Jon Moss

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

This article is about the drummer. For the association football referee, see Jonathan Moss (referee).
Jon Moss
Moss (left) playing with Bob Weston on "Spring Heeled Jack" for a blues night jamming session.
Background information
Birth nameJonathan Aubrey Moss
Born (1957-09-11) 11 September 1957
Genres
Years active1976–present
Associated acts

Early life

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

During Moss's childhood, music began to have an important role in his life, and he would play well-known songs on his family's piano. His elder brother, David, was drummer in a school band and had a Wayward drum kit, which Jon borrowed to start playing when 13 years old.[5]

At Highgate School, Moss 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 and co-founder of Wang Chung). 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. In spite of regarding a college graduation as a waste of time, he briefly considered the idea of studying Greek at the University of Cambridge.[6]

Musical career

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; later, he said "The mix of personalities didn't work. Their attitudes were too different to mine."[9] London released a single entitled "Everyone's a Winner", and were managed by Simon Napier-Bell. Eventually they recorded two singles, a four-track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977.[10] Following this, Moss went on tour with established punk group The Stranglers, and the band got a record deal.

Soon afterward, Moss began drumming with The Damned, replacing Rat Scabies. He made the decision to join them after he was injured in a car crash on New Year's Eve 1977, suffering injuries that led to a week's hospital stay. Along with the Damned's guitarist, 'Lu' Edmonds, he left the Damned to form new wave band the Edge. After just over a year, the Edge broke up.[5][11]

Moss played with Adam and the Ants on their third single "Cartrouble" and its b-side "Kick!". At the time, Moss was under contract with a group called Jane Aire & The Belvederes; therefore, he was credited on the original single under the pseudonym "Terry 1 & 2".[12]

Culture Club – early times (1981–1986)

Moss was advised by a friend that Boy George was looking for a drummer for his band. When he became a member of the band—which was originally called in Praise of Lemmings—he suggested changing the name of the group to Culture Club, in reference to the various ethnic backgrounds of the members.

In 1985, whilst still performing with Culture Club, he produced some tracks for the band Woyeyeh.[13]

Moss on a Move Away Culture Club 7" vinyl

Other works and Culture Club reunion (1987–2002)

After Culture Club broke up in 1986, Moss released a single entitled "Jump to It" with the group Heartbeat UK, which he also produced.

In 1989, under the name Rubberman, Moss 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 and 1992, Moss was involved in another group, Promised Land, with his schoolfriend Nick Feldman. The two released two singles, "Something in the Air" and "Circle in the Square", as well as a self-titled album.

In 1995 he met Sebastian Wocker, vocalist of the indie band Yeah, and soon joined them. For two years the group played several concerts on the London circuit, made various television appearances and filmed one video Engerland in 1997 at the former home of Hendon F.C.. Their last concert was at The Underworld in Camden Town in 1998.

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

Charities, b-side projects (2003–2010)

From 2003 to 2005 Moss joined several punk rock and rock bands, among them Fassbender, DanMingo and Dirth. In July 2005 he played drums on the charity single "People I Don't Know Are Trying to Kill Me", written by the journalist Neil McCormick, to help the families of the victims of the terrorist bombings in London.[14]

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.[15] A UK tour was announced for December 2006, but was postponed to give the new line-up time to finish recording their album. Without official press statements, band manager Tony Gordon said in 2007 that the project was "on hold", while Jon stated that the project was shelved.[16]

Culture Club – Reunion (2011–present)

Moss did not appear at Culture Club's concerts in Dubai and Sydney in December 2011, due to a back injury which required surgery.[17] Despite rumours that the reunion project had been shelved, Boy George said in a March 2012 interview with Danny Baker on BBC Radio 5 that their new album would be released in 2013.[18]

Meanwhile, Moss had been drumming with Mad Dog Bites, alongside Martin French (vocals), Godfrey Old (harmonica), Peter Noone (bass) and Conrad Blakemore (guitar).[19]

In the Red Nose Day '13 at Whiteleys, Moss sang with The Rock Choir, helping them to fundraise for Comic Relief.[20]

In 2014, Culture Club began recording a new album that was originally named Tribes. The Tribes sessions were recorded in Spain and documented in the film From Karma to Calamity which aired on BBC Four.[21] In July 2018, it was announced that the sessions had been reworked as Life and that the album was to be released on 26 October 2018[22] and credited to "Boy George and Culture Club".

