John Baker

From Stripespedia

John Baker was the White Stripes' tour manager for the majority of their career.

According to Stevie Chick, "New Zealand-born Baker first heard the Stripes back in 1999, at a Donnas aftershow party in Australia. However, the Stripes’ music had been taped over another band’s cassette, so he was clueless as to their identity; a little detective work revealed the band’s contact deals, and soon Baker - whose other rock’n’roll pursuits include helping great young Antipodean bands like Mint Chicks, and releasing limited-edition seven inches for the Dirtbombs - was offering Jack a series of shows in Australia. The White Stripes toured down under over a year before setting foot in the UK, though Jack didn’t believe the proposition was genuine until John mailed him the airline tickets for New Zealand. Like most of the Stripes’ touring crew, Baker has been a part of the band’s ‘family’ since before the ‘madness’ set in, and it’s this closeness, this familial security they encourage with their entourage, that ensures they’re able to operate so efficiently, with such a bare support crew. It’s just another way of keeping touch with ‘reality’, holding everything together."

Baker also made and sold 100 White Stripes clocks for the band's tour of New Zealand and Australia in 2002. Authentic Baker-made clocks are unbelievably hard to find nowadays, and there have been several noted cases of fake reproductions of these clocks being made and sold through eBay and various trading sites.