Johnny Hates Jazz are a British pop band, currently consisting of Clark Datchler (songwriter, vocalist, keyboards) and Mike Nocito (guitarist, bassist, producer, engineer). Both Datchler and Nocito were born into musical families. Datchler’s father, Fred, was a member of two chart-topping bands from the 1950s. The Stargazers had the distinction of being the first British band to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. As part of the Polkadots, Fred Datchler sang backing vocals for Frank Sinatra and Petula Clark. Nocito hails from an American family based in Europe with the U.S. armed forces. His mother was a singer in a close-harmony group called the Cactus Kids, which performed for troops throughout northern Europe.
The two met in 1982 at RAK Studios in London. Datchler had just become lead singer in the band Hot Club, alongside the third and final original JHJ member Calvin Hayes. The line-up also included bass player Glen Matlock and guitarist James Stevenson. In 1983, Hot Club released a single on RAK Records and performed at London’s Marquee Club, a performance that impressed RAK head (and Hayes’ father), Mickie Most. He decided to sign Datchler to the label as a solo artist. It was Most who suggested that Datchler work with Nocito, who was an engineer at RAK Studios at the time. Over the next four years, the two worked together on Datchler’s solo recordings. Most also guided Datchler, producing several of his recordings in the mid-1980s.
In April 1986, Datchler, Nocito and Hayes released the first Johnny Hates Jazz single, “Me and My Foolish Heart”, on RAK Records. It was not a commercial success, but gained substantial airplay and was Sounds magazine’s record of the week. Datchler began writing new songs which included “Shattered Dreams”. They then performed a showcase at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, and were subsequently signed to Virgin Records. “Shattered Dreams” was released in March 1987 and became a top 5 hit in the UK, throughout mainland Europe and Asia, and reached No. 2 in Japan. It was followed by three other worldwide hits, “I Don’t Want to Be a Hero”, “Turn Back the Clock” (featuring Kim Wilde on backing vocals) and “Heart of Gold”. In 1988, “Shattered Dreams” reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, and climbed to No. 4 in Canada. That same year, their album Turn Back the Clock entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1, selling four million copies.
At the end of 1987, JHJ made two music videos with director David Fincher. The videos were for the US releases of “Shattered Dreams” and “Heart of Gold”. Datchler left the band at the end of 1988. Hayes and Nocito continued the band, and replaced Datchler with their friend Phil Thornalley, a Grammy Award-nominated engineer and record producer, and a former bass player for The Cure. The new line-up released a second album, Tall Stories, in 1991. However, the album was unsuccessful, and the band dissolved the following year due to a car accident in which Hayes was badly injured and in hospital for 2 years.
Datchler and Nocito met again in 2009 after Datchler wrote a song called “Magnetized”, which he felt would be ideal for Johnny Hates Jazz. Soon after, they decided to record a new album. Datchler moved back to the UK and wrote the rest of the songs for the project. At the same time, the original line-up of Datchler, Nocito, and Hayes performed live at various international festivals. However, after several shows in 2010, Hayes left the band before recording of the new album commenced. The band released a new single, titled “Spirit Of Love”, in May 2020. It has a few inspirations and musical roots from the 1970s during which Datchler and Nocito grew up. Also in May 2020, it was announced in a trailer that a new album, Wide Awake, would be released in August 2020.
