For 18 years, New Carrolton resident John Bois has been a biology teacher who engages his Northwestern High School students with his passion for science.
But this summer Bois was, at least for a moment, a rock star — again.
The band was nominated for the role it played in starting "an embryo of a real music culture" in Australian rock with "songs that spoke of Australia rather than other foreign lands," said Richard Clapton, an Australian musician who introduced The Dingoes during the award ceremony.
"Apparently there were a lot of bands that were inspired by us, because we say a lot about Australia," Bois said. "Before [the Dingoes], all the bands were trying to sound like Americans."
The band formed in the early 1970s in Melbourne and had some minimal commercial success, with an album that eventually hit No. 18 in the Australian charts. But the band's sound caught the ears of influential musicians abroad.
The manager of the Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd contacted the band to ask if The Dingoes wanted to tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
"We were just in Podunk, and then the gods of the entertainment industry called us," Bois recalled.
But in 1977, just before the tour, several members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash.
"We were reviewed in Rolling Stone [magazine] and we were about to do another record, and then the plane went down," Bois said.
The crash effectively ended The Dingoes' chances of reaching international acclaim and led to its disbanding, Bois said.
The members, who, at the time of the crash had been in the United States to record and tour, stayed in this country and built new lives. Bois moved to Boston, where he did odd jobs and realized that he needed a new career to support his first wife and young family.
Bois always had been interested in biology. So, at age 35, he enrolled in the Harvard University extension program, from which he earned a bachelor's degree. He then earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
"By going to college at 35, I was able to follow on an intellectual path rather than a career path," he said.
Bois moved to the area in 1991, when he landed his job at Northwestern.
When word came of his induction into the Hall of Fame, his students were surprised to discover that their science teacher had once been a rock musician, Bois said.
Northwestern High sophomore Gabriel Matos, 15, of Hyattsville typically comes to school early to jam with a few friends and Bois in the teacher's classroom. The sessions began when Matos' friend asked him to bring his guitar into school.
"I had Mr. Bois [for] second period, and he kind of picked [the guitar] up and started playing and he was really good," Matos said. "Then he told me how he was in a band in Australia. I looked it up on YouTube and, sure enough, he was there."
Matos, who is in Bois' AP Biology class, originally wanted to be an automotive designer or architect. Now, after taking Bois' class, he is considering becoming a doctor, he said.
"I went into his class and I got fascinated with the whole idea of biology," Matos said. "He's like one of those teachers that combines fun with the learning."
When Bois learned of the Hall of Fame award, he didn't want to go to the ceremony partly because he was afraid he would miss school, said his current wife, Tamara Bois.
"He's really dedicated to the kids, to the students," she said. "He hates missing school for anything."
Bois said he's still recovering from the experience of returning to Australia for the honor, one he calls "a magical occurrence."
He is the only former Dingoes member whose career isn't connected with music. Since the reunion performance in Australia, the band has made plans to record a new album. The recording schedule, however, is constrained by Bois' teaching duties.
"I told them to go ahead without me. I can't leave the kids," Bois said. "But [the band members] are doing it around my dates."
In the end after all, Bois said, he's a teacher.
E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.
