Jon Poole
Encyclopedia
Jon Poole is a British multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter best known for his work as guitarist for Cardiacs
(1991–2004) and as bass player for The Wildhearts
(2002–2005).
Poole is the frontman and main performer of God Damn Whores, and has also worked with the bands Ablemesh, Dr Brighton and Celebricide. He is currently the live bass player for The Lotus Eaters and has recently joined the Brighton band La Momo as drummer.
Poole currently lives in Brighton with his wife Louise.
However, Poole has cited a wide range of influences affecting his music, starting with the jazz which his family were all interested in (and played). As a listener, he subsequently became interested in (in rapid succession), contemporary disco and soul, New Wave and 1980s synth pop, and 1960s pop. This was followed by a period “catching up with” punk and post-punk, followed by ska, 2-Tone music and Trevor Horn
producer pop. By the mid-to-late 80s, when he was beginning to play in bands, he was listening to maverick American art-rock heroes such as Captain Beefheart
, Tom Waits
, Frank Zappa
and also to British progressive rock from the 1970s (as well as contemporary prog-inspired bands - most notably Cardiacs
).
Poole has also expressed interest in a variety of 1990s rock and pop acts including Nirvana
, Blur
, Sugababes
and others. He is a fan of several classical composers - Igor Stravinsky
, Eric Satie, Ralph Vaughan Williams
and Gustav Holst
.
and "Tiger Feet
" began.
After a move to Milton Keynes circa 1990, Poole wrote and performed in his first proper band, the Cardiacs
-inspired Ad Nauseam alongside lead singer and drummer Bob Leith. Although Ad Nauseam had a shifting lineup Poole played, at various times, most of the instruments in the band.
Ad Nauseam split up a short time after Poole's recruitment into Cardiacs
. Poole has since expressed interest in an Ad Nauseam reunion, saying "I'd really like to do it if only to get it right this time but I don't know if it'll ever happen. I don't even know if it'd be the same line-up. Me and Bob would be there of course as it was always our band.
I had a brief thought of doing a set of Ad Nauseam songs with some more obscure Cardiacs songs chucked in such as "Bitter Pill" "Big Noise In A Toy World" or "Stench Of Honey" but I'm not sure if that might just be naff. Who knows? Not me,boy!"
and their leader Tim Smith. On hearing of guitarist Christian 'Bic' Hayes
departure from Cardiacs in May 1991, Poole promptly put himself forward as a replacement candidate and was recruited into the band later in the year. (His Ad Nauseam bandmate Bob Leith would also join the band as drummer, replacing the outgoing Dominic Luckman in December 1993.)
Poole stayed in Cardiacs for the next thirteen years, playing second guitar and singing backing vocals (plus playing keyboards on record). He also played some of the group's bass guitar parts both on record and live (covering for Cardiacs bass player Jim Smith).He was noted for his parodic tapping
-style guitar solos on live performances of the songs "Fiery Gun Hand" and "Anything I Can't Eat".
Poole appeared on two Cardiacs albums (the 1995 double album Sing To God
and its 1999 follow-up Guns
) as well as on the song "Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain" from Greatest Hits
album. He is the only Cardiacs member, bar Tim Smith, to have entire Cardiacs songs credited to him (including concert favourite "A Horse's Tail"). Poole also co-wrote songs with Smith and Leith and was also credited with co-writing riffs and arrangements on Smith's own songs.
Poole left the band amicably in 2004 due to other musical commitments, and has remained a friend and fan.
tribute album Mothers Covers (later renamed What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?) which was released in 1994. On this album, Poole performed a surprisingly accurate and effective one-man band rendition of old Mothers Of Invention songs using only multiple overdubbed vocal parts, guitars, a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer and a primitive Alesis HR16 drum machine.
