Jo Callis is a man with a list of music hits to his name that would make most people drool. As founder and principal songwriter of late 70′s pop/punk outfit The Rezillos, he had a string of UK hits including “Top of the Pops” and “Destination Venus”. And then came…
The Human League!!! Jo co-wrote ALL their major hits and played and sang on them too. Don’t You Want Me, Mirror Man, (Keep Feeling) Fascination, The Lebanon, Life On Your Own, Louise, Heart Like A Wheel, Seconds, Open Your Heart and TONS more. Jo also wrote with Feargal Sharkey (of the Undertones) and had a UK hit with Loving You. And so on and so on and so on. But guess what?
HE’S COMING ON BOARD THE CABONAUTS TO REMIX OUR SONGS!!!! Jo, based in Scotland, is a big sci-fi fan and so it’s only fitting he joins the cast and crew on the most unique sci-fi show ever. I can’t even begin to tell you how over the moon we all are. His remixes will be sold on iTunes later this year when we launch the show. In the meantime, it’s hard to believe that a genuine 80′s icon is remixing these songs I’m writing – and he’s kicking it off with the track from the pilot entitled “(Female) Scientists” featuring vocals by Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek), Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse) and James C. Leary (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Jo is now an official Cabonautee and we couldn’t be happier.
Here’s a selection of his videos.
And I couldn’t resist linking to this absurdly bad (so intentionally bad it’s brilliant) version of Fascination here on YouTube.It’s very Vic & Bob. We’ll let you know soon who else is coming on board the Scarad to remix tracks – some other great surprises are on the way
There’s quite a few sites reporting on the announcement that Nichelle’s co-starring on The Cabonauts; thought I’d list a bunch in case you want to see what people are saying (and commenting).
By the way, that picture above is a snapshot of CJ (Nichelle’s) office. The Cabonauts offices are stationed in orbit around the newly terra-formed Titan (one of Saturn’s moons but you all knew that).
The news is out and the buzz is pretty damn loud! The wonderful, beautiful, exceptionally talented Nicky Nichols – Star Trek’s Uhura – has come on board the Cabonauts as CJ, the CEO of the cab company.
We couldn’t have done it without our unbelievable casting director, Erin Gray. Erin allowed us to connect and, after I delivered a script and character breakdown, Nichelle said yes. It happened so fast too; within 3 weeks of having the initial idea to approach Nichelle, she’d said yes.
We’ve already spent some time shooting scenes and recording songs and videos. Nicky looks amazing in an outfit put together by Angela Sauceda, our stylist. It was a crazy day that first day – about 20 people buzzed around doing various jobs, among them the Bui Brothers who took some amazing pictures. You can imagine my surprise when, during an interview we did on set, Nichelle began comparing me to Gene Roddenberry and The Cabonauts to Star Trek. As far as absolutely surreal experiences go, that was right up there. We’ll be releasing clips of that interview over the next few weeks as teasers – you can see the first one up above!
Nicky’s character CJ comes from a long line of very successful women. In fact, she keeps one of them on her desk – the clone brain of her dead Grandma sits in a plexiglass container doling out unwanted advice. CJ had been COO of Farmer’s Seuticals, a top drugs manufacturer, but was ousted after being tainted in a financial scandal that she had nothing to do with. CJ’s now working as CEO of The Cabonauts Inc., a huge step down for her, but she’s going to give it her all.
CJ was married briefly to Cyril’s father who passed away. On his death-bed, he made her promise to help his son out which is why Cyril is employed by her as a cab instructor. And of course it’s Cyril who’s her biggest problem, slovenly care-free guy that he is.
Nichelle will be in every single episode, either in scenes or singing and dancing in the music videos – or both! Mostly both (Grandma will too, but don’t expect her to participate in much dancing.) Seeing Nicky dancing with our dance troupe was so much fun too; I was watching her on the monitor as she shimmied away, her dazzling smile absolutely infectious! You’ll agree when you see it. Plus, we’re lining up some extra special interactive features that will…You know, it’s a bit too early to reveal those surprises, but rest assured you’ll be closer to Nichelle than you ever dreamed possible!
The show will most likely premiere in a few months but between then and now, we’ll be appearing at some big sci-fi conventions across the country, releasing interviews, trailers, pictures and news so be sure to sign up to the mailing list (links on the main page) to be the first to find out what’s going on. Our guest cast keeps getting bigger and bigger too – because someone needs to play the role of the passengers and we’re only taking names from iconic sci-fi TV series and movies ‘cause that’s how we roll. More news soon on who those people are – and which two players from the Joss Whedon universe will guest-star in the pilot. In the meantime, in the summer of Star Trek, we couldn’t be happier, and prouder, to be a tiny part of it with one of the biggest icons in the world of Sci-Fi. Nichelle – thanks for coming on board!
