05/08/2025
ā¤ļøš LOVE IT OR HATE IT⦠IS JILTED JOHN A WORK OF GENIUS OR JUST A JOKE? šā¤ļø
On this date in 1978, JILTED JOHN released the gloriously awkward angst of JILTED JOHN / GOING STEADY (Aug 4, 1978), a record that would go on to become one of the most iconic one-hit wonders of the UK punk eraāand perhaps the greatest ever teenage break-up song committed to vinyl.
Issued first on Manchester indie label Rabid Records, the single originally featured Going Steady as the A-side and Jilted John as the B-side. It was only when EMI picked up the track for wider release in August of the same year that the recordās true punk-pop anthemāJilted Johnātook its rightful place as the headline act. That ranting, ranting monologue of snotty heartbreak and school disco fury, full of chip shop tears and musical sneers.
šÆ āGordon is a moron! Gordon is a moron!ā šÆ
A phrase that instantly defined a generation of jilted teensāand made it downright dangerous to be called Gordon in late ā70s Britain.
Written and performed by 19-year-old Graham Fellows, then a trainee actor at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre, Jilted John was a perfectly packaged adolescent tragedy: part punk parody, part mini soap opera, and all delivered with a gloriously nasal northern whine. A straight-talking tale of fleeting happiness (āIāve been going out with a girl, her name is Julieā), shattered by betrayal (āGordon, she repliedā), and recounted with snide glee and righteous indignation.
Beneath the comic snark lay something almost profoundāteenage sociology with pogo energy and deadpan delivery. Musically sparse but rhythmically sharp, the track leapt from bedroom whine to cult anthem after being played by John Peel, who rightly declared it a potential smashāif only a major label got behind it. EMI did, and the rest is history. The single soared to No. 4 in the UK charts, helped along by a now-legendary Top of the Pops performance introduced by David Jensen as "one of the most bizarre singles of the decade."