In Praise of: "Just Got Lucky" by the Joboxers

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Along with "Come on Eileen" (and "Stranger on the Town" by the Damned!) possibly my favorite English song from the period. Has that snare every quarter, Motown beat - Dave Q once said he hated "Town Called Malice" because it just reminded him of Housemartins and someone else, but come on - weren't the Jam much more dynamic?

And this song is, too, in more of a pop/bubblegum way. The song EXPLODES. Goes on for four minutes and forty-five seconds, but structurally pristine (including even having two different solo sections! - a piano and a guitar solo).

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 6 January 2006 01:28 (twenty years ago)

I can't add much to that. It is a great record. Always wondered why it never completely broke out on radio in the States.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 6 January 2006 01:49 (twenty years ago)

It did get shown on MTV a lot. I wonder if radio people thought it was too long.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 6 January 2006 01:54 (twenty years ago)

it got played by every college station in the nation for ever and ever.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 6 January 2006 01:57 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, the MTV play is one of the things that made me wonder. Radio could always go for an edit.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Friday, 6 January 2006 02:34 (twenty years ago)

And Morrissey's future bandmates are on it!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Friday, 6 January 2006 02:39 (twenty years ago)

i actually prefer "Make A Circuit With Me" by The Polecats. If we are talking future Moz bandmate songs.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 6 January 2006 02:57 (twenty years ago)

don't get me wrong though. i love just got lucky.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 6 January 2006 02:58 (twenty years ago)

Wow. I just heard this last week for the first time in 20 years. It is so infectious. Great melody!

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Friday, 6 January 2006 03:21 (twenty years ago)

What strange timing: This was on a mix CD for walking that I just made last week, and I listened to it about 5 times this evening. Everything about it is perfect to my ears from the opening finger snaps to the piano medley (perhaps my favorite bass-notes lead riff ever) to the why-can't-anyone-be-this-giddy-anymore backing vox. Praise, praise, all praise due, and it's even better when paired with Madness, "It Must Be Love."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 6 January 2006 06:06 (twenty years ago)

this song is real cool.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 6 January 2006 06:11 (twenty years ago)

the piano medley

er, "melody"

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 6 January 2006 06:17 (twenty years ago)

weird, i was listening to this yesterday, too -- someone is watching my audioscrobbler page -- wondering if it was another langer/winstanley production. sounds perfectly of that era - elvis c & madness

― Mitya (mitya), Friday, 6 January 2006 06:57 (twenty years ago)

And Morrissey's future bandmates are on it!

...and Vic Godard's previous ... and two of World of Twist (some crossover there, I think).

I never likes Boxerbeat, but this is great!

― Jez (Jez), Friday, 6 January 2006 13:03 (twenty years ago)

GREAT!

Now I wanna hear Roman Holiday's "Don't Try To Stop It," too. (Had both records in high school; sold both.)

― mike a, Friday, 6 January 2006 17:46 (twenty years ago)

JoBoxers also included Sean McLusky according to a very recent discussion, now what ever became of him ?

― mark e (mark e), Friday, 6 January 2006 18:10 (twenty years ago)

four months pass...

I'm feelin' easy and I'm feelin' jake.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 21 May 2006 18:15 (twenty years ago)

This is one of my favorite songs of the 80's. I have it on a CD called "Living in Oblivion".. It is actually one reason I bought the CD. Loved it when I saw it on MTV. Always puts me in a good mood. People probably wonder about me cuz I'll be driving down the road, with that blaring... singing along with the whole thing.

― Van, Thursday, 25 May 2006 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

I recently discovered that three members of JoBoxers were in Subway Sect -- I was quite surprised.

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 1 November 2007 10:00 (eighteen years ago)

I was more surprised that three members of Subway Sect were in the Joboxers, if you know what I mean.

― Mark G, Thursday, 1 November 2007 10:03 (eighteen years ago)

I used to like "Johnny Friendly".

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 1 November 2007 10:34 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah but they weren't really members of the Subway Sect and weren't in any of the punk line-ups. They were hired en-masse in 1981 (by Bernie Rhodes?) as Vic's backing band for the northern soul-style line up of the Songs For Sale era. Then when they stopped working with Vic they recruited Dig Wayne and became JoBoxers.

― Dr.C, Thursday, 1 November 2007 10:49 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, that's what I figured at the time.

The only (and fatal) flaw was that Dig Wayne was a card carrying actor/performer.

What tends to happen is that when a band has down time, they all go off to do acting work, and as that is their first love/calling/whatever, they are loathe to give up the bit part they are that close to getting to get the band back on the 'road' again...

See the Fine Young Cannibals for similar.

― Mark G, Thursday, 1 November 2007 11:12 (eighteen years ago)

There is hardly anything other than "Boxerbeat" available on CD nowadays, right?

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 1 November 2007 11:13 (eighteen years ago)

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