ‘Two Shadows, Both Loaded’
Electric Warrior #11 – “Ghost of Warriors Past”
Electric Warrior #12 – “Swimming in Both Directions”
Electric Warrior #13 – ‘Grotesque Gladiators’
Electric Warrior #14 – ‘Knights Of Chaos’
Electric Warrior #15 – ‘Into the Wild Black Yonder’
Electric Warrior #16 – ‘The King in Metal’
Electric Warrior #17 – ‘Double Overdub’
Electric Warrior #18 – “Love for All Things Living”
• Look-In Annual 1987 – “The Fall Guy”
• Who’s Who: Update ’87 #2 – ‘Catwoman II to Goldstar’
1988
2000AD Prog 569 – “Judge Dredd: Oz (Part 25): Gasoline Alley”- 9th April 1988
2000AD Prog 570 – Cover and “Judge Dredd: Oz (Part 26)” – 16th April 1988
2000AD Prog 571 – “Judge Dredd: Hitman (Part 1)” – 23rd April 1988
2000AD Prog 572 – Cover and “Judge Dredd: Hitman” (Part 2) – 30th April 1988
2000AD Prog 573 – “Judge Dredd: Hitman” (Part 3)
The Chronicles of Judge Dredd Volume 35 – ‘Judge Dredd in Oz – Book One’
The Chronicles of Judge Dredd Volume 37 – ‘Judge Dredd in Oz – Book Three’
Crisis Issue 1 – ‘Third World War’
Crisis Issue 2 – ‘Government Hooligan’
Crisis Issue 3 – ‘Apocalypse Cow’
Crisis Issue 4 – ‘Third World Warrior’
The Spectre Annual #1 – “Ghost, Dead Man, Devil Child…”
1989
2000AD Prog 626 – “Judge Dredd: In the Bath” – 13th May 1989
2000AD Prog 658 – “Judge Dredd: Little Spuggy’s Christmas” – 23rd December 1989
Crisis Issue 9 – “Danse Macabre”
Crisis Issue 10 – “Debt Squad”
Crisis Issue 11 – “Atomic Breakfast”
Crisis Issue 12 – “Better Dead Than Red”
Crisis Issue 28 – “New Statesmen”
New Statesmen #1 – 5
Skizz TPB
1990
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #1 – ‘… Where the Monsters Go’
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #2 – ‘… Down Among the Dead Men’
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #3 – ‘Masks’
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #4 – ‘See Midian Fall’
• Nightbreed has been collected in several volumes
Hellraiser #1 – 3
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.01 – “Judge Dredd: Midnite’s Children (Pt 1): Hunter’s Moon” – October 1990
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.02 – “Judge Dredd: Midnite’s Children (Pt 2): The Midnite Club” – November 1990
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.03 – “Judge Dredd: Midnite’s Children (Pt 3): Head of the Family” – December 1990
Judge Dredd Volume 2 #47 – “Punish The Guilty – Keep The Innocent Nervous!”
New Statesmen – The Complete New Statesmen
1991
The Comic Relief Comic (1991)
Crisis Issue 54 – “The General and The Priest”
Crisis Issue 55 – “The General and The Priest”
Hellraiser #4
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.04 – “Judge Dredd: Midnite’s Children (Pt 4): Midnite Surfer” – January 1991
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.05 – Judge Dredd: Midnite’s Children (Pt 5)” – February 1991
Meltdown (Marvel UK) #1 – #3
Nightbreed reprints
1992
• 2000AD Prog 767 – 775 – “Skizz – Book Two”
Also written by Jim
• Now available in The Complete Skizz
2000AD Prog 797 – “Tharg’s Future Shocks: Hot Iron”
Also written by Jim
• 2000AD Action Special – “Cursitor Doom: The Man Who Died Every Day” – 1st March 1992
The Best of 2000AD Monthly Issue 82
The Best of 2000AD Monthly Issue 83
Meltdown (Marvel UK) #4 – #6
Nightbreed reprints
Judge Dredd: The Megazine 1.18 (Cover)
1993
• 2000AD Progs 912 – 920 – Skizz Book III
• Now available in The Complete Skizz
• 2000AD Yearbook 1995
Features “Judge Dredd: Strangers on a Zoom” and “Judge Dredd: Little Spuggy’s Christmas”
Blackmask #1 – #3
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed TPB – ‘Genesis’
Judge Dredd Epics (1991) TPB – ‘The Complete Judge Dredd in Oz’
Skizz (1993) #1 – #3
• Skizz II: Alien Cultures TPB
• Now available in The Complete Skizz
1995
• 2000AD Prog 921 -Skizz Book III
• Now available in The Complete Skizz
• The Complete Judge Dredd Special Edition 2 – “Special Edition 1995”
Reprints “Judge Dredd: In the Bath”
Star Wars: Empire’s End #1 – ‘Triumph of the Empire’
Star Wars: Empire’s End #2 – ‘Rage of the Emperor’
1996
Classic Judge Dredd #15 – “Chopper Escapes!”
