I was 14 in 1983. Alongside such delights as The Style Council and Aztec Camera I was heavily into another band at that point. A band who played, as was the way of the times, a sixties soul influenced pop music. It seems like every band around then had dug out their Stax and Motown compilations for inspiration. Even the Human League had just had a hit at the end of 1982 with Mirror Man which was pure Motown.
Anyway, alongside Weller's classic trio of opening Style Council singles, JoBoxers appeared with another trio of superb singles, that were pure stomping soul.
JoBoxers were made up of former Subway Sect members - guitarist Rob Marche, keyboardist Dave Collard, bassist Chris Bostock and drummer Sean McLusky and American singer Dig Wayne. Their look was part On The Waterfront and part skinhead, all boots and braces. And their songs were some of the most uplifting and energetic in the charts that year.
They were the first band I'd heard talk about Northern Soul, apart from Dexys and The Jam, and one week they guest hosted Gary Crowley's radio show and played a whole bunch of classic Northern. It was a major moment for me, hugely influential.
I was going to post the tracks themselves, and I said I would should anybody request them. And somebody has so:
Boxerbeat
Just Got Lucky
Johnny Friendly
But they were a band who looked as good as they sounded. So here's that trilogy of singles in video form:
Rhythm ‘n Wooze
11 hours ago
9 comments:
Funnily enough I've just done part two of an 80s posting here and have included JoBoxers in it (updated with your posting)
yeah, just followed you over there....
that boxer beat video got done round the corner from my old gaff in chapel market you know. (or maybe i'm thinking of the exmouth market one )
nah i'm sure it was chapel market.
just got lucky still gets dug out round these parts to
x
Really? I grew up just down the road from both markets.
Well Simon - I for one would love the mp3. For old time's sake.
I used to have energy like that, you know.
And as if by magic the shopkeeper appeared with some MP3s. All yours!
Thank you. Gentleman and scholar.
Guess I just got lucky.
Is Sean McLusky from JoBoxers the same one who went on to form 'If?' and a club at the Scala in London in the mid-1990s?
Exactly the same. Still does the club thing apparently.
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