Jonzun Crew

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title: "Jonzun Crew" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["electronic-music-groups-from-massachusetts", "american-electro-musicians", "tommy-boy-records-artists", "a&m-records-artists"] description: "American electro and early funk–hip hop group" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonzun_Crew" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American electro and early funk–hip hop group ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Jonzun Crew
alt	A picture of Jonzun Cew's "Lost in Space" album cover
caption	A picture of Jonzun Cew's "Lost in Space" album cover. The cover is for an LP and is square. Black starscape with bright white explosion in the centre. The text "Lost in space" is on the top left in red block 3D italic capital letters, The text Jonzun Crew is written on the bottom left in red block 3D italic capital letters
background	group_or_band
origin	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
genre	Electro, funk, hip hop
years_active	1981–1990
label	Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records
A&M Records
Critique Records
associated_acts	Planet Patrol
Arthur Baker
Afrika Bambaataa
New Edition
New Kids on the Block
J. Geils Band
past_members	Maurice Starr
Soni Jonzun
Michael Jonzun
Gordon Worthy
Steve Thorpe
::

| name = Jonzun Crew | image = | alt = A picture of Jonzun Cew's "Lost in Space" album cover | caption = A picture of Jonzun Cew's "Lost in Space" album cover. The cover is for an LP and is square. Black starscape with bright white explosion in the centre. The text "Lost in space" is on the top left in red block 3D italic capital letters, The text Jonzun Crew is written on the bottom left in red block 3D italic capital letters | image_size = | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Boston, Massachusetts, United States | genre = Electro, funk, hip hop | years_active = 1981–1990 | label = Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records A&M Records Critique Records | associated_acts = Planet Patrol Arthur Baker Afrika Bambaataa New Edition New Kids on the Block J. Geils Band | website = | current_members = | past_members = Maurice Starr Soni Jonzun Michael Jonzun Gordon Worthy Steve Thorpe

Jonzun Crew was an American electro and early funk–hip hop group that was active in the 1980s. The group was led by Michael Jonzun, his brothers Maurice Starr and Soni Jonzun, and Carl (Captain Fingers).

Overview

The Jonzun Crew was formed by Florida-born brothers Michael, Soni, and Larry Johnson (also known as Maurice Starr) in Boston in 1981, with Gordy Worthy and Steve Thorpe filling out the lineup. The group carried its spin on Parliament-Funkadelic's loopy sci-fi themes of Afro-futurism throughout the 1980s and early 1990s for several albums.

The group's most famous tracks, “Pack Jam (Look out for the OVC),” “Space is the Place,” and “Space Cowboy” were featured on the group's debut album, Lost in Space (1983). Other notable tracks included “We Are the Jonzun Crew” and “Ground Control.” All of the synthesizer parts were played live as opposed to sequenced, and despite using drum-machine hits in its tracks, most of the group's songs used a live drummer as the main drum track, giving its songs a unique groove and swing compared with most electro music of the era.

In 1986, Michael Jonzun left the group.

Cultural impact

“Pack Jam (Look out for the OVC)” was often played in the background while the rundown of top hits in Germany were counted on the German-language Top Hits show ** during the 1980s.

By 1987, the Berlin Wall featured a block-long graffiti mural immortalizing the Jonzun Crew.

In 1998, Tommy Boy Records issued a remix of "Pack Jam" by Grooverider as part of its Greatest Beats Remix series.

Discography

Albums

::data[format=table] | Year | Album | Peak chart positions | US | US R&B | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1983 | Lost in Space | 66 | 17 | | | 1984 | Down to Earth | — | — | | | 1990 | Cosmic Love | — | — | | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | | | | | ::

Singles

::data[format=table] | Year | Single | Peak chart positions | US Dance | US R&B | US Pop | UK | GER | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1982 | "Pack Jam" | 36 | 13 | 108 | ― | 19 | | | 1983 | "Space Cowboy" | — | 12 | ― | 88 | ― | | | "Space Is the Place" | 63 | 31 | ― | ― | — | | | | "We Are the Jonzun Crew" | ― | 37 | ― | ― | ― | | | | 1984 | "Time Is Running Out" | — | 66 | ― | ― | — | | | 1985 | "Lovin'" | — | 40 | ― | ― | — | | | "Tonight's the Night" | — | — | ― | ― | — | | | | 1991 | "Cosmic Love" | — | 62 | ― | ― | — | | | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | | | | | | | | ::

References

References

1. "Jonzun Crew, Space is the Place, Lost In Space, Pack Jam". Smack-dynamik.com.
2. "Artist Biography". [[AllMusic]].
3. "Jonzun Crew – We Are The Jonzun Crew + Pack Jam | 80s Electro Funk". Cold Crush.
4. David Tompkins. (April 1999). "Secret Vocodering".
5. "The Jonzun Crew - Awards".
6. "The Jonzun Crew Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography".
7. "JONZUN CREW | full Official Chart History".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::