Jon grew up in
West Bromich with his two brothers.
Like the other members
he wasn't very good at school and wasn't given any kind of encouragement by his teachers at school.
At the age of 7 or
8, Brookes discovered drumming.
He was 11 when he got
his first drum case. He spent most of his time daydreaming about being in a heavy rock band.
Although he had somebody
to teach him in the evenings, his brothers helped him with inspiration. One was into raggae and the other one was into Motorhead
and Thin Lizzy. Both helped him in developing various drumming techniques.
On leaving school,
Jon took a job in a sawmill. When no one was looking he'd make drum sticks.
When he was 16, he
was in a band alongside with Rob Collins- The Charlatans late keyboard player.
There's an old story
that Jon was a street sweeper and that he met Blunt lying face down in the gutter vomiting. Unfortunately, that's not true.
It never happened (heh!)
Blunt knew Rob Collins
from a pub in Walsall and since Brookes knew Collins, he was introduced to Blunt. Needless to say, Martin liked Brookes straight
away.
