The Boys have faired better than
Chelsea, The Vibrators and The Lurkers, but sometimes their
importance in the whole punk rock hulla baloo gets slightly
overlooked.
Members of The Damned, The Clash, Sex
Pistols and Generation X all passed through Matt Dangerfield's (The
Boys Guitarist/Vocalist) basic bohemian basement recording studio.
Dangerfield was a member of the legendary, London SS, alongside Mick
Jones and Tony James, before the all went their own ways. Matt
teamed up with old art school friend Honest Jon Plain, former
Hollywood Brat Casino Steele, and Duncan Kid Reid and Jack Black, The
Boys were born. Less political, and more poppy than their peers They
were the first 'punk band' to sign an album deal. Their self titled
debut The Boys and the follow up Alternative Chartbusters, are great
albums, but for me, their third one To Hell With The Boys is a
forgotten classic which really showed their talent as song writers of
catchy pop punk rock'n'roll ballads. Their last album Boys Only had
some moments, but was a bit lacking, possibly because Casino had left
the band by then. This recording is from their first
American gig in New York on 12th June 1981 and it's a
greatest hits set, with a brilliant selection of tracks from all four
of their albums. Enjoy!
Thanx to Marky Dredd for making this
available a few years back on one of his mighty music blogs, he also
knocked up the cover art. Respect!