1997
Classic Judge Dredd #18 – ‘Dead Heat!’
Star Wars: Empire’s End TPB
1999
Deathblow: Byblows #1 – ‘Byblows Part One’
Deathblow: Byblows #2 – ‘Byblows Part Two’
The Best of Judge Dredd Special Edition
The Worm – “The longest comic strip in the world”
Tomorrow Stories #1 – 3
Supreme: The Return #3 (Cover B) – ‘The Three Worlds of Diana Dane’
2000
America’s Best Comics Preview – “Exklusiv Preview – American’s Best Comics Sketchbook”
America’s Best Comics #1 – “First American & U.S. Angel: Das Dümmste Gericht”
Deathblow: Byblows #3 – ‘Byblows Part Three’
Tomorrow Stories #4 – 7
2001
America’s Best Comics #4 – #5
America’s Best Comics Sketchbook
Tomorrow Stories (1999) #8 – #11
The Victorian #8 – ‘Into the Fire’
The Victorian #9 – ‘By the Numbers’
The Victorian #10 – ‘Time and Again’
The Victorian #11 – ‘Points of Convergence!’
2002
2000AD Prog 1309 – Cover and “Judge Dredd: An Everyday Disaster” – 18th September 2002
America’s Best Comics #7
SKIZZ TPB
Tomorrow Stories #12
Tomorrow Stories TPB Volume 1
The Victorian TPB Volume 2 – ‘Act II: Self-Immolation’
2003
Across the Universe: DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore TPB
Supreme: The Return TPB
Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman – “Tomorrow Meets Yesterday”
2004
America’s Best Comics TPB
Judge Dredd Megazine (Volume 5) Issue 215
Reprints “Judge Dredd – Hitman”
Tomorrow Stories Hard Cover Volumes 1 – 2
2005
Skizz TPB (DC Edition)
2006
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore TPB
Tomorrow Stories Special #2
2007
• Alan Moore: Wild Worlds TPB
• Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 7
Collects stories from 2000AD Progs 322-375 Year: 2105-2106
2008
• America’s Best Comics Primer
• Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 11
Collects 2000AD Progs 523-570 Year: 2109-2110
• Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 12
Collects 2000AD Progs 571-618 Year: 2110-2111
• Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 13
Collects 2000AD Progs 619-661 Year: 2111-2112
• Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy
Collects Star Wars: Dark Empire (1991) #1-6, Star Wars: Dark Empire II (1994) #1-6, Star Wars: Empire’s End (1995) #1-2, Star Wars: Dark Empire Handbook. Six years after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi, the battle for the galaxy’s freedom rages on. The Empire has been mysteriously reborn under an unknown leader, wielding a new weapon of great power. Princess Leia and Han Solo struggle to hold together the New Republic while the galaxy’s saviour, Luke Skywalker, fights an inner battle as he is drawn to the dark side, just as his father…
2011
• Alan Moore: Storyteller
• Judge Dredd: Mega-City Masters – Volume 3
2012
• Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files Volume 4
Collects 2000 AD Annuals & Specials Year: 2116-2134
2016
• Star Trek: The Classic UK Comics Volume One
In 1969, six months before the Star Trek TV series premiered in England, British comics readers were introduced to the characters in an original comic book series. The stories were serialised, generally two to three pages at a time, in 257 weekly magazines spanning five years and 37 storylines. These extremely rare comics have never been published in the United States. Star Trek fans will quickly note that the comics were not written with strict adherence to Star Trek‘s core concepts. The Enterprise frequently traveled outside our galaxy, and the crew committed many violations of the never-mentioned Prime Directive along the way. Spock shouted most of his lines and often urged Kirk (or “Kurt,” as his name was misspelled in early issues) to shoot first and ask questions later. But it’s precisely that “offness” that makes them so eminently readable and deserving of a proper reprinting. They’re unique in the annals of Star Trek and fans have gone without them for far too long.
