Bundles K. Songe

**Jógnoh** **Kellonde Songe** (born September 19, 1965), also known by stage names **Bundles K. Songe**, sometimes simply **Bundles**, **Boy-Friend** and the former colloquial **J-Google**, is a Minish singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and teacher.

He entered the music business at the age of 15 after joining Children under Pacific Records as an acoustic guitarist and occasional vocalist. With the band, he appeared in 4 albums and had twelve songs that ranked in the Hot 100. Despite such success, Songe left his position in 1987 due to creative differences. With the refusal to give up his career in the "fickle" music industry, he went solo a year later.

Fifier Tulli, a legendary singer and record executive whom Songe had idolized from a young age, took Songe's promising trajectory as a soloist under his wing and began a "father-son"-like friendship. This would ultimately land Songe a record deal at the independent F.I.C. Music. He began doing gigs later in October 1988, whilst maintaining a routine of recording original songs weekly. In May 1990, he would get partly-international recognition after he had co-written Jemi's notorious Phony-winning single ""Fuck" on My Blade", which was recorded while she was jailed with a 3-month sentence for the stabbing of her ex. In November 1990, he released his first single for his debut album. With this, he extended the public's interest in slower music whilst also showcasing his most recognisable qualities — his accented baritone, musical competence, and ability to energise an otherwise lifeless track through rhythm. …And also the most important quality, truth in lyrics. The song would become extremely popular amongst Minish "folk fusion" circles as people would debate what underlying message there was in the lyrical content. To this day, it remains his second-most bestselling and fifteenth-highest charting single, having peaked at number 9 in the Hot 100. The next year (1991) in April, he would release his first album. He embarked on his first tour, from July that year, that lasted four months. It would be commercially successful and Songe would release two more albums in 1992 and 1994.

In the middle of creating his fourth studio album in 1995, Songe was offered a deal to collaborate with Heckles Songe, who acquainted with him five months prior. The deal was had he made a song with her that charted within the top half of the Hot 100 or top 5 of the Folk 50, the two would be allowed to make anything else together entirely with their creative input, decisions, and autonomy. Credited as Heckles + Bundles, they issued their first song "See the Good" in July to a great amount of reception and sales. Raking in 720,000 physical copies, it topped the Folk 50 and peaked at number 7 on the Hot 100. Consequently, this accomplishment spawned a supergroup called We Mon(s)ters.

## Career

### 2001–2008: Reputation risks, shift to hip-hop, name change to J-Google, and infamy

In 2002, a successor to the tell-all *birth.js* album was announced under the title *When the Chickens Come Home to Roost*. 'Chickens' was later changed to 'Chickenheads'.

### 2009–present: Critical acclaim, return to folk, *Jognóh*, and teaching

His eleventh studio album *Jógnoh* was released on September 19, 2015, to coincide with his 50th birthday. It was a retrospective homage and return to the more relaxed folk sound. It was met with critical acclaim.

## Personal life

### Marriage to Heckles

Songe met his first wife Heckles in late 1994 and they began dating after the release of their first album together. To inexperienced fans' surprise, Heckles already had shared the same surname as him prior to the marriage (despite her birth name not being of Minish origin at all). In 1997, they privately married at the Shrine of Swans with every attendant in all-blue attire. The marriage had a sizeable influence on Minish pop culture from the late 1990s. Furthermore, people were very keen to gawk and tried to publicise more personal matters, especially after they would finish their gigs.

One notable moment was when the couple were featured on the *Rolling Seed*'s June 1998 front cover to announce that they were expecting. They would deliver, as a son (and only child) was born in September 1998. Songe recalls arguments worsened over how to raise the newborn while touring: according to what he wrote in a tell-all semi-autobiography *Benedick*, Heckles would spout ethnic slurs at him whenever she got angry; had neighbours call the cops over child neglect; and she would insist on performing at nightclubs and hosting wilder concerts to "cure" her post-partum depression.

A month before We Mon(s)ters' final album, a supposedly anonymous journalist Ness, then a columnist for *Stars' Churnal*, falsely alleged that Songe committed adultery with fans of the duo and 'continued to do so as [the writer spoke]'. The writer's name was a pseudonym of Heckles' biological brother Brian Tennyson, and with whom Heckles had reunited in 1986 amidst another scandal surrounding her birth name. Songe filed a defamation suit against the publication responsible for the article's release. According to himself, he felt insecure while in court because of his wife would not defend him nor testify. The case was quick with the jury ruling in his favour, and he was rewarded a couple tens of thousands.

Bundles would spend the money to slowly separate from her before filing for divorce in July 1999 to cite unreasonable behavior. The separation made headlines since it was so unexpected and the couple made up one of the most beloved Minish acts of all time. It was finalised in early-August. From then on, they continued to work together as fellow musicians doing simply business. Moreover, it is often said by several accounts that the effect of the divorce caused the disbandment of the duo.

## Artistry

A baritone, Songe is known to enchant his audience with a mellow and soft croon. Alternatively, he might use his upper (albeit gritty) register for a more demanding and emotive composition. His voice has been compared to his mentor Fifier Túlli's, other folk contemporaries' and real-life Frank Sinatra's.

### Influence and impact

Songe is said to have had a massive impact on the 1980s/1990s Minish folk scene. Other influenced artists include folk singer Jemi Lea, Sigourney, R&B singer and actor J.I., Wings, pop band Elementary Power Sounds, singer and dancer Des Green, the late Clarin West, Cranston, Ryene Wendell, and rapper Soup Més.

## Trivia

* His debut single heavily interpolated an actual 1964 song "The Girl from Ipanema".
* While he does sing in a baritone range, his vocal colour can easily be misidentified as light lyric tenor.

## Notes

1. ↑ *Stars Churnal* is a celebrity gossip magazine that has been struggling with their circulation numbers.
2. ↑ Lorraine Tennyson