Early versions of the album featured a full-frontal nude photo of Poole on the front cover.
guitarist Clive Giblin was hired as the band's guitar technician. Poole and Giblin soon befriended each other, leading to Poole being drawn into a Giblin songwriting project specifically designed to put the listener on edge. This project became Two Worlds Collide, to which Poole ended up contributing on virtually every instrument he played - initially guitar and keyboards, followed by bass guitar and finally (in a later line-up) drums. Two Cardiacs drummers - Bob Leith and Dominic Luckman - also played drums for the project at various times.
Plans for live performance did not materialise due to other commitments, but the project did completed an album called Sympathetic Storm which was eventually released in 2006 by the Le Cluricaun label. The band (currently managed by former Public Image Ltd publicist Helen Maleed) continued after Poole's departure, and are now active live performers.
Ablemesh existed between 1991 and 1996, and were centred around the talents of Gordon Glass (singer and press releases), Sean Walmsley (guitars and lyrics) and Wig Worland (drums and photography). Other members of the band during its existence included drummers Bob Leith and Mark Turner, bass players Andy Allum, Sujay Jayaram and Allan Thompson, and keyboard player Mike Turbutt.
Fiercely independent, Ablemesh practised a multimedia approach to their combined art and explored various new ways of reaching an audience. This included a distribution experiment anticipating the later practise of viral distribution, in which the band’s 1992 Shareware EP was produced in an extremely limited run of three CDs only, with the CD's recipients simply invited to copy the music onto cassette free of charge and to pass it on. The band repeated the experiment with the follow-up EP Fecund. They also explored a related promotion idea by exploiting a loophole in the law which effectively allowed them to place dummy Ablemesh cassette releases on the shelves of the record departments of mainstream retailers such as Woolworths (each dummy copy contained an insert telling the reader where they can get mail order copies).
Poole played bass with the group at one point and also produced their 1995 album Present Imperfect, which was recorded entirely on an analogue cassette 4-track machine using Poole's determined and innovative production skills. The album remained unreleased until 2006 when a remastered version was made available as a download via the Ablemesh homepage.
Several Ablemesh members would go on to work with Poole in Dr. Brighton.
The band recorded a number of tracks and played live, but did not release any albums or singles. They are "currently on hiatus".
, Poole began to work with Wildhearts leader Ginger
on the latter's spin-off project Silver Ginger 5
. Poole played on the Black Leather Mojo
album (produced by Tim Smith) and joined the Silver Ginger 5 live band as bass player.
It was on the first day of Silver Ginger 5 rehearsals that Poole gained his nickname of "Random Jon".
Poole's work with Silver Ginger 5 led directly to him joining The Wildhearts
in 2002 (replacing the ailing Danny McCormack on bass). This move ultimately led to him leaving Cardiacs in 2004 due to the demands of the Wildhearts' touring schedule.
When The Wildhearts split up again in 2005, Poole continued to play as part of Ginger's band Ginger & The Sonic Circus
and on Ginger's solo acoustic tours from time to time. He would not, however, rejoin The Wildhearts on any of their subsequent reformations.
, Wolfsbane
guitarist Jase Edwards, Chris Catalyst
(The Sisters of Mercy
/Eureka Machines
) and Ginger's drummer Denzel. God Damn Whores have supported both Cardiacs and The Wildhearts on tour.
The band's first album, We Are The Lucky Thirteen, was released on Round Records. Poole has described this recording as "just meant to be a bit of fun" and has stated that it will be entirely eclipsed by the follow-up (due in 2010) which is "a very tribal/glam/psychedelic affair."
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
(1991–2004) and as bass player for The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are a British rock group originally formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as The Beatles and 1980s-era Metallica...
(2002–2005).
Poole is the frontman and main performer of God Damn Whores, and has also worked with the bands Ablemesh, Dr Brighton and Celebricide. He is currently the live bass player for The Lotus Eaters and has recently joined the Brighton band La Momo as drummer.
Personal information
Jon Poole comes from a musical family and is the youngest of six children, all of whom play musical instruments. One of his brothers is highly-regarded session bass player Ed Poole and one of his sisters is jazz trombonist Cathi "Trombabe" Poole, a member of the Cathi Cook Quintet and former musical director of the Milton Keynes Open Band.Poole currently lives in Brighton with his wife Louise.
