JON MOSS - Early Biography

Jon Moss, dark haired, sleek and highly fashionable is the guy in the group with the best music pedigree. Whilst Boy George had a lot of the right ideas, He lacked a lot of experience of the way that the business worked. His own ideas were not properly formulated before Jon and his expertise arrived on the scene.

He was born on September 11th, 1957, in Wandsworth, South London. His education was at Highgate School and he showed a tendency towards being good at sport. "Boxing was one of the things that attracted me," he says, "and I did quite well at the sport. But I wasn't too keen to take it up in a professional capacity." Wise choice. Funny, though, that Boy George's father and brothers are also connected to the boxing scene. Such coincidences happen!

"After I left school I went to work for my father's clothing store. I didn't see it was as a long term prospect, but at least I was earning some money whilst I could collect my thoughts in the right direction. It was interesting, nonetheless."

Next on his list of jobs came one as a tape operator at Marquee Studios. But this didn't last too long either. He'd already begun to learn to play the drums, and despite a respectable clutch of academic qualifications, began to think in terms of a musical career. But as every musician knows,
It's not that easy.

So the day jobs continued with an excursion into the world of a cake salesman. But as Jon says: "I didn't even manage to sell any in a whole month!" From this he moved to become an apprentice printer with just about as much luck as in the cake business and then on to van driver and eventually landing a job as an assistant at a music agency. At last he had managed to acquire some work within the industry.

"I eventually got into a band," he says, "and we called ourselves Phone Bone Boulevard." Next followed such groups as 'Pastrami Barmy' and Eskimo Norbert before he took notice of an advertisement for a drummer wanted by 'The Clash'.

"They were a lot different from the way that I'd been and was used to and it was a case of adapting," he says. The adaptation didn't last too long and he was soon in the search of another band in which to invest his talents. And so along came 'The Damned' who have built quite a reputation for themselves over the years, not to mention the success of Captain Sensible as a solo performer.

He also later performed with 'The Edge' before coming into contact with 'Adam and The Ants'. This was in the days before Adam's career had really taken off and the group was struggling around a variety of clubs. He did, however, manage some recording work with them before finding himself once again… available.

Meanwhile, Boy George, who had been looking around for a drummer for his group, 'Sex Gang Children' was advised by a friend to give Jon a call. And that's how he came to be a member of one of the most successful bands of the 1980s.

It was a wise move on everyone's part, because Jon was instrumental in offering a lot of ideas to Boy George, including the changing of the group's name and the general direction that the music should take.

He has also become a pin up in his own right with the fans and whilst Boy George might command the adulation, Jon's picture is probably on just as many bedroom walls!