The lads were in the throws of a stunning country-wide tour when the pandemic hit – and have been itching to get back ever since. That time is now, and May 2022 sees the band – most famous for their hit album “A Bit Of What You Fancy” – embark on a fresh tour of the USA taking in New York, Denver, Las Vegas and many more cities across the country including a stop at the prestigious M3 Festival in Baltimore. The tour will reach a triumphant conclusion at the world-famous Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood – and for the tour The Quireboys are joined by the amazing Midnight Devils and Steve Ramone.
In addition to tickets which will be available shortly, the band are available at most venues for meet and greets – follow the link below to reserve your spot!
Following the band’s inception in London, UK in 1984 – originally as The Choirboys, then The Queerboys, before settling on the less controversial name of The Quireboys – there followed 6 years of hard graft and personnel changes before the inevitable happened – a UK number 2 album.
Spike and Guy have been the backbone of THE quintessential British rock’n’roll band ever since – a journey that has seen them play to 72,000 at 1990’s Monsters of Rock at Donington with the likes of Whitesnake, Aerosmith and Poison – supporting The Rolling Stones that same year, and joining Guns N’ Roses again a couple of years later on their “Use Your Illusion” tour.
A Bit Of What You Fancy 2 to Hit Stores 2nd July as Fans Get Behind The Quireboys to Make National Top 10!
It’s the news we’ve all been waiting for – The Quireboys’ A Bit of What You Fancy Anniversary Edition is confirmed to land on 2nd July initially with the CDs, and then Blue Vinyls 6 weeks after that.
In addition, the lead single, 7 O’Clock, is set to be released on 18th June as a double A-Side, featuring both the brand new studio version and a superb live version recorded at London’s prestigious O2 Forum, Kentish Town. A brand new video will accompany the single too.
This studio re-recording of their iconic first album will reflect the current Gypsy Rock n Roll sound of The Quireboys, and prove to be powerful, inspirational and full of all the quality of a modern-day recording.
Over the next few days and weeks, we will be spreading the word once more about this stunning album, with the aim to get the lads into the charts where they deserve to be – with the aim to make the release hit the national top 10
This is a must for all Quireboys fans worldwide and will be available on CD & Vinyl, both on limited runs, with a new modern cover and a couple of live bonus tracks on the CD – “Man on the Loose” and “Mayfair” – while the Vinyl Collector’s version will be restricted to a run of 750 copies only in Blue Vinyl.
The Quireboys set to release a Limited Run of a totally new Re-Recorded version of A Bit Of What You Fancy to mark the albums 30th Anniversary
We may be at home, it may be dark times, but that hard-working quartet are back in the studio re-recording their iconic first album with the current Gypsy Rock n Roll sound of The Quireboys. The new recording will prove to be powerful, inspirational and full of all the quality a modern-day recording can anticipate.
This is a must for all Quireboys fans worldwide and while this will be available on CD & Vinyl, both will be on limited runs, with a new modern cover and a couple of live bonus tracks on the CD.
The CD will feature 2 Live Bonus Tracks, “Man on the Loose” and “Mayfair” while the Vinyl Collector’s item will be restricted to a run of 750 copies only, in Blue Vinyl.
Both 30th Anniversary Collector’s items are on sale now Here…
The Quireboys will tour the UK and Europe Dec 20 / April 21 performing the whole album in its entirety. Dates will be announced soon.
Quireboys frontman Spike commented, “It’s where it all began, it was an incredible album that launched our careers, but the way we sound n play now doesn’t give it the justice it needs. Henceforth, it’s been a pleasure updating it to our modern day Gypsy Rock n Roll Sound. I’m sure everyone will enjoy this new version in all its glory, marking its 30th Anniversary.”
Following the recent news of an upcoming ‘best of’ package and vinyl re-issues of four classic albums, Sweden’s finest purveyors of glam slam boogie the Diamond Dogs are back with a new long-player of brand new music to whet the appetite.
It seems you can’t keep a good band down, and four years after they called it quits, following the tragic death of saxophonist Magic Gunnarsson, original members Sulo and keyboard player Henrik “Honk” Widen decided it was time to get the band back together. Joining the duo are long-serving guitarist Lars Karlsson, fellow guitarist Martin Thomander, bassist Stefan Bellnas and Thomas Broman on the drums.
While a revolving door of band members has come and gone over the years, the sound remains the same. Let’s just say, if you dig the cool as you like vintage rock ‘n’ roll of The Faces meets The Stones, then grab a Jack & Coke, drop the needle and sit back and enjoy!
Now, when I say new music, all is not quite as it seems. If you were to purchase this album on vinyl then you could say side A is Diamond Dogs originals; recalling their rock ‘n’ roll roots. And then side B is their own tribute to Soul legend Sam Cooke; six cover versions of classic cuts from the Soul singer, reinterpreted in their own classic style.
While their last few studio albums have been a bit patchy, this is a banger of an album from start to finish. Their trademark rock ‘n’ roll shuffles bring to mind a golden age of early 70’s British rock. Anyone from The Stones, Slade and Quo comes to mind at any given moment. You know the score.
Opening song ‘Recall Rock ‘n’ Roll’ sets the bar high from the off and sees singer Sulo in introspective mood as the band fire on all cylinders behind him. “Let’s turn back time and make it roll!” he suggests before blasting into a euphoric chorus. The likes of ‘Valentina (Queen Of Broken Hearts)’ and ‘Heavy Swing’ have that classic Sulo chorus refrains in abundance. High energy rock ‘n’ roll, with a tinkling of the ivories and key changes that takes it up nicely to the climax. No one does Mott meets The Faces better.