Musical style and influences
Poole's projects tend to draw from or combine punk rock, progressive/art rock and hard rock, mostly due to his manic performance style, punk-style vocals and dual interest in complexity and raw riffs. He has also commented "I find beautiful perfection repellent."However, Poole has cited a wide range of influences affecting his music, starting with the jazz which his family were all interested in (and played). As a listener, he subsequently became interested in (in rapid succession), contemporary disco and soul, New Wave and 1980s synth pop, and 1960s pop. This was followed by a period “catching up with” punk and post-punk, followed by ska, 2-Tone music and Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
producer pop. By the mid-to-late 80s, when he was beginning to play in bands, he was listening to maverick American art-rock heroes such as Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and also to British progressive rock from the 1970s (as well as contemporary prog-inspired bands - most notably Cardiacs
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
).
Poole has also expressed interest in a variety of 1990s rock and pop acts including Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
and others. He is a fan of several classical composers - Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Eric Satie, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
and Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
.
Early bands (Cangels Close Crew, Ad Nauseam)
Poole began his musical career with the Cangels Close Crew producing such works as "The Beano" and "Softy Walter" in the Moorland Road Studio with fellow band member Rob Flowers. It was in this period that his love for Adam and the AntsAdam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
and "Tiger Feet
Tiger Feet
"Tiger Feet" is a popular song by Mud. Written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, Tiger Feet was the first of Mud's three number one singles in the UK, spending four weeks at the top of the chart from 22 January 1974...
" began.
After a move to Milton Keynes circa 1990, Poole wrote and performed in his first proper band, the Cardiacs
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
-inspired Ad Nauseam alongside lead singer and drummer Bob Leith. Although Ad Nauseam had a shifting lineup Poole played, at various times, most of the instruments in the band.
Ad Nauseam split up a short time after Poole's recruitment into Cardiacs
Cardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
. Poole has since expressed interest in an Ad Nauseam reunion, saying "I'd really like to do it if only to get it right this time but I don't know if it'll ever happen. I don't even know if it'd be the same line-up. Me and Bob would be there of course as it was always our band.
I had a brief thought of doing a set of Ad Nauseam songs with some more obscure Cardiacs songs chucked in such as "Bitter Pill" "Big Noise In A Toy World" or "Stench Of Honey" but I'm not sure if that might just be naff. Who knows? Not me,boy!"
Work with Cardiacs (1991-2004)
Poole's work with Ad Nauseam (plus relentless "pestering", as a fan) had brought him to the attention of CardiacsCardiacs
Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...
and their leader Tim Smith. On hearing of guitarist Christian 'Bic' Hayes
Christian Hayes
Christian Hayes , also known as Bic Hayes, is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. His highest profile musical role has been fronting the band Dark Star between 1998 and 2001, whom he formed with fellow ex-Levitation members David Francolini and Laurence O'Keefe.He has also played in a...
departure from Cardiacs in May 1991, Poole promptly put himself forward as a replacement candidate and was recruited into the band later in the year. (His Ad Nauseam bandmate Bob Leith would also join the band as drummer, replacing the outgoing Dominic Luckman in December 1993.)
Poole stayed in Cardiacs for the next thirteen years, playing second guitar and singing backing vocals (plus playing keyboards on record). He also played some of the group's bass guitar parts both on record and live (covering for Cardiacs bass player Jim Smith).He was noted for his parodic tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
-style guitar solos on live performances of the songs "Fiery Gun Hand" and "Anything I Can't Eat".
Poole appeared on two Cardiacs albums (the 1995 double album Sing To God
Sing to God
Sing to God is the seventh album by Cardiacs and their first with drummer Bob Leith.Sing to God was also the band's first double album, due to the sheer amount of material that group leader Tim Smith had written over a number of years with little or no Cardiacs live performances...
and its 1999 follow-up Guns
Guns (album)
Guns is the eighth studio album by Cardiacs, and their last with Jon Poole. It was recorded and mixed at Apollo 8 in London. After a brief period of unavailability, the album was re-pressed in August 2007 and is once again available on the official .-Themes:...
