The Box (band)

The Box is a new wave group from Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1981, they achieved commercial success in Canada, recording four charting albums and 10 charting singles between 1984 and 1990. The group broke up in 1992, but a new lineup of the band was founded in 2005. This iteration of the group has released two further albums.

For the British 1980s band, see Clock DVA.
The Box
The Box performing at the 2015 Festival of Friends
Background information
Also known asBox
OriginMontreal, Quebec, Canada
GenresNew wave, rock, progressive rock
Years active1981–1992, 2002–present
LabelsAlert, Universal, Capitol
Websitetheboxband.com
MembersJean-Marc Pisapia
Dan Volj
Guillaume Jodoin
Francois Bruneau
Martin Lapierre
Isabelle Lemay
Past membersGuy Florent
Jean-Pierre Brie
Guy Pisapia
Sylvain Coutu
Philippe Bernard
Claude Thibault
Luc Papineau
Denis Faucher
Eric Theocharides
Sass Jordan

Biography

The band was formed in 1981 by Jean-Marc Pisapia, an early member of Men Without Hats.[1] He recruited guitarist Guy Florent and bassist Jean-Pierre Brie and, before they settled on calling themselves The Box,[1] the group was known as Checkpoint Charlie.

The band's first single attracted the attention of Montreal radio station CKOI-FM, leading to a deal with Alert Records.[1] Also that year, Pisapia's brother Guy joined on keyboards.[1]

Their debut album, The Box, was released in 1984 and produced the hit singles "Must I Always Remember" and "Walk Away".[1] Drummer Sylvain Coutu joined the band for its supporting tour, but was replaced by Pierre Taillefer before the next album. Florent also left and was replaced by Claude Thibeault.

In 1985, The Box released All the Time, All the Time, All the Time. That album, which included backing vocals by Sass Jordan and Marie Carmen,[1] produced the hit singles "My Dreams of You" and "L'Affaire Dumoutier (Say to Me)".[1] They won the 1985 Félix Award for group of the year, and were nominated for the Juno Award for most promising group.[1]

1987's Closer Together was the band's most commercially successful album. Featuring the hit singles "Ordinary People", "Closer Together" and "Crying Out Loud for Love", the album was certified platinum.[1] Backing vocals on the album were provided by Jordan and Martine St. Clair.

After touring for more than eighteen months,[2] the band took six months off to recover before returning with 1990's The Pleasure and the Pain.[1] That album was a commercial disappointment, and The Box disbanded in 1992 after releasing the greatest hits compilation A Decade of Box Music.[1]

Pisapia released a solo album, John of Mark, in 1995.[1] This was later reissued as a Box album in 2015.

Pisapia revived The Box with a new lineup in 2002, issuing two new Box tracks (recorded in 1996 and 2002) on a new hits compilation, Always in Touch With You. This version of The Box was essentially Pisapia backed by session musicians, but the line-up soon coalesced into steady group that had a decidedly more prog-rock orientation than the original incarnation of the band.[1]

In 2005 the band released Black Dog There, its first new album in 15 years.[1] This was followed up by the 2009 album D'Après le horla de Maupassant, the first Box album sung entirely in French.

Discography

Singles
Year Single Peak positions Album
CAN
[3]
1984 "Walk Away" 48 The Box
"Must I Always Remember" 82
"Dancing on the Grave" —
1985 "With All This Cash" — All the Time, All the Time, All the Time
"L'Affaire Dumoutier (Say to Me)" 21
1986 "My Dreams of You" 51
1987 "Closer Together" 13 Closer Together
"Ordinary People" 16
"Crying Out Loud for Love" 40
1988 "I'm Back" —
1990 "Carry On" 12 The Pleasure and the Pain
"Temptation" 39
"Inside My Heart" 20
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Original studio albums
Release date Title Chart positions
Canada
RPM Album charts
May 1984 The Box 95
January 1986 All the Time, All the Time, All the Time 73
March 1987 Closer Together 25
March 1990 The Pleasure and the Pain 31
June 1995 John of Mark† -
March 2005 Black Dog There -
November 2009 D'Après le horla de Maupassant -

† Originally issued as by "John of Mark"; reissued as by The Box in 2015.

Compilation albums
  • A Decade of Box Music (1992)
  • Always in Touch with You: The Best of the Box (2003)
  • The Best Of The Box (2007) CD + DVD

References
  1. The Box at canoe.ca's Pop Music Encyclopedia.
  2. "More goodies found in The Box". Toronto Star, June 23, 1988.
  3. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Top Singles". RPM. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
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