At 14 years old John Nance was actively performing at a variety of venues. A "Seasoned Performer" at 15 John was performing professionally with adult entertainers on the nightclub circuit throughout Chicagoland as well as a variety of corporate and private events with his first music mentor bassist Donald “Duck” Pryor, who insisted that "Johnny" make the transition from rhythm to lead guitar. He did so successfully.
At 16 in a surprise move to local sports fans when he left the interscholastic sports program at Evanston Township High to enter a career in Music and Entertainment.
After graduation John was invited to continue formal training in Vocal Music Performance by the University of Iowa’s Music Department. At Iowa he was very active in student activities elected the first black President of The Hillcrest Dorm Association, pledged Alpha Kappa Psi on the first successful minority fraternity and was a walk-on in the Iowa Basketball program. In the summer of ‘73 with parental support he made the decision to forgo college formed The Urban Crisis Band
In 1974 he joined The American Federation of Musicians Local 10-208.
Urban Crisis became one of the most best bands in the Midwest. Performing at some of the most notable venues in the Midwest and California. In '75 Urban Crisis signed a recording contract with TK Records (K.C. & the Sunshine Band et al.), recording and releasing two singles “Spread Love Around” and “Sugar Man,” on the "Glades" Label.
Assisted by business associate David LaVelle and friend Shawn Logan (now in Italy) John created the entertainment company Mothers Plugger Sound Improvement Company (MPSIC). To provide entertainment during breaks between shows, John experimented with pre-recorded music on reel to reel tapes. Soon after he began receiving requests for his services as a Disc Jockey as America entered the Disco era.
Mothers Plugger produced and promoted a number of successful events and developed a professional DJ system known as "The Disco Machine" complete with a neon light show and other special effects. The Disco Machine was very popular and performed throughout the Midwest and Florida. October 8, 1976 Mothers Plugger produced the first full scale live concert at the Varsity Theatre in Evanston Illinois that Featured LoveCraft (Shawn Christopher) and Urban Crisis.
By 1980 the rigorous demands of Mothers Plugger, the business relationship with LaVelle combined with the drop in demand for live entertainment impacted John's decision to leave Urban Crisis. Although he was no longer a band member he continued relationships with music performance and production with some of the top recording studio's in Chicago.
LaVelle and Nance went on to design systems for such notable venues as The Happy Medium formerly located on ever popular Rush Street in Chicago and Schooners formally in Harvey. The Neon light show at Schooners was comprised of 256 tubes of neon lighting included dance floor, wall and ceiling powered by a specially designed computerized light controller. Additionally the pair designed, installed and maintained voice and data system for a number of clients that included The Chauffeurs Training Schools in Detroit Michigan, Chicago and Mattoon Illinois. At this juncture John time on the road was extensive as he provided for his elderly mother and eldest child Jonathan.
Later LaVelle and Nance would go their separate ways and John became the catalyst for Progressive Entertainment and Media that was responsible for producing the Local Origination Television Show MusicVision. The Chicago Sun Times and NBC News contrasted MusicVision to then upstart MTV. The National Federation of Local Cable TV Producers heralded as "The Hottest Local Origination Cable TV Program in America in '84. MusicVision Featured Chicagoland's top performing bands in a musical jukebox format. John was the Producer / Co-Host sharing the stage with such notables as Barbra Stanek (WGCI), Dan Michaels (WLUP/WCKG), Alicia Torres (WGCI) and (the late) Diane Shanin (Singer / Songwriter) and others. Every week a team of over 100 performers, technicians, make-up artists and crew would come together under Progressive's Management Team to produce MusicVision content. Notable performers included Deon Jackson, Alvin Cash, Billy Branch, Captain Sky, Bad English, Buster Benton, Bohemia, Zoetrope, Sy Zyad and a host of others. MusicVision was viewed regularly on Friday Nights by thousands of faithful viewers in the 37 communities that surrounded the city of Chicago on the Cablevision Network.
Jonathan Walker, Charles Morgan James Hightower and Timothy Cole rounded out the Progressive Team. Efforts to syndicate MusicVision were suppressed by a debilitating illness to John's mother. Her illness and recuperation from brain surgery at age 72 resulted in a loss of vision and other complications that made it impossible for John (an only child) to maintain the leadership role and travel schedule required for program syndication. However John continued to service and maintain prominent long term entertainment clients.
John later became the lead guitarist, producer and arranger for Deon Jackson ("Love Makes The World Go 'Round") in his band Sunlight spending a great deal of time in recording with the band, raising his children Jonathan and Janelle, caring for his invalid mother in their family home and providing entertainment services for selected clients on a limited basis.
The early 90's would bring about resolution. John accepted a subcontractor's position with Ericcson Communications and worked as a Field Supervisor on a major telecommunications installation at Illinois State University that included a dial tone switch and 30,000 telephone extensions after 3 years of extended care research John selected an extended care facility to assist in his mother's care.
Upon completion of the project John returned home, secured an apartment for himself and his son less than 3 blocks away from the extended care facility to closely monitored his mother's care, Worked for a brief time for Genesis Communications and later accepted a position in admissions with The National Education Center's Chicago Bryman School.
In '92 based on his exemplary performance at Bryman John was offered and accepted a technical recruiting position with CEMCO Systems in Oakbrook where he excelled for 2 years. At CEMCO exposed him to advanced information technologies. He learned about strategic staffing and procurement of technical resources. In '94 he accepted the position of Recruiting Manager with Midwest Software Ltd. (MSL) of Elk Grove Village and in '95 was hired as a Senior Manager by Silverline Industries of Oakbrook.
In '96 John departed from Silverline and started NCG Associates (NCG), a single source Information Technology Consulting Concern and Microsoft Solutions Provider. NCG's first major project was an Intranet Broadcast Study for communications giant Motorola. NCG's most significant project to date was Management of Information Systems and Network Design Development and Implementation of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for the largest private social service agency in the US.
Through it all John continued to service and maintain prominent long term entertainment clients and spend time in the recording studios.
In 2002 based on a decision to "have more fun with technology," John decided to bring the two most prominent components of his life and career together, Entertainment and Technology. In 2002, in a Beta Test program for Microsoft NCG successfully streamed (broadcasted) audio and video content over the Internet.
His goal is to provide alternative sources of entertainment and learning globally. And he is well on his way!
For more information, visit their website: http://www.johnnanceentertainment.com
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