Wang Chung's Jack Hues On New Album 'Tazer Up,' 80s Music, Why They Changed Their Name

Jack Hues, born Jeremy Allan Ryder, the vocalist and guitarist for the band Wang Chung, answers fan questions about the seminal 80s super group and their decision to release a new album Tazer Up after years apart. “We realize that there’s a lot of affection and interest in Wang Chang still,” Hues told Uinterview exclusively. “It was just the right time.”

Born in Kent, England, Hues was encouraged to take music lessons as a child and learned the guitar. He went on to attend London’s Goldsmith College. While at the Royal College of Music, he met Dave Burnand, and in 1979, they joined with bassist Nick Feldman and drummer David Costin to form the group Huang Chung. In 1982, they released their debut album Huang Chung, which failed to make the charts. After changing the spelling of their band name to Wang Chung at the suggestion of David Geffen himself, the band found great success with their album Mosaic in 1986, most notable for their hit “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.”

Hues and Burnand are picking up where they left off with their recently released album Tazer Up. Hues knows the industry has transformed dramatically since he was last in the public eye. “Things have changed now,” he told Uinterview, “obviously there’s the general sense that it’s the tours that are your central part of your career and recordings are there to support it, I’m not really sure that I agree with that.”