#21: Closer Together by The Box

City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: June 1987
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Closer Together”
Lyrics: “Closer Together”

The Box was formed in 1981 by former Men Without Hats keyboard player Jean-Marc Pisapia. He was born in 1957 in Montreal and learned to play piano at the age of four. He studied architecture at the University of Montreal. After a summer tour with Men Without Hats in 1981, Jean-Marc formed Checkpoint Charlie, inviting guitarist Guy Florent and bass guitarist Jean-Pierre Brie to join him. In 1983, the band added Jean-Marc’s brother, Guy Pisapia, on keyboards. This enabled Jean-Marc to give his attention primarily to lead vocals. At this time the band changed their name to The Box. In 1984 The Box released a self-titled album with a debut single titled “Walk Away”.

The new wave sound was still popular, and “Walk Away” became a Top Ten hit in Regina (SK), and a Top 20 hit in Montreal and Ottawa. In 1985, The Box were nominated in the Most Promising Group of the Year category at The Juno Awards. They lost out to Idle Eyes. In Quebec, they won a Felix Award for Group of the Year.

From their second album, All the Time, All the Time, All the Time, came “L’Affaire Dumoutier (Say to Me)”. It was their second release from the album. The debut release, “With All That Cash”, was a #3 hit in Edmonton (AB) on the Alternative Rock station CJSR. But it failed to chart on Top 40 radio.

The lineup for The Box on All the Time, All the Time, All the Time consisted of Claude Thibault on guitar, Jean-Pierre Brie on bass guitar and backing vocals, Philippe Bernard on drums, Guy Pisapia on keyboards and backing vocals, Jean-Marc Pisapia on rhythm guitar and lead vocals.

A third release from the album, “My Dreams Of You”, was a Top 20 hit in Montreal in 1986. In 1987 The Box released their third album, Closer Together. The title track was their debut single. “Closer Together”.

“Closer Together” was written by the bandmates in The Box. In the official music video for “Closer Together,” the band strides through tropical, sunny coastal scenery. They are joined by strangers they meet who exuberantly start to party, dance and sing along. “Closer Together” was originally commissioned by a leukemia foundation as a fundraiser. The song advises “it’s up to you and up to me and all of us to get closer together.” This is especially so “when time is running out and there’s no looking back.” There are hints of difficulties: “If you ain’t got nobody, could be pretty well too late to hope for better…” Assisting on the vocals in the chorus were Sass Jordan and Martine St-Clair.

“Closer Together” peaked at #1 in Montreal, #15 in Hamilton (ON), and #22 in Vancouver (BC).

A second release from the album, “Ordinary People”, was a Top 20 hit in both Hamilton and Montreal. In 1987, The Box was again nominated for a Juno Award in the Group of the Year category. They lost out to Tom Cochrane and Red Rider. However, at the Félix Awards The Box won Anglophone Group of the Year, Anglophone Single of the Year and Video of the Year.

In the winter of 1987-88, “Crying Out Loud For Love”, was the third single from Closer Together. It also cracked the Top 20 in Hamilton and Montreal. A fourth album, The Pleasure and the Pain, was released in 1990. The lead single, “Carry On”, reached #9 in Montreal, and #11 in Ottawa. A followup single, “Temptation”, was a Top 30 hit in Hamilton.

The Box dissolved in 1992 after Jean-Marc quit the band. The lack of wider exposure had been a constant challenge. The Pleasure and The Pain was a commercial disappointment. Jean-Marc attributed this in part to the band’s position as francophones who were performing in English instead of French. This caused their fans in Quebec to turn against them in the increasingly polarized climate in the Meech Lake era. The band was also exhausted after being an opening act on a tour headlined by Sinead O’Connor. In 1995, Jean-Marc released a solo album titled John of Mark. He subsequently supported himself principally as a writer of television advertising jingles.

The Box reformed in 2002 and released Black Dog There in 2005. It was a concept album about a guy from the prairies who becomes an astronaut. In 2009, The Box released their first French-language album D’Après le horla de Maupassant.

The Box released four singles in the mid-2010s. Their most recent single, “Incredible Human Being”, was released in 2016. In 2018, the band released an EP titled Take Me Home. The Box continues to perform in concert.

June 27, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Scott Sutherland, “The Box,” CanadianBands.com, April 11, 2022.
Aaron Badgley, “Right Out of The Box – A Conversation with Jean-Marc Pisapia of The Box,” Spill Magazine, January 22, 2020.

CKOY 96.9-FM Montreal Top Ten | June 12, 1987