JoBoxers are a British new wave group formed in 1982, when former Subway Sect members Rob Marche (guitarist), Dave Collard (keyboardist), Chris Bostock (bassist), and Sean McLusky (drummer), teamed up with England-based American singer Dig Wayne (born Timothy Wayne Ball, 20 July 1958,

Cambridge, Ohio Cambridge is a city in and the county seat of Guernsey County, Ohio, United States. It lies in southeastern Ohio, in the Appalachian Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains 74 miles east of Columbus. The population was 10,635 at the 2010 census. I ...

). Wayne, under the name Buzz Wayne, had previously fronted the New York-based

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band Buzz and the Flyers.

Career

The band's debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "

Boxerbeat "Boxerbeat" is the debut single by JoBoxers from their album '' Like Gangbusters''. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known ...

", peaked at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

while the group were the opening act on the

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

Rise and Fall tour. At numbers one and two at the time were

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's " Let's Dance" and

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

's "

Is There Something I Should Know? "Is There Something I Should Know?" is the eighth single by British pop band Duran Duran, released on 14 March 1983. The song was released as a stand-alone single and became the band's first UK number one record. It debuted in the number one ...

", respectively. However, it was their next hit, "

Just Got Lucky "Just Got Lucky" was the second single from the British band JoBoxers. The track was initially released on the band's debut album, '' Like Gangbusters'', in 1983. The song reached the top ten in the UK and the top 40 in the United States that aut ...

", that broke the band internationally. This single sold over 250,000 copies, made the UK top 10, and cracked the US top 40, reaching number 36 during November 1983. The song has been featured in a number of films including '' Just My Luck'' and '' The 40-Year-Old Virgin''. The third UK hit, "Johnny Friendly", is a homage to the

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

film ''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. ...

''. British boxer Frank Bruno appeared in the promotional video for the song. "Jealous Love"/"She's Got Sex" was released as a double A-side. "Jealous Love" was performed on the UK TV show '' Loose Talk'' introduced by the actress Diana Dors in one of her last TV appearances, while "She's Got Sex" was covered on

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...

's double platinum-selling album '' Touch Me'' (as "He's Got Sex"). JoBoxers' debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Like Gangbusters ''Like Gangbusters'' is the first studio album by British new wave band JoBoxers, first released in 1983 and featuring five chart singles. The first single "Boxerbeat", the group's anthem, worked its way up the UK charts while the group were th ...

'', featuring all of the abovementioned hits, reached the top 20 of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The band released another single, "Is This Really the First Time", and a second

''Skin and Bone'' in 1985, but then split up during the making of a third album, with Sean McLusky joining Rob Marche in the indie-

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

band called If? and Chris Bostock joining

David A. Stewart David Allan Stewart (born 9 September 1952) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British ...

to form his post-

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

group,

the Spiritual Cowboys Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys was an English rock and pop band, formed in 1990 after frontman David A. Stewart's departure from Eurythmics. Chris Bostock from JoBoxers, Jonathan Perkins, Olle Romo and Nan Vernon were later joined by Ma ...

achieving two gold albums in France. Meanwhile, Dig Wayne remained in London and briefly attempted a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

career, releasing the album ''Square Business'' in 1987, featuring fellow former JoBoxer Dave Collard on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. One single, "Mastermind" was released from this album. After his solo efforts proved unsuccessful, Wayne began pursuing an acting career. He appeared in several stage productions (including a starring role in the successful West End musical ''Five Guys Named Moe'') in the UK. In 1995, he returned to the US, settling in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, to continue pursuing his acting/television career. In November 2020, they announced a reunion show at London's 100 club, after 35 years of inactivity. Other dates in Brighton, Leeds, Guildford and Bristol were also added, plus some festivals. The dates went ahead in summer 2022.

Later activities

Chris Bostock performed bass on the Style Council's debut album ''

Cafe Bleu A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

'', Spear of Destiny's ''

The Price You Pay ''The Price You Pay'' is the fifth studio album by Spear of Destiny, released by Virgin Records in 1988 (see 1988 in music). Track listing All songs written by Kirk Brandon # "So In Love With You" - 4:22 # "Tinseltown" - 5:15 # "The Price" - ...

'' album and tour, Sandie Shaw tours with Sean McLusky and Rob Marche, the Shakespears Sister single and album track " Goodbye Cruel World" and produced albums for

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

. Bostock currently records and tours as a member of Subway Sect.Harrison, Ian (2020) 'At last! Mick Jones produces Vic Godard & Subway Sect', Mojo, February, London, p.17; Rob Marche went on to form Earl Brutus in 1993. In 2012, JoBoxers' debut album, ''

'', was re-released. Wayne returned to his music roots and fronts the band Dig Wayne and the Chisellers. Also a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, Wayne has toured both America and Europe with his band. Wayne also appeared in the sixth episode of season 8 of '' CSI'', "Who and What", playing a

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...

owner. Dave Collard joined The The and performed on '' Mind Bomb'' (1989) and '' Dusk'' (1993) as well as in 'The The Versus The World' world tour. Following Matt Johnson's decision to re-form the band and tour in 2019, Dave (or "DC") Collard toured globally with the The, opening three nights in London (the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, Brixton Academy and then Troxy) and finishing the world tour in Australia, playing two nights in the main auditorium at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

followed immediately by another two nights at the

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central M ...

. Under the name DC Collard, he continues to write and record.

Song connections

* "

" was featured in the films '' The 40-Year-Old Virgin'', starring Steve Carell, and '' Just My Luck'' starring

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

* ''Doing the Boxerbeat - The Anthology'' (Sanctuary, 2003) * ''Essential Boxerbeat'' (Sony BMG, 2006) (originally released in 1996)

Singles

References

External links

JoBoxers Official websiteDig Wayne homepageSubway Sect homepage
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1982 English new wave musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 1985 1982 establishments in England Musical groups reestablished in 2020 Musical groups from London