There’s a hint of sadness to the soulful balladry that ‘Singin’ With Elvis’ brings to the table. Sulo reminisces about times gone by and the ghosts of the past. “I walk down the street where we all used to meet, but it was all dark and quiet” he sings in an almost broken rasp. Swathes of Hammond organ and great, Stones inspired backing harmonies make this essential Dogs material.
The uber-cool ‘There Is A Fire Down There’ has a Black Crowes swagger, with trademark killer backing vocals and a wild n’ crazy slide guitar solo. No one does rock ‘n’ roll rapture quite like the Diamond Dogs do these days.
The album is split down the middle by ‘Soul Folks’, a re-recording of a Sulo original that first appeared on his album ‘Hear Me Out’. Sulo’s own tribute to his soul hero that actually comes across like an Exile-era Stones outtake. Cracking stuff indeed.
Now, the Sam Cooke side of things includes a bunch of guests. First up, we have Quireboys frontman Spike lending his gravelly tones to the good time rock ‘n’ roll of ‘Good Times’. Handclaps, sax and heavenly, female backing vocals bring the soul and help get the party started.
The good time boogie of ‘Don’t Fight it, Feel It’ and the 12 bar blues stomp of ‘Somebody Have Mercy’ are delivered in fine Diamond Dogs style, you wouldn’t even guess they were old Soul songs on first listen.
They breathe new life into ‘Keep Movin’ On’. Faster and more uplifting, that killer chorus introduces a song that sounds like it has always been in your head. Hellacopters main man Nicke Andersson adds his dulcet tones to this banger.
Thunder frontman Danny Bowes duets with Sulo on ‘Nothing Can Change This Love’. With the lyrical sentiment and the sparse musicianship, it retains the soulful feel of the original, but it’s given the Diamond Dogs treatment. A rendition that sounds like it was recorded 50 years ago, not six months ago.
‘Sugar Dumpling’ closes the album and is my favourite of these cover versions. Featuring Swedish rapper Papa Dee, they take to another level entirely. To me, it comes on like The Dave Clarke Five meets The Archies, classic 60’s pop and a surprise finale. What a tune!
‘Recall Rock ‘n’ Roll And The Magic Soul’ will not only satisfy Diamond Dogs fan who have been craving more material, it will also remind those who forgot exactly why we missed them in the first place.
Ok, so it may not be an album full of original material. But as the title suggests, this new album is a throwback to the roots and the influences of what made Diamond Dogs one of Sweden’s greatest musical exports. And that is something we should all celebrate.
Its been a while and a troubled beginning for nicotine Pretty but finally, they seem settled and have a brand new EP released and a decent support slot with the Quireboys in Cardiff. With a short space of time in which to impress the rather packed room the band get down to business and start kicking out the jams and it’s not long before the audience responded favorably to these south Wales hooligan rockers with their junked up take on punk rock n roll. They hit the audience with the tunes from their EP and a cover of The Stones. They sounded tight and had a decent mix which is always a help for a band warming up any audience. They have to be happy with how their songs went down tonight with a mainly middle-aged rock audience who to be fair looked like they loved it even Ginge knocking out his best Johnny Thunders solo during ‘Dead Flowers’ was well received and by the time they hit ‘Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?’ they could have gone on.
The Quireboys. I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve had the pleasure over the years going right back to their appearance in Swansea as the Queerboys I’ve seen them support Guns N Roses, Malmsteen, Aerosmith. I’ve seen them take on the old school Reading Festival and win Donnington and smash it as well as dozens of times in venues big and small including the Dominion Theatre the Town and Country club and the last time they played the Globe there could only have been 40 people there which was a shock but tonight it must be fairly close to capacity which always baffles me how that happens but to be fair they always put in the miles and clearly aren’t afraid of hard work and with Spike, Guy, Keith and Paul being mainstays for quite some time they work well together and when they’re in the groove they are still a match for anyone on any stage.
spike declares them to play Rock and Roll and when they do they can be awesome and tonight early doors we get the classics ‘Misled’ and ‘There She Goes Again’ which take me right back to when going to a show was exciting and hearing a band rocking out was an absolute pleasure tonight was no difference but and not wanting to be critical I could do without the Blues numbers from ‘White Trash Blues’ whilst they were clearly going down well it’s just not my cup of tea at all and thankfully its ‘Mona Lisa Smiles’ that brings me back on track and ‘This Is Rock And Roll’ has the band purring once again as thankfully the blues workouts are put to bed.
‘One For The Road’ was dedicated to fallen bandmates Paul Hornby and Michael Lee which was a nice touch and from there on in it was The best of the Quireboys sounding as fresh as the carnation on Spikes Lapel. ‘Hey, You’, Sweet Mary Ann’ 7 O’Clock’ followed by a fantastic rendition of ‘I Don’t Love You Anymore’ and then to bring the curtain down on a fine evening with a fantastic live band we were all invited to a ‘Sex Party’.
Another night spent in the company of a mighty fine band who continue to make records and stay relevant because Rock and Roll is timeless and like Spike says this is Rock and Roll and I certainly wouldn’t disagree with that.
Recent Comments