Jules Shear

b. 7 March 1952, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Singer-songwriter Jules Shear recorded numerous albums both solo and with groups beginning in the late '70s, and wrote for such artists as Cyndi Lauper, the Bangles, Art Garfunkel and Olivia Newton-John. Shear moved from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles in the '70s. His first recorded work was with the band Funky Kings in 1976, also featuring singer-songwriter Jack Tempchin, who had written previously with the Eagles. Two years later Shear fronted Jules And The Polar Bears, a pop group that critics lumped in with the emerging new wave movement. The group debuted with the excellent GOT NO BREEDING, which featured some of Shear's finest work, most notably Lovers By Rote. After one more album, however, they disbanded in 1980. Shear next surfaced with the solo WATCH DOG in 1983 and released three further albums under his own name. He briefly fronted the band Reckless Sleepers in 1988, which released one album, but Shear has yet to make a major commercial impact. In 1988, Iain Matthews recorded an entire album of Shear compositions, WALKING A CHANGING LINE, for Windham Hill Records. It was alleged that many of the lyrics of Aimee Mann's WHATEVER in 1994 were directed to Shear, following the break-up of their relationship.