Johnny Warman - Early Life

Early Life

Warman was born in Bethnal Green, East London. He then moved to Hackney at the age of seven where he enjoyed a normal idyllic childhood, frequently climbing trees and scrumping over Victoria Park. Within Warman's home there was always music in some shape or form although nobody played an instrument, his mother sang and his father was a terrible singer no matter how much he tried. Warman enjoyed his school years very much and when he first heard The Beatles at the age of 11, he was walking home from school when he passed another school building and heard music that grabbed him like the pied piper of hamlin and transfixed by the sound so much he remembers walking up to the Dansette record player and seeing an EP cover on the table and the song playing was "Love me do". He decided to join the school choir. He was picked to sing at the Royal Opera House in 1964, where he sang alongside Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi. This event was pivotal in Warman's life, as whilst he was standing on the stage taking in all the sights, sounds and applause, he thought to himself, "This is what I want to do".

Warman was (and remains) a keen fan of both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He had no hesitation in choosing between being a Mod or a Rocker once he had heard The Who. After Jimi Hendrix (considered a "Guitar Messiah" by Warman) had burst onto the British music scene in 1966 when Warman first heard "Hey Joe" he realised all he wanted to be was a Rock Star. Whilst in school Warman wrote a song called, "Cosmic Butterflies" and joined a band called "Sounds Like Six," with Kevin Molyneux on lead guitar. During the late 1960s Warman frequented many live music performances including Jimi Hendrix thrice and other groups including The Move, The Iveys and Pink Floyd whilst using the Melody Maker as his bible.