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Jon Moss

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Jon Moss
Moss joined to Bob Weston by 'Spring Heeled Jack' for a blues night jamming session .
Moss joined to Bob Weston by 'Spring Heeled Jack' for a blues night jamming session .
Background information
Born (1957-09-11) 11 September 1957 (age 67) Wandsworth, London
GenresPunk rock
New Romantic
New Wave
Pop rock
OccupationDrummer
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion
Years active1976–present
Websiteculture-club.co.uk

Jonathan Aubrey Moss (born 11 September 1957) is an English drummer best known as a member of the 1980s pop group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, The Nips,[1] The Damned and Adam and the Ants.

Early life

Moss was born in "Clapham Jewish Boys Home" at Wandsworth, South London, and was adopted when six months old by Rosetta Aubrey Moss (née Goldsmith, b.1929) and Lionel Joseph Moss (b.1927, d.1999),[2] an upper-middle-class couple from Jewish ancestry. His father, owned a clothing store called Alkit, located at Cambridge Circus.[3][4] Jon grew up in Hampstead, attended Arnold House School (1962-1970) and Highgate (1970-1975).

Music was an important hobby in his childhood; he used to play well known pop songs on the family piano. His elder brother David was drummer in a band at school and had a Wayward drumkit, which Jon borrowed to start to play when he was thirteen years old.[5]

In Highgate School, he developed a fascination for sports, especially boxing, but he did not want a professional sporting career. It was also at Highgate that he formed his first band, Pig Williams, along with his friend Nick Feldman (who would later become a member of Wang Chung, which had two top-ten hits in the U.S.) Together they performed at several school events. After finishing high school, Jon held various jobs, including working at his father's clothing store, as a cake salesman and as a sound engineer at Marquee Studios. He regarded going to university as a waste of time, although he briefly considered the idea of studying Greek at the University of Cambridge.[6]

Musical career

Jon (second from right) with London

Beginning (1976 – 1980)

Alongside his friend Riff Regan, Moss joined the punk band London in 1976,[7][8][9] after being tried out as a drummer with The Clash, Jon later said "the mix of personalities didn't work; their attitudes were too different to mine".[9] They released a single entitled "Everyone's a Winner" and were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and eventually recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977.[10] Following, he had the honour of going on tour with the established punk band The Stranglers and they got a record deal.

Soon afterward, Moss began drumming for another punk band, The Damned. He replaced Rat Scabies, who had quit the band. He made the final decision to join The Damned after he was injured in a car crash on 1977 New Year's Eve, suffering fractures in his face, resulting in a broken nose and had his injuries required 250 stitches and a week's hospital stay.[11][12]

Moss briefly played with Adam and the Ants, just before they exploded commercially, on their fourth single "Cartrouble - Part II" and the b-side "Kick".[13]

Culture Club - Early times (1981 – 1986)

Years later, Jon was advised by a friend that Boy George was looking for a drummer for his band, originally called In Praise of Lemmings. Moss suggested changing the name of the group to Culture Club in reference to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.

In 1985, he produced some tracks for the band, Woyeyeh.[14]

Moss at Move Away Culture Club 7" vinyl

Other works and Culture Club reunion (1987 – 2002)

Following Culture Club, he released a single with the group Heartbeat UK, entitled "Jump To It", which he also produced.

In 1989, under the name Rubberman, he released one white label of an acid house instrumental track. Boy George used that backing track to create his own song "After The Love", which was released as a single by Jesus Loves You.

During 1991–92, Moss was also involved in another group, Promised Land with Nick Feldman of the pop group Wang Chung. They released some singles ("Something In The Air" and "Circle In The Square") and a self-titled album.

Moss was a part of the Culture Club reformation between 1998–2002.

Charities, B-side projects (2003 – 2010)

He was also in a punk band called Fassbender from 2003-05. Moss is currently a member of the bands DanMingo and Dirth. He has also performed and recorded with the London based singer and songwriter, Anca.

In July 2005, Moss played drums on the charity single, "People I Don't Know Are Trying to Kill Me", written by journalist Neil McCormick, to help the families of the victims of the terrorist bombings in London.[15]

In 2006, Moss, Mikey Craig and Phil Pickett, tried to launch Culture Club on a new tour with another lead singer, as George and Roy Hay had declined to tour.[16] A tour was announced for December 2006 in the UK, but was postponed to give the new line-up time to finish recording their album. Without official press statements, in 2007, band manager Tony Gordon, said that the project was "on hold", while Jon Moss stated that the project was shelved.[17]

Moss was interviewed in the Hampstead Village Voice about his early life and career in May 2009.[18]

In 2010 Moss also played a few gigs with the band Plastic Heroes.

Culture Club - The Reunion (2011 – Present)

Jon Moss was said to be involved with the reunion of Culture Club, which was rumored to include a new album and a world tour. Culture Club performed concerts in Dubai on December 29, 2011 and in Sydney on December 31, 2011. However Jon Moss did not appear due to a back injury which required surgery.[19] Despite rumours that the reunion project has been shelved, Boy George did say in an interview with Danny Baker on BBC Radio 5 which aired on March 2012, that their new album would be released in 2013, although he did not mention any date for a tour.[20]

Besides Culture Club, Jon had been drumming with Mad Dog Bites alongside Martin French (vocals), Godfrey Old (harmonica), Peter Noone (bass) and Conrad Blakemore (guitar).[21] Bob Weston was also a member of the group until his death in January 2012.

Moss joined and sung with The Rock Choir in March, 2013 at Whiteleys, helping them to fundraise for Comic Relief - Red Nose Day '13. [22]

Personal life

Before he had a romantic affair with Boy George during the height of Culture Club's popularity, Jon Moss was engaged to a woman (Caroline).[23] Throughout his relationship with George, Moss reputedly had affairs with a string of women.[24] The tempestuous relationship between Boy George and Moss soured in 1986 and they broke up, at the time hardly standing one another's company. Subsequently, however, they reestablished their friendship, and remain cordial to this day.[25][26]

He has a son, Clyde Lionel (b.1997),[27] a daughter, Julia 'Gigi' Louise (b.2000)[28] and another son, Leon David (b.2003),[29] by his former wife, Barbara Savage (Babs),[30][31][32] from whom he separated in 2010.

References

  1. ^ The Shanne Bradley Interview 26 August 2001. Punk77.co.uk (26 August 2001). Retrieved on 9 July 2011.
  2. ^ Jonathan's Family
  3. ^ Culture Club fans swamp Head Office
  4. ^ Alkit : Cohen and Moss family
  5. ^ Story of Culture Club
  6. ^ Official CC website
  7. ^ allmusic.com biography on London
  8. ^ Rimmer, Dave (1985) Like Punk Never Happened, Faber and Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-13739-8, p. 40-42
  9. ^ a b Kasper de Graaf & Malcolm Garrett (1983) When Cameras Go Crazy - Culture Club, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-907080-85-5, p. 62
  10. ^ Napier-Bell, Simon (2001) Black Vinyl White Powder, Ebury Press, ISBN 978-0-09-186992-2, p. 163
  11. ^ The Damned History
  12. ^ Culture Club History and Basics
  13. ^ Dirk Wears White Sox.
  14. ^ Moss and Woyeyeh
  15. ^ "Bono told me: 'Your song needs to be heard now'". Daily Telegraph (19 July 2005). Retrieved on 9 July 2011.
  16. ^ Culture Club#Reunions
  17. ^ Boy George's ex-bandmates slam singer
  18. ^ [1]
  19. ^ Moss injury
  20. ^ Boy George talks about Culture Club
  21. ^ The Mad Dog Bites at Hampstead Christmas Festival
  22. ^ Jon Moss support Red Nose Day
  23. ^ Jon Moss: Personal Life
  24. ^ [2]
  25. ^ Boy George relationships
  26. ^ The Band's end
  27. ^ London birth records
  28. ^ London birth records
  29. ^ London birth records
  30. ^ London birth records
  31. ^ "What about Jon’s family?"
  32. ^ "Boy George doesn't mind new film revealing seedy career long clothes right". Daily Mail (5 July 2010). Retrieved on 9 July 2011.

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