) as well as on the song "Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain" from Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Cardiacs album)
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the English rock group Cardiacs, released in 2002.The album's title may be ironic, as the extent to which Greatest Hits is a "greatest hits" album...
album. He is the only Cardiacs member, bar Tim Smith, to have entire Cardiacs songs credited to him (including concert favourite "A Horse's Tail"). Poole also co-wrote songs with Smith and Leith and was also credited with co-writing riffs and arrangements on Smith's own songs.
Poole left the band amicably in 2004 due to other musical commitments, and has remained a friend and fan.
The Zappa covers project (1994)
Among Poole's varied projects was a particularly ambitious Frank ZappaFrank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
tribute album Mothers Covers (later renamed What's The Ugliest Part Of Your Body?) which was released in 1994. On this album, Poole performed a surprisingly accurate and effective one-man band rendition of old Mothers Of Invention songs using only multiple overdubbed vocal parts, guitars, a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer and a primitive Alesis HR16 drum machine.
Early versions of the album featured a full-frontal nude photo of Poole on the front cover.
Two Worlds Collide (1992-unspecified date in 1990s)
At the same time that Poole joined Cardiacs in 1991, former Alternative TVAlternative TV
Alternative TV were an English rock band, formed in London in 1976. Their punk rock and post-punk sound was influential for several musical artists.-History:...
guitarist Clive Giblin was hired as the band's guitar technician. Poole and Giblin soon befriended each other, leading to Poole being drawn into a Giblin songwriting project specifically designed to put the listener on edge. This project became Two Worlds Collide, to which Poole ended up contributing on virtually every instrument he played - initially guitar and keyboards, followed by bass guitar and finally (in a later line-up) drums. Two Cardiacs drummers - Bob Leith and Dominic Luckman - also played drums for the project at various times.
Plans for live performance did not materialise due to other commitments, but the project did completed an album called Sympathetic Storm which was eventually released in 2006 by the Le Cluricaun label. The band (currently managed by former Public Image Ltd publicist Helen Maleed) continued after Poole's departure, and are now active live performers.
Ablemesh (mid-1990s)
While still a member of Cardiacs, Poole also played and worked with the Milton Keynes indie art-rock band Ablemesh and is credited with reinventing many of their songs.Ablemesh existed between 1991 and 1996, and were centred around the talents of Gordon Glass (singer and press releases), Sean Walmsley (guitars and lyrics) and Wig Worland (drums and photography). Other members of the band during its existence included drummers Bob Leith and Mark Turner, bass players Andy Allum, Sujay Jayaram and Allan Thompson, and keyboard player Mike Turbutt.
Fiercely independent, Ablemesh practised a multimedia approach to their combined art and explored various new ways of reaching an audience. This included a distribution experiment anticipating the later practise of viral distribution, in which the band’s 1992 Shareware EP was produced in an extremely limited run of three CDs only, with the CD's recipients simply invited to copy the music onto cassette free of charge and to pass it on. The band repeated the experiment with the follow-up EP Fecund. They also explored a related promotion idea by exploiting a loophole in the law which effectively allowed them to place dummy Ablemesh cassette releases on the shelves of the record departments of mainstream retailers such as Woolworths (each dummy copy contained an insert telling the reader where they can get mail order copies).
Poole played bass with the group at one point and also produced their 1995 album Present Imperfect, which was recorded entirely on an analogue cassette 4-track machine using Poole's determined and innovative production skills. The album remained unreleased until 2006 when a remastered version was made available as a download via the Ablemesh homepage.
Several Ablemesh members would go on to work with Poole in Dr. Brighton.
Dr. Brighton (mid-to-late 1990s)
Poole formed the "pop punk/indie/rock" band Dr. Brighton in 1995, featuring himself on lead vocals and guitar and Bob Leith on drums. The rest of the band was made up of former Ablemesh members - Sean Walmsley on guitar and backing vocals, Andy Allum on bass guitar and Mike Turbutt on keyboards and percussion. The band's songs were written by Poole and Walmsley.The band recorded a number of tracks and played live, but did not release any albums or singles. They are "currently on hiatus".
Work with Ginger and The Wildhearts (2002-2005 and subsequently)
In 2000, due to Cardiacs' influence on (and friendly relationship with WildheartsThe Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are a British rock group originally formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as The Beatles and 1980s-era Metallica...
, Poole began to work with Wildhearts leader Ginger
Ginger (singer)
Ginger is a rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his band The Wildhearts.-Early career:...
on the latter's spin-off project Silver Ginger 5
Silver Ginger 5
Silver Ginger 5 was originally formed in 1999 as a solo project for Ginger, lead singer/songwriter of The Wildhearts.The band was not formed until after the recording of the album Black Leather Mojo, and despite the name only ever had 4 members...
. Poole played on the Black Leather Mojo
Black Leather Mojo
Debut album released in 2000 by British Rock band SilverGinger 5, produced by Tim Smith of the Cardiacs, who Ginger counted as one of his biggest influences. It was claimed by Ginger himself in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, that the audition for Wildhearts bassist Danny McCormack consisted...
album (produced by Tim Smith) and joined the Silver Ginger 5 live band as bass player.
It was on the first day of Silver Ginger 5 rehearsals that Poole gained his nickname of "Random Jon".
Poole's work with Silver Ginger 5 led directly to him joining The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are a British rock group originally formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as The Beatles and 1980s-era Metallica...
in 2002 (replacing the ailing Danny McCormack on bass). This move ultimately led to him leaving Cardiacs in 2004 due to the demands of the Wildhearts' touring schedule.
When The Wildhearts split up again in 2005, Poole continued to play as part of Ginger's band Ginger & The Sonic Circus
Ginger & The Sonic Circus
Ginger & The Sonic Circus is a collective of friends and musicians led by The Wildhearts frontman Ginger .Ginger formed the band following the 2005 split of The Wildhearts with guitarist/ producer Jason Edwards and Jon Poole , they were soon joined by Conny Bloom and Vickie Perks Ginger & The...
and on Ginger's solo acoustic tours from time to time. He would not, however, rejoin The Wildhearts on any of their subsequent reformations.
God Damn Whores (2005-present)
After leaving The Wildhearts, Poole created the God Damn Whores, a glam-punk/hard rock band centred around himself as lead vocalist and guitarist. The band has a flexible lineup which Poole describes as "just me and anyone else who happens to be available." At various times The God Damn Whores has featured GingerGinger (singer)
Ginger is a rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his band The Wildhearts.-Early career:...
, Wolfsbane
Wolfsbane (band)
Wolfsbane are an English heavy metal band. Formed in 1984, the band remained active until lead singer Blaze Bayley went on to join Iron Maiden in 1994. After a couple of reunion shows in 2007 and 2009, Wolfsbane officially reunited in June 2010...
guitarist Jase Edwards, Chris Catalyst
Chris Catalyst
Chris Catalyst is the guitarist from the rock bands Eureka Machines and The Sisters of Mercy. He was also known as Robochrist, a solo industrial comedy set with face paint and props which he used to perform, but which is now on hold for the time being.He was born in Beverley, East Riding of...
(The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
/Eureka Machines
Eureka Machines
Eureka Machines are a British pop-rock band based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, who formed in 2007. The band consists of Chris Catalyst on lead vocals & guitar, Davros on guitar & backing vocals, Pete Pseudonym on bass guitar & backing vocals and Wayne Insane on drums...
) and Ginger's drummer Denzel. God Damn Whores have supported both Cardiacs and The Wildhearts on tour.
The band's first album, We Are The Lucky Thirteen, was released on Round Records. Poole has described this recording as "just meant to be a bit of fun" and has stated that it will be entirely eclipsed by the follow-up (due in 2010) which is "a very tribal/glam/psychedelic affair."