Consistently underrated, The Boys remain one of the best bands of their generation. I have to thank my mate Charley here, as I’d never heard of them until he played me ‘Alternative Chartbusters’ in about 1988. Always a man of impeccable taste. This compilation album sees previously unreleased songs, original mixes and live/acoustic versions, so let’s dive in.

 

‘See You Later’ is a pleasantly hectic original mix from ’79, and ‘Terminal Love’ is an original mix, their first with a producer. Certainly tighter, but never knowingly slick. Radio-friendly in the best way. ‘You Can Give It’, written by Matt Dangerfield’s brother Albert, recorded in ’78, was previously on the ‘Odds And Sods’ compilation, but certainly deserves wider recognition.

 

‘I Love Me’, with Kid on lead vocals, is the original recording from the ‘Junk’ sessions, and ‘Rue Morgue’ is another original mix, sounding punchy and energetic. ‘Walk My Dog’ was recorded in ’80 at the Marquee studios for the session that saw ‘You Better Move On’ chosen as the single.

 

Their recent ‘Punk Rock Menopause’ album gets included with ‘Punk Rock Girl’, not really sounding out of place on here. ‘Waiting For The Lady’ is the original ’79 mix, rather than the one chosen for ‘To Hell With The Boys’. To my ears it sounds great, so who knows what the difference was. The mighty ‘Brickfield Nights’ is represented here in acoustic form from ’96, to fine effect.

 

‘Jimmy Brown’ is from the Marquee ’80 session, complete with Marquee receptionist on backing vocals, ‘Flies’ is from the ’78 Rockfield session, while a brisk ‘T.C.P’ was recorded live in China from 2015. If you don’t have any of The Boys’ albums yet, this is a good place to start. Though, be warned, it can be addictive, and you may be asking the vinyl fairy for some extra funds.

 

To buy go Here

Gutterwail Records

Author: Martin Chamarette

 

Captain Oi will release a 5 CD Clamshell “The Boys on Safari” Box Set on 25 September 2020. It will comprise:

 71 track 5 CD clamshell box set covering legendary Punk band The Boys’ period with Safari Records between 1979-81.

• Disc 1 is the band’s third studio album “To Hell With The Boys” which reached No.4 in the Independent Chart in early 1980 and features the Indie Chart hit singles ‘Kamikaze’ (No.9) and ‘Terminal Love’ (No.32).

• The second disc is 1981’s “Boys Only” album which features the singles ‘You’d Better Move On’ and ‘Weekend’.

• Disc 3 is a 22 track “Rarities” round-up containing eight previously unreleased studio demos alongside non LP B-sides and rare mixes.

• The fourth disc is the X rated “Christmas Album” issued under the name The Yobs, which now has three added bonus tracks. Long out of print on vinyl or CD and currently an expensive collector’s item.

• The final disc is an “In Concert” recording for the BBC in 1980.

• The 28 page booklet contains detailed track notes by original vocalist Matt Dangerfield and lots of clippings, memorabilia and pictures of all the relevant record sleeves.

• Matt has also supervised the mastering of all the tracks.

· The band are still going to this day, 44 years on! And they will be playing again… just as soon as pandemic conditions allow!

Both “To Hell With The Boys” and “Boys Only” have been remastered directly from the original Safari master tapes so sound far superior to any previous CD releases of the albums.
Full Track Listings:
DISC ONE – TO HELL WITH THE BOYS
1. SABRE DANCE (Trad Arr The Boys)
2. RUE MORGUE (Dangerfield)
3. TERMINAL LOVE (Plain)
4. SEE YA LATER (Steel/Dangerfield)
5. YOU CAN’T HURT A MEMORY (Steel/Dangerfield)
6. KAMIKAZE (Plain)
7. LONELY COWBOY (Dangerfield)
8. WAITING FOR THE LADY (Penfold/Reid)
9. BAD DAY (Steel/Dangerfield)
10. INDEPENDENT GIRL (Steel/Dangerfield)
DISC TWO – BOYS ONLY
1. WEEKEND (Dangerfield)
2. WRONG ARM OF THE LAW (Dangerfield)
3. POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL (Plain/Black)
4. MONOTONY (Plain)
5. NOTHING VENTURED (Dangerfield)
6. WