The Boys

Casino Steel: organ/piano/vocals, Honest John Plain: guitar/vocals
Jack Black: drums
The Boys made arguably one of the best LPs of the 70s with their self-titled first album and provided the template for superior Pop Punk before even the Buzzcocks had got out of first gear.
Yet for some reason The Boys occupy a neglected position in relation to London’s early Punk scene, probably because they weren’t clothed by Sex or managed by Malcolm McLaren. Being tagged the “Punk Beatles” couldn’t have helped either.
Plagued by mishaps, bad timing and plain bad luck they managed to keep smiling and come up with corking, hyper-speed pop classics like “Brickfield Nights” and “Rue Morgue”. In short The Boys were a gem of a band and a total inspiration to any Punk band who value tunes over noise. This entry is courtesy of Ian Part-Time
Punk Pop legends the Boys first emerged as the result of a failed attempt to reform glam punk trail-blazers the Hollywood Brats, after future Boys Matt Dangerfield and Casino Steel had been involved in the embryonic London SS with Mick Jones and Tony James.
Matt Dangerfield from Leeds had moved down to London in the early 70s and set up a 4 track recording studio and rehearsal room at 47A Warrington Crescent with Barry Jones (later of the London Cowboys). Needing a drummer he came into contact with Geir Wade and through him he met Mick Jones and became part of London SS at the time when they first used that name.

Though Mick and Tony James were waiting for Brian James to return after tying up loose ends with his band Bastard, towards the end of 1975 they were enticed by the offer of management from Bernie Rhodes (then working in partnership with Malcolm McLaren with the Sex Pistols), which prompted the twosome of Mick and Tony to throw together a line up featuring themselves, Matt and Geir.

At the same time they also found out through Geir (who played in a band called Jane with Casino in 1966!) that ex-Hollywood Brats singer Andrew Matheson and pianist Casino Steel were living in London and Mick and Tony, looking to flesh out their line up with a vocalist and keyboards, visited them and during the conversation managed to persuade them to join their band.
At the same time they also found out through Geir (who played in a band called Jane with Casino in 1966!) that ex-Hollywood Brats singer Andrew Matheson and pianist Casino Steel were living in London and Mick and Tony, looking to flesh out their line up with a vocalist and keyboards, visited them and during the conversation managed to persuade them to join their band. However, one visit to the Pistols Denmark Street HQ and a 15 minutes London SS rehearsal later, Andrew and Casino called Matt and Geir suggesting that they wanted a band with them, but not Mick and Tony.
Matt jumped at the chance and rather than relaunch the band as the Brats they opted for the name the Choirboys. Both Geir and Andrew (who went to Canada and played professional football) didn’t last long and Matt bought in his friend and flatmate Honest John Plain on guitar who in turn got his factory workmates Duncan “Kid” Reid and Jack “Black” Lempicki on bass and vocals and drums respectively. As the band was now complete, the name was then subsequently trimmed down to just the Boys.

(During this time it’s also possibly that Matt was involved with Mick Jones other previous band Violent Luck. There is a July 1976 picture of him as part of the line up in Marcus Gray’s “Last Gang In Town”, though it lists him as “making up the numbers”.)
This lineup made its first appearance at the Hope and Anchor in Islington in September 1976. They were mentioned in the October 76 fourth issue of “Sniffin’ Glue” and also later in issue 8 with a review of their debut single “I Don’t Care” and a picture of Kid Reid which shows that their trademark black tie and shirt image was already in place. Also, they had missed out on playing any of the “inner circle” punk events of 1976 like the 100 Club Festival and this would mean that they were perused from a “down the nose” angle by the fashionistas of the scene and their credibility would suffer as a result.

