John William "Jo" Callis (born 2 May 1951) is a British musician and songwriter who played guitar with the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

based

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band the Rezillos (under the name Luke Warm) and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band Boots for Dancing, before joining

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , pp. 130–1, 240

Biography

Callis was educated at the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. He was a member of the Knutsford Dominators before forming the Rezillos in 1976. The band played many gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow, during which Callis wore space suits and other hi-tech costumes. He wrote the Rezillos' 1978 hit "Top of the Pops". In late 1978, after the release of the band's only album, the Rezillos split, with Callis forming Shake along with Simon Templar and Angel Paterson. Shake released two singles before splitting. In 1981, Callis released a solo single, "Woah Yeah!", on the pop:Aural label.Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970–1982'', Backbeat Books, , p. 502 In the same year, he joined both Boots for Dancing and the Human League. In the Human League, he played keyboards and lead guitar and contributed as a backing vocalist. He co-wrote many songs and, following his departure from the band in 1986, returned several times either to play keyboard or to help with songwriting. He co-wrote the band's 1990 hit " Heart Like a Wheel" together with former Rezillos bandmate Eugene Reynolds. The track was produced by Martin Rushent. In 1985, he teamed up with Feargal Sharkey to write Sharkey's "Loving You", which reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart.

Discography

; The Rezillos * '' Can't Stand the Rezillos'' (1978) Sire SRK6057 * ''Mission Accomplished… But the Beat Goes On'' (1979) Sire 6069 * ''Can't Stand the Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos'' (1993) Sire 9 26942-2 ;Shake * ''Culture Shock'' (EP, 1979) Sire 4016 ;

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

* '' Dare'' (1981) Virgin V2192 * ''

Love And Dancing ''Love and Dancing'' is a remix album by English synth-pop band The Human League, released in July 1982 by Virgin Records. Issued under the band name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra, ...

'' (1982) Virgin OVED6 * ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

'' (1984) Virgin V2315 * ''

Romantic? ''Romantic?'' is the sixth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League. It was issued by Virgin Records in 1990 and was the band's first album of new material in four years. ''Romantic?'' had several producers, most notably Martin ...

'' (1990) Virgin V2624, CDV2624 * ''

Octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

'' (1995) East West 4509-98750-2 * ''Greatest Hits'' (1996) Virgin HLC1, HLCD1 * ''The Very Best of The Human League'' (2003) Virgin HLCDX2

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Callis, Jo 1951 births Living people The Human League members English new wave musicians English rock guitarists English rock keyboardists People from Rotherham Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links