Johnny Flux
Photo: Unknown photographer / Wikimedia Commons / Unknown — Unknown Wikimedia file page
Johnny Flux (real name John Edward) was the guitarist in The Manish Boys, one of David Bowie’s most significant mid-1960s bands.
Active with the group during 1964–1965, Flux contributed to the band’s aggressive rhythm-and-blues sound, supporting Bowie’s move away from early beat-pop toward a tougher, mod-influenced identity.
- Real name: John Edward
- Role: Guitarist
- Band: The Manish Boys
- Active with Bowie: 1964–1965
The Manish Boys and Bowie’s transformation
The Manish Boys marked a pivotal stage in David Bowie’s early career. The band rejected polite beat-group aesthetics in favour of a raw, American-influenced rhythm & blues sound.
This shift allowed Bowie (then performing as Davy Jones) to cultivate a sharper vocal delivery and a more confrontational stage presence.
Johnny Flux’s guitar role
As guitarist, Johnny Flux provided distorted rhythm figures and driving riffs that reinforced the band’s aggressive identity.
The guitar work supported the brass-heavy arrangements and added bite to performances in London clubs and mod venues.
Sound and attitude
Unlike earlier Bowie groups, The Manish Boys projected volume, swagger and visual confidence.
Flux’s guitar playing contributed directly to this tougher image, helping separate the band from the more restrained pop acts of the time.
Shared recordings
The Manish Boys’ best-known release is the 1965 single I Pity the Fool, which captured the group’s R&B direction and Bowie’s developing vocal authority.
The track is also notable for featuring Jimmy Page on lead guitar, highlighting the band’s ambition and industry connections.
End of the collaboration
Bowie left The Manish Boys in early 1966 as he sought greater artistic control and broader creative freedom.
Johnny Flux’s involvement belongs to this crucial apprenticeship phase, when Bowie absorbed R&B, mod culture and the power of a hardened band sound.
Place within Bowie’s universe
Within David Bowie’s extended creative universe, Johnny Flux represents the guitar-driven R&B foundation that helped Bowie move decisively beyond early-1960s pop formulas.
His role sits at the point where sound, attitude and image began to merge into the restless drive that would define Bowie’s career.