Matt Dangerfield: It was probably only our 5th gig that we played Dingwalls as support for Babe Ruth.. we were in the pub and were well oiled and we played with a couldn’t care less attitude brought on by the alcohol. We were pretty sloppy. We didn’t know it, but some people from NEMS were there. They said we want to sign you for an album deal. In fact 3 albums.
They signed for a grand desperate to keep the band afloat and get some new equipment. It was either that or the band split. In the intervening time they had signed a three LP deal with NEMS the company founded by Brian Epstein, which also did them few favours in the bitchy end of the Punk scene.
Matt Dangerfield: We signed with Nems because they were a very good live agency. At least if we were with them we should be able to get gigs. This was a time when venues were saying don’t darken our doors again. We were the first punk band of that generation to get an album deal. Late 1976.
Another plus point about Nems was their distribution deal through RCA which would mean Boy’s records would be available everywhere on release.
At the time things looked bright for The Boys as they set to work on their second single, Honest John Plain’s “First Time”, a tour with Velvet Underground legend John Cale and their excellent debut LP. Self produced after name producers couldn’t capture their sound, the Boys recorded 18 songs in 3 days. Then they hit bad luck as the record wasn’t released for 3 months. It wasn’t all Nems’ fault. They weren’t to know Elvis, RCA’s biggest star, would die and all pressing plants would be devoted to Elvis records.

Likewise for First Time. It entered the charts at 84 but Nems had to withdraw marketing after its first week and it sank [maybe the sleeve had something to do with that! Punk77]. The damage was done though. By September The Boys were intimating in the Music papers like Record Mirror, that they had lost confidence in their record company.
Critically they did ok but among the sturm und drang of the various punk bands forming, their image and sound made people suspicious which Pete Silverton articulated in his Sounds review of 30/7/77 (which was very positive BTW) of their first album.
…the Boys have come too far, too fast to have done it all without a touch of voodoo. When they first started most everybody saw them as a joke. I mean they weren’t deep punk were they? Too sweet by half. They didn’t look like they could threaten a dodo, let alone Rod Stewart. So what if they they sounded good and seemed to have fistfuls of excellent songs?
Unphased they bullishly declared in a Record Mirror interview.
Kid Reid: Nobody has seen the half of us yet ‘cos we’re only just feeling our muscles. We’ve already got enough material for another album and musically it will be totally different from this one. We don’t care about what’s punk – we care about what’s us.
Indeed their second LP Alternative Chartbusters trod a slightly more poppy path than the debut but did nothing sales-wise. Following recording their third album NEMS refused to pay the subsequent recording costs and that was that.
The Boys then took a 18 month break from the business while record company problems were sorted. Matt Dangerfield produced records for the likes of Toyah, The Dark and Gary Holton. Duncan Reid played with old pals The Hollywood Killers, Jack Black played in the first Hazel O’Connor band as well as joining the Rowdies and New Guitars and Honest John actually joined the Lurkers for an album and single and then New Guitars before returning.
By the time the Boys got around to issuing their third LP it was almost the end of the decade as To Hell With The Boys came out in November 1979 on the Safari imprint. The band had lost momentum and not only that the music scene had changed markedly in that time as the Two Tone revival was reaching its peak and Punk was just a memory for many.

Following this Casino Steel returned to his homeland in Norway after the LP was completed for tax reasons and the band became a four piece. Still hoping to make that elusive breakthrough, the “Weekend” single aired on national TV on “Swap Shop” but after the next single “Let It Rain” and the disappointing “Boys Only” LP they were dropped by Safari, Kid Reid left the group and was replaced for a short while by Howard Wall of The Lurkers. This lasted for a few gigs until the band fizzled out towards the middle of 1981.
PS From 1977 the Boys switched to their alter-egos the Yobs and released a seasonal foul-mouthed comedy Punk record every year until 1982. In 1978 while in dispute with NEMS they bootlegged themselves and released the single on their own Yob records This included the LP “A Christmas Record” which comprised of delights like “Ballad Of The Warrington” and “Another Christmas”, though probably their best known effort was the completely Santa-unrelated “Worm Song”

Pop punk, power punk, new wave. You name it you could probably describe the Boys by it! Songs laden with hooks and all matched with a strong popular live act. It must have been all the more galling for the band first missing the punk and then the later power pop boat. Lord knows they gave it their best shot with 8 singles and four albums till they split. They certainly had no lack of confidence to begin with.
Jack Black: We write really good pop songs. Any band could use our songs and get away with it.
Matt Dangerfield: Sooner or later we’re gonna be big. We’re more adventurous than most other bands because we’re not limited to just one writer. Record Mirror, 17.9.77
I Don’t Care/Soda Pressing (NEMS April 1977)


Their first single in April 1977 and it’s a suitably explosive statement of intent saying what they don’t like with some Damned style riffing. A weaker version appears on their eponymous album
First Time/ Watcha Gonna Do/Turning Grey (NEMS July 1977)
The Boys’ pop punk skills come to the fore with this little classic that captures the bitter-sweet anticipation and trepidation about losing your virginity in those few minutes of song.
However you have to question the wisdom of the sleeve, which great though it is, hardly fits the song or sound and wouldn’t have exactly helped sales! In fact, marketing had to be withdrawn just as it was getting somewhere, which killed it off.