• Eagle Adventure Special Issue One – “Doomlord: Servitor Vek”
– Read review of this title
2017
A complete collection of the Alan Moore and Jim Baikie’s ultimate illegal alien tale. When Interpreter Zhcchz of the Tau-Ceti Imperium crashed his ship into the small blue ‘Hellworld’-classed planet, the odds of surviving were stacked against him. Stranded in the polluted, hostile British city of Birmingham, ‘Skizz’ is befriended by Roxy, a plucky young local girl. But danger is ever present – from bad food to Prime Minister Thatcher’s hostile government alien-hunters, this E.T. may soon be R.I.P!
Musical Notes
Side by side with his better known comics work, Jim was a bass player who played in numerous bands down the decades.
The Whirlwinds
The Whirlwinds formed in Cyprus when Jim Baikie was in the RAF, in the very early 1960s. Presumably, the name was taken from the Whirlwind HAR. 10 helicopters that based at RAF Akrotiri.
Alan Webb was the singer with The Whirlwinds around this time. He and his wife Barbara now live in Western Australia.
They appeared on TV in Cyprus and it’s thought they made at least one record.
“I arrived Akrotiri with my Dad in 1962 at that time I was 14. I remember very well dancing each Thursday night away to the sounds of the “Whirlwinds” at the Akrotiri Families Club,” recalls former RAF member Steve Wood. “I have never forgotten the band nor the pleasure it brought me on those nights.
“… As I recall, the Whirlwinds always concluded the show with ‘Unchained Melody’, which afforded us the opportunity to have a slow dance and the possibility to chat-up the partner of our choice. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to offer my thanks to you Alan for providing some everlasting memories and some of the very best live dance band music I have experienced then and now! Thank You!
Jaymes Fenda & The Vulcans
Jaymes Fenda & The Vulcans operated from South London, with Jim playing bass. The line-up was Colin Delaney, Jim Baikie, John Ford, Keith Preston and Mike Pierce aka “Jaymes Fenda”.
An R&B band, “Siemens” notes they tried to impress with a wolves in sheep’s clothing tactic, when they made it through the “Ready Steady Win” semi finals with the cute, but harmless Christmas song “Mistletoe Love”.
“At Parlophone,someone was convinced enough to offer them a one-off contract, demanding that they had to record exactly that one,” notes Siemens. It was released in 1964. “The flip is equally tame, but I’ve heard unreleased stuff that shows the group in a rougher mood.”
“Keith, John Colin and myself were at least four years younger than Jim,” recalls Mike of the band’s formation. “We chose Jim as our bass guitarist after many auditions because he was the right image, but he was always playing down his guitar skills. At that time we had secured a record contract with Parlophone and we were very close to breaking out to the wider audience. Dare I say that it came as a very big shock when Jim wanted to leave the band to pursue his real ambitions. We had no idea that he didn’t want to become a ‘pop star’ and that he was a dedicated family man.”
The band once support to The Kinks but Jim wasn’t allowed to admit his wife Wendy and child to their gig.
“Wendy was not impressed at dressing up to go to a gig with us and the Kinks,” Jim recalled in 2012, “having found a babysitter only to get to the door and be told it would destroy the band’s image if one of them was married, and that she had to go home!”
“I must admit it was pretty drastic,” acknowledged front man Mike Pierce. “…it was the same for all the members of our band. None of us were allowed to bring girlfriends. It was in the era when we were just about to open our own little door to fame and to be seen with a female was just what the mass of girlie fans didn’t want to see. I had to go right out of my area where our band was known just to date a girl.”
