It was a few years ago and Paris was a different city, encounters were easier, there's always been a rough edge to the place but in 1978, there was still a collective Spirit that contributed to make things Happen.

That's when I decided to form EXTRABALLE , as soon as I met with Michel PEYRONEL.
EXTRABALLE  was created by Energy , thru' Energy , for Energy. And the name really means that you always have a second chance,there's always a second take... on things , Life, etc... you shoot again , because there are no limits except the ones of your own decay that can stop you.
Even Karma IS not irreversible , you take my word for it, I thought I was doomed and damned for Real, for Years but some Daikinis must have intervened...

With Lolita , rebaptised Loilita Carabine and Olivier Huret becoming Olivier Hurt ...
with such a casting, we had a winning hand.
We traded Mercedes Benz's trucks and cars from Germay to Paris and AKS moogs from London that were rare in "the frog pond" to purchase the best possible music gear... Red and Purle or White Marshall Amps, Ludwig Drums, U name it we had all the tools.
We rehearsed until the end of Spring 1978, then I went to Finland to write most of what was to become the material of the first album.
EXTRABALLE pragmatical and strategic: Exit London 1 : to record the first maxi Single.
Danny Peyronel , Michel's brother, was playing keyboards with the Heavy Metal Kids and he made all very easy for us to achieve this first recording.The other main factor was the encounter with Robin Millar. ( Mick Taylor's brother in law).
I still have in mind Robin playing all the lead guitar parts of this first EP songs, he was playing and I was pretty much just shouting the chords changes... surreal..."Johnny la Hyène", "Capitulation" or "Haute tension",@ Matrix studios , Great Russell Street was in Awe...,ask Nigel, he was and still is Matrix and Maison Rouge studios's boss.

Meanwhile, I was living in Shepherd's Bush in a freezer of a flat and we were rehearsing in Camden, under the arches of the Stables, was Atlanta studios, Billy Idol and Generation X used to rehearse there too.
In 1978 Camden was a different sight :BSA's , Norton and Indian bikes , scrapyards, carbreakers, industrial post war slums...
A long shot from Michel 's residence in St Germain des Prés.... I was living in that hood too, it made sense then... Soon we were to become the resident act @ the Campagne Première theater anf from this point all started to flow like a Wild River.
This place was the Ultimate weapon and allowed us to appear quickly on bigger stages , such as the Bataclan to front the Stranglers and many other venues where we got a lot of exposure, hence a lot of good reviews. We sold each and every copy of this limited edion EP ...5000 copies, eventually with Extraballe FLAMINGO RECORDS became NEW ROSE, a label that did a lot for many bads under Patrick Mathé's Influence.

Tracks :
CAPITULATION, 2' 57
JOHNNY LA HYENE, 2' 40
JE TRAVAILLE À LA MINE, 3' 30
HAUTE TENSION, 2' 47

Credits :
All songs by Jean R.Jovenet
Produced by Danny Peyronel
and Robin Millar
Recorded at Matrix Studios

JEAN.R.JOVENET:LEAD VOCALS / GUITAR

OLIVIER HURET:BASS & CHANT
MICHEL PEYRONEL:DRUMS & VOCAUX-

LOLITA CARABINE:GUITARS

Cover design: Lulu LARSEN

Press Review

SINGLES

Singles are a difficult Art Form, there's been too many average releases not to feel electrocuted by this one unexpected piece of Wax.

the four songs of this Extraballe's maxi single : "Johnny la Hyène", "Haute Tension" , "Capitulation", "Je Travaille à la Mine", make you shiver and shudder at the idea that these guys are going to record an album.

EXTRABALLE, is metallic punk rock métallique , in the Stooges lineage , mean , fast and furious.
Blinding Riffs and flashy musicians.

The singer, Jean Jovenet brings back to life what we loved the most with Iggy , Lou Reed or Jim Morrison.

P. Manoeuvre
( Rock'n Folk december 1978)