Classic video of the week: Jimmy and the Boys – “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” (1979)

Australian music journalist and historian Glenn A Baker claims he was the one who suggested that Jimmy and the Boys do a cover of The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody.” The Sydney new wave band assented and the cover was released as their first single on Avenue Records in 1979.

In this performance of “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” on Countdown in 1979, Jimmy and the Boys live up to the promise of the song’s title. It’s loose and theatrical, while also displaying consummate musicality. Throughout, it feels like frontperson Ignatius Jones is about to smash through the television screen and start thrusting in your lounge room.

Jones died at home in the Philippines in May 2024, leaving behind a legacy unlike anyone else in Australian music. After Jimmy and the Boys, he made a cabaret album with Pardon Me Boys and worked as a journalist for RAM Magazine, The Edge and Stiletto.

In later decades, Jones – known as Iggy – worked as artistic director for the Gay Games, Kings Cross Festival, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Vivid Sydney.

SEE ALSO: Classic video of the week: The Go-Betweens – “Streets of Your Town” (Live on Hey Hey It’s Saturday)