John William "Jo" Callis (born 2 May 1951) is an English musician and songwriter who played guitar with the
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
based
punk rock band
The Rezillos (under the name Luke Warm), and
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
band
Boots for Dancing
Boots for Dancing are a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland, active between 1979 and 1982. They reformed in 2015.
History
The band was formed in late 1979 by Dave Carson (vocals), Graeme High (guitar), Dougie Barrie (bass), and Stuart Wrigh ...
before joining
The Human League.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 130-1, 240]
Biography
Callis was educated at the
Edinburgh College of Art. He was a member of The Knutsford Dominators before forming The Rezillos in 1976.
The band played many gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, during which Callis wore space suits and other hi-tech costumes. He wrote the Rezillos' 1978 hit "Top of the Pops". In late 1978, after the release of the band's only album, The Rezillos split in two, with Callis forming Shake along with Simon Templar (born Simon Bloomfield) and Angel Paterson.
Shake released two singles before splitting. Callis joined Boots for Dancing in 1981.
Callis released a solo single, "Woah Yeah!", in 1981 on the pop:Aural label,
[Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970–1982'', Backbeat Books, , p. 502] and also joined The Human League, playing both keyboards and lead guitar and making contributions as a backing vocalist.
Callis
co-wrote many
tracks and following his departure from the band in 1986, returned several times either to play keyboard or to offer help with songwriting. He co-wrote the band's 1990 hit "
Heart Like a Wheel
''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and rel ...
" together with former Rezillos bandmate Eugene Reynolds. The track was produced by
Martin Rushent.
In 1985, he teamed up with
Feargal Sharkey to write Sharkey's "Loving You" which reached number 26 in 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 ...
.
Discography
;
The Rezillos
* ''
Can't Stand the Rezillos
''Can't Stand the Rezillos'' is the debut studio album by Edinburgh-based punk band the Rezillos, released on Sire Records on 21 July 1978. The album has a more mainstream pop and rock and roll sound than the punk music of the time, and includes ...
'' (1978) Sire SRK6057
* ''Mission Accomplished… But the Beat Goes On'' (1979) Sire 6069
* ''Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos'' (1993) Sire 9 26942-2
;Shake
* ''Culture Shock'' (EP, 1979) Sire 4016
;
The Human League
* ''
Dare
Dare may refer to:
Places
* Dare, East Timor, a city
* Darè, Italy, a commune
* Dare County, North Carolina, United States
* Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
Name
* Dare (name), a list of people and fictional c ...
'' (1981) Virgin V2192
* ''
Love And Dancing
''Love and Dancing'' is a remix album by English synth-pop band The Human League, released in July 1982 by Virgin Records. Issued under the band name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra, ...
'' (1982) Virgin OVED6
* ''
Hysteria
Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...
'' (1984) Virgin V2315
* ''
Romantic?
''Romantic?'' is the sixth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League. It was issued by Virgin Records in 1990 and was the band's first album of new material in four years. ''Romantic?'' had several producers, most notably Martin Ru ...
'' (1990) Virgin V2624, CDV2624
* ''
Octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
'' (1995) East West 4509-98750-2
* ''Greatest Hits'' (1996) Virgin HLC1, HLCD1
* ''The Very Best of The Human League'' (2003) Virgin HLCDX2
See also
*
List of guitarists
This list of guitarists includes notable musicians, known principally for their guitar playing, for whom there is an article in Wikipedia. Those who are known mainly as bass guitarists are listed separately at List of bass guitarists.
A
* John ...
*
List of musicians who play left handed
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
Bands and musicians from Yorkshire and North East England
The following is a list of bands and musicians from the North East and Yorkshire of England, by town or city. Those to have a number one single are shown in bold.
Bands and musicians
Barnsley
* Danse Society
* Exit Calm
*Party Day
* Hands Of ...
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Jo
1951 births
Living people
The Human League members
English new wave musicians
English rock guitarists
English rock keyboardists
People from Rotherham
Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art