Jeremy Allan Ryder, better known as Jack Hues, (born 10 December 1954) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, who is best known for forming and fronting the 1980s English new wave band, Wang Chung. Hues was also a member of the one-off band Strictly Inc.

Life and career

Early life

Jack Hues was born on 10 December 1954 in Gillingham, Kent, England, the oldest of four children of Robina (née Pratt) and Allan Sidney Ryder. He was an avid listener to artists such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

before becoming interested in

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

groups like

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talent ...

and

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

. Hues then found a passion in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, and attended London's

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...

to study music. After three years, he went on to attend the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

. It was at this time that Hues befriended Dave Burnand, who went on to be a member of Huang Chung. After one year at RCM, he decided on leaving to pursue a career in music.

1977–1991: Wang Chung era

In 1977, Hues answered an advertisement in the British weekly music magazine, ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

''. This was the first time he met future Wang Chung bass guitarist, Nick Feldman. With the rising punk music movement around England in the late 1970s, the two formed together as 'The Intellektuals' in mid-1977. Two years later, Hues and Feldman formed the band, '57 Men'. While in 57 Men, the two met future Wang Chung drummer, Darren Costin. Like their first band together, Hues and Feldman broke up within eighteen months, but took along Costin. In late 1979 the threesome became referred to as Huang Chung (anglicization of Chinese words meaning "Yellow Bell"). They released several singles in 1980 for the independent music company, Rewind Records. In May 1981 Huang Chung signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

for a two-album deal. The next year the band released their self-titled debut studio album. By 1983 the spelling of the band's name was changed to Wang Chung, and Hues became the band's lead vocalist. After the summer tour for ''

Points on the Curve ''Points on the Curve'' is the second studio album by English new wave band Wang Chung, released in July 1983 by Geffen Records. Background ''Points on the Curve'' is Wang Chung's first studio album since changing their name from Huang Chung ...

'' in 1984 Costin left the band to pursue a solo career. Despite not having a full-time drummer, Wang Chung continued to thrive. For the next six years, Wang Chung enjoyed success, especially in the UK and US.

1991–1992: Solo work

Before Wang Chung's break-up in 1991 Hues scored the soundtrack of the supernatural horror film ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' (1990). The director of the film,

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

, chose Hues because of his work on his 1985 film, '' To Live and Die in L.A.''. He also made a solo studio album, ''The Anatomy Lesson'', in 1992 for

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the ...

. However, for reasons unknown his solo debut album was shelved.

1994–1995: Strictly Inc.

In 1994, Tony Banks of Genesis heard samples of Hues' work. He admired it and asked him to compose a new album together. On 11 September 1995 Strictly Inc. was released. The studio album received mixed reviews.

1997–2005: Wang Chung reunions

In 1997 Hues and Nick Feldman briefly reunited for the release of the compilation album '' Everybody Wang Chung Tonight: Wang Chung's Greatest Hits''. In 2000, Wang Chung performed in the Club 80's Flashback Tour and headlined a tour of their own afterwards. In 2005, Wang Chung appeared on the competition reality show '' Hit Me, Baby, One More Time'' to perform "

Everybody Have Fun Tonight "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a song by English new wave band Wang Chung, released as a single from their studio album ''Mosaic'' in 1986. Collaboratively written by Jack Hues, Nick Feldman, and Peter Wolf, it reached no. 2 on the US ''B ...

". They lost the round to

Irene Cara Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...

2003–2011: The Quartet

In the early 2000s, Hues began teaching songwriting at Christ Church University in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

. In 2003, Hues was one of the founding members of a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

-influenced quintet with

Sam Bailey Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English pop singer who won the tenth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a cover of Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper" was released on 15 December 2013, achieving ...

called Illuminated. Their inspirations included

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

, and

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...

. Eventually the quintet became The Quartet. Their debut studio album ''Illuminated'' was released in 2007 and their second ''Shattering'' in 2008 – both released to critical acclaim. The Quartet is signed with Helium Records, headed by

Chris Hughes Chris Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The New R ...

who helped produce Wang Chung's ''

'' in 1983. In 2010 the Quartet joined forces with Syd Arthur, a Canterbury

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording te ...

band whose members studied with Hues while at Christ Church University. Together the two groups played a medley of tracks from

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...

, a rearranged

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

violin concerto, and the

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...

song " Nobody's Fault but My Own" at the Orange Street Music Club. In 2012 both bands reunited inside a barn to record the Beck song, and in 2019 it was released on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

for purchase through digital download and vinyl. In 2011, Hues wrote the music for his son Jack Ryder's first film '' Act of Memory''.

2020–present: ''Primitif''

In March 2020, Hues released his debut solo studio album, ''Primitif''. Before releasing the album, singles were produced for the songs "Whitstable Beach" and "Winter".

Personal life

Ryder's stage name, "Jack Hues", is a play on the French phrase, ''j'accuse'', which means "I accuse" in English. He has a daughter and two sons, one of whom is the actor Jack Ryder.

Discography

Solo studio albums * ''The Anatomy Lesson'' (Unreleased, 1992) * ''Primitif'' (2020) * ''Electro-Acoustic Works 2020'' (2021) Soundtrack albums * ''

'' (1990) * '' Act of Memory'' (2011) Live albums * ''Canterbury Live EP'' (2021) with Wang Chung * '' Huang Chung'' (1982) * ''

'' (1983) * '' To Live and Die in L.A.'' (1985) * ''

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

'' (1986) * ''

The Warmer Side of Cool ''The Warmer Side of Cool'' is the fifth studio album by Wang Chung released in May 1989 by Geffen Records. The album marked an artistic change from the new wave sound of their previous albums into a more traditional rock sound. Commercially, ...

'' (1989) * '' Tazer Up!'' (2012) * '' Orchesography'' (2019) with Strictly Inc. * '' Strictly Inc.'' (1995) with the Quartet * ''Illuminated'' (2007) * ''Shattering'' (2008) * '' Nobody's Fault but My Own'' EP with Syd Arthur (2019)

References

External links

Jack Hues band member information
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hues, Jack 1954 births Living people People from Gillingham, Kent English male singers English rock guitarists English male guitarists English new wave musicians Male new wave singers Wang Chung (band) members Musicians from Kent