The Cross Ties Blues Band
The Cross Ties Blues Band (a name chosen because of railway cross ties) were fronted by the late Dave Peverett (also known as “Lonesome Dave“, who went on to have success with Savoy Brown and Foghat – both bands for whom Jim Baikie did album art), his brother John Peverett, Jim and Chris Youlden. They played the London club circuit and colleges and were later known as the Lonesome Jax Blues Band.
“The first name we had was I think the Roadrunners, then we found there was a band in Liverpool called the Roadrunners,” Dave Peverett told Goldmine Magazine back in 1995, “and then we had The Cheaters and found out some other band had that name, and then it was the Nocturnes, very kind of beat era names. Then we had the Cross Ties Blues Band, you know because of the railway cross ties.
“I had an instrumental B-side from Daryl Hawkins called ‘Cross Ties’ and I had no idea what it meant. I liked the instrumental and thought it sounded like a good name for the band.
“In those days we were playing a mixture of Chuck Berry and things like ‘High Heeled Sneakers’ and ‘Walkin’ the The Dog’, and ‘Poison Ivy’, mixed in with John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed Stuff. Then we started to get more into the blues, and then the Cross Ties Blues Band became Lonesome Jax Blues Band, which was my stage name.
“In 1966 we were the Lonesome Jax Blues Band, and we played the club circuit in south London and the colleges in central London. Pubs were the mainstay of the band and then colleges were an added bonus, ’cause they were willing to have us. But by 1966 we were pretty good.”
“When I left home in 1965 I stayed with [Shakey Vick band founder] Graham Vickery and his family in West Central London for a while before getting my own place nearby,” recalls Chris Youlden. “In the same year we joined a South London R&B band led by Bill and Frances McGillivray. In 1966, we got together with Dave and John Peverett to form the Lonesome Jax Blues Band. The bass player was Jim Baikie. We also ran a Blues club called the Stormy Monday.”
“The story goes that the band were on the cusp of fame, and wanted Dad to join them in breaking America (which Foghat did do),” says Ellen Pesci, Jim’s daughter, “but my sister Jane, their second child, had been born that year and Dad turned it down, still favouring the comics as his career of choice.”
The photo above has a cool story,” Jim’s daughter Ellen Pesci tells us. “Some friends of theirs were heading to Chicago for an important band opportunity and Dad decided that they would pretend they’d already been there by making a sign of the street name at Letraset where he was working at the time, and holding it up with his elbow. He also used his letraset to copy the Gibson guitar lettering and add them to his Gibson copy – but spelling it ‘Gisbon’. Nobody ever noticed the misspelling!”
Spilt Milk
An Orcadian band of the early 1970s.
Compass
An Orcadian band of the late 1970s comprising Jim Park, Gordon Scott, Jim Baikie, Jimmy “Pye” Groundwater, Kenny Pirie.
Gerbil
Three of the members of Compass: Jim Baikie (until he got busy with his comics work), Jimmy “Pye” Groundwater and Gordon Scott
“Gerbil played together for 34 years starting in 1972/73,” writes Alan Hale in a post on the Orkney Image Library web site. The first gig was at the Braes Hotel, Stromness. The day before Pye had been telling Dennis Tait the proprietor about his naughty cat. Pye’s cat had been found fast asleep besides a neighbours fire, unfortunately it had eaten the neighbour’s gerbil and two sausages out of the frying pan .’That’s it!’ said Dennis ‘We will call you Gerbil!’ – and so it came to pass.
“As Pye says, it could have been worse, we might have been called ‘Two Sausages’.”
All art © respective publishers
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, Comic Creator Spotlight, Creating Comics, Doctor Who, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Star Trek
Great job tracking down all those credits! One correction: Outcasts #1-12 (from 1987-88) need to be deleted. Those are by Cam Kennedy, not Jim Baikie. 🙂
Thanks Rodrigo – chatting with David Roach, we’re not sure why “Outcasts” was on his original list, unless Jim perhaps helped Cam in some way. We’ve removed the mentions for now until we can find out if they should be there!