EP74 – Chris Bostock – Honorary Councillor + JoBoxers – ”They need the little bit extra, they don’t mind if it’s only conjecture…” – Paul Weller Fan Podcast : Desperately Seeking Paul
My latest podcast guest is Chris Bostock – As a Honorary Councillor, he played on Café Bleu – the official debut album released by The Style Council (renamed as My Ever Changing Moods in the USA) – playing bass on “Here’s One That Got Away” and double bass on “The Paris Match” with Tracey Thorn on vocals. As a musician, songwriter and music producer, Chris is known for his work with JoBoxers, Subway Sect, Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys, Spear of Destiny, The X-Certs and The Stingrays. We hear about forming his first live band at 17, about the punk scene in Bristol to a love of The Jam (seeing them live at Bristol Colston Hall – now known as Bristol Beacon) and more.
As part of Subway Sect, he toured with The Bureau (which included Merton Mick AKA Mick Talbot) before chart success with JoBoxers in 1983.
JoBoxers released their debut album ‘Like Gangbusters’ in September 1983 – a strong selection of their best numbers, sharpened and refined through their extensive live work – it notched up solid sales in the U.K. (#18), and peaked at #70 Stateside. The band took some time to record their sophomore album, and by the time of ‘Skin & Bone’s release in 1985, it seemed they had lost much of the momentum amassed during 1983. Neither the album, nor lead out single ‘Is This Really The First Time (You’ve Been In Love)’, managed to crack the British charts, which proved to be a huge disappointment to the band. They had already gone back to the studio to work on tracks for a third album, but before the sessions were completed JoBoxers threw in the towel, and called an end to their three year pop odyssey, but only as a collective.
After 35 years off the scene – JoBoxers are now back together with plenty of live dates booked and on sale for 2022 and Cooking Vinyl are releasing the new and updated Essential Boxerbeat ‘very best of’ album with 20 tracks of original hit singles, 12 inches and tracks from the Like Gangbusters and Skin & Bone albums.
Find out more at joboxers.net
There’s another nice connection between TSC and JoBoxers with Photographer, Steve Rapport (Podcast Ep 27) being the main photographer for JoBoxers too.