Brickfield Nights/Teachers Pet (NEMS March 1978)

From the second album Alternative Chartbusters.
Brickfield Nights was about where Matt Dangerfield grew up in Leeds and has a ‘Then He Kissed Me’ drum beat intro and reminiscing about being a lad. Easily the best song on the album and there was even a promo video which is below.
Kamikaze/Bad Day (Safari November 1979)
From the third album and their first for Safari now released from their record label issues with NEMS. Not a bad song – more rocky and the sax is a good addition.

The Boys (NEMS 1977)

‘The Boys’ is chock full of fast, tuneful and powerful songs and still stands as probably their best record. From the Brats re-treads of “Sick On You” and “Tumble With Me” to the set closer “Living In The City“ it‘s a breeze of fresh air and this wonderful record debuted at number 50 in the album chart and then promptly disappeared. Blame for this had been apportioned to the recent death of Elvis Presley meaning that the pressing plants couldn’t cope with producing enough records, but in truth it was probably more down to the hapless NEMS label’s shortcomings.
Sick On You; I Call Your Name; Tumble With Me; Tonight; I Don’t Care; Soda Pressing; No Money; First Time; Box Number; Kiss Like A Nun; Cop Cars; Keep Running; Tenement Kids; Living In The City.
The music papers also were very positive about it including Sounds below and shock horror Tony Parsons in the NME


Alternative Chartbusters (Nems March 1978)

The second LP Alternative Chartbusters appeared only 6 months after the debut. Treading a slightly more poppy path than the debut, this still featured fine songs in the shape of the Brickfield Nights single and TCP.
The album was reviewed in Zigzag 81, Feb/March 1978 by Live Wire fanzine editor Alan Anger who revealed USI stood for underage sexual intercourse which might be something to forget about now! For Alan the album was all about fun and crossed punk and beat which was pretty much where one strand of punk was splintering into. TCP was a tribute to the Ramones
TCP- it cured my acne
TCP – it left me pimple free
Johnny, Joey, Tommy Dee Dee!
Cast of Thousands was written for a documentary on football hooliganism but never used and Neighborhood Brats was originally called Hollywood Brats about their former band.
Alan signed off with the kiss of commercial death saying “NEMS may well have a Top 10 album on their hands” which of course they didn’t.
It was a worthy, if flawed, follow up but did nothing sales-wise and the band, unhappy with the support they had been receiving from NEMS sought to sit out the remainder of their contract without issuing another record.
Brickfield Nights; USI; Taking On The World; Sway (Quien Sera); Do The Contract; Heroine; Not Ready; Classified Susie; TCP; Neighborhood Brats; Stop Stop Stop; Talking; Backstage Pass; Cast Of Thousands.


To Hell With The Boys (Safari December 1979)

Punk77 says: Released on virtually the last day of 1979 and finds The Boys like many of the class of 1977 adrift and trying to make headway as themselves and not part of a scene. Three albums on and the first for Safari (along with label mates Wayne County and Toyah!) sees the band a bit lacklustre. Apart from Sabre Dance, I struggle with the album.
Rue Morgue” is an absolute delight with great chord and rhythm changes. “You can’t hurt a Memory” is a power ballad that is intense and heartfelt and very John Lennonish. “Lonely Cowboy” is just downright fun and it rocks. Matt Dangerfield really shines here as a guitar player too. More Pop Rock than Punk, this is a great album. Rate Your Music
Sabre Dance; Rue Morgue; Terminal Love; See Ya Later; You Can’t Hurt A Memory; Kamikaze; Lonely Cowboy; Waiting For The Lady; Bad Day; Independent Girl.

TalkPunk
Post comments, images & videos - Posts are checked and offensive or irrelevant ones will be removed