In early 2018 Moss formed pop band Ridiculous together with singer-songwriter Sebastian Wocker, bassist Peter Noone and film score composer Erran Baron Cohen. The band's debut performance took place at The Dublin Castle, Camden, London on 13 June 2018.

Culture Club toured the US and Europe from June to December 2018 in support of their Life album, along with supporting acts The B-52s, Tom Bailey (formerly of The Thompson Twins) and Belinda Carlisle (Europe dates only). Moss was originally part of the line-up, but left after the US leg of the tour.

In December 2019, Moss filed a writ at London’s High Court naming the band trio as defendants. Moss' lawyers say he was told to “take a break” by manager Paul Kemsley; Moss demanded nearly £200,000 in missing payments and a share of profits.[23]

Personal life

Moss has three children with his former wife, Barbara Savage.[24][25]

Moss had an intimate relationship with Boy George during the height of Culture Club's popularity, although it was not public knowledge at the time.[26][27] Their affair came to an end in 1986.[28] The relationship was portrayed in Worried About the Boy, a drama film shown on BBC2.[29]

References
  1. "The Nipple Erectors – Shannne Bradley Interview". Punk77.co.uk. 26 August 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  2. "Jonathan Aubrey Moss". Search.ancestry.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  3. Village, Hampstead (13 May 2009). "Hampstead Village Voice Blog..Blagg...whatever you fancy!: May 2009". Hampsteadvillagevoice.blogspot.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  4. "Fanny COHEN nee MOSS London". Curiousfox.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  6. "Official Culture Club Website". Culture-club.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  7. "London | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic.
  8. Rimmer, Dave (1985) "Like Punk Never Happened," Faber and Faber, ISBN 978-0-571-13739-8, p. 40-42
  9. 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. "Chapter 2: The Bubble Bursts". Personal.umich.edu. 24 September 1957. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  12. Ant, Adam. "Cartrouble". Adam-Ant.net. Universal Music Publishing Group.
  13. "JON MOSS | Shows + Photos + Biography + More | Portland Show-Guide". Pc-pdx.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  14. "Bono told me: 'Your song needs to be heard now'". Daily Telegraph (19 July 2005). Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  15. Culture Club#Reunions
  16. "Boy George's ex-bandmates slam singer". USA Today. 2 November 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  17. "2012 ➤ Moss misses Culture Club's new dawn in Australia | ➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣". Shapersofthe80s.com. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  18. "Boy George gets black eye in nightclub attack". Gay Star News. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  19. "Mad Dog Bites – Talking 'Bout You – Hampstead Xmas Festival 2012". 5 January 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013 – via YouTube.
  20. "Rock Choir and Christina support Red Nose Day!". Christinalaroque.com. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  21. "BBC Four – Boy George and Culture Club: Karma to Calamity". BBC. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  22. Sinclair, Paul (31 July 2018). "Culture Club announce new album, 'Life'". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  23. "Boy George sued by ex-lover and drummer Jon Moss after he booted him out of Culture Club". TWNEWS. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  24. "Did you really want to hurt each other?". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  25. Martin, Gavin (12 June 2014). "Boy George's Culture Club finally reunited after 15 years split". mirror. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  26. Harrington, Richard (15 November 1995). "Boy George, The Man". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  27. "Boy George regrets publicly airing Moss romance". Express.co.uk. 7 May 2010.
  28. "Boy George's ex Jon Moss leaves Culture Club". Web.archive.org. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  29. "Worried About the Boy (TV Movie 2010)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
Preceded by
Dave Barbe		 Adam and the Ants drummer
1980		 Succeeded by
Terry Lee Miall
&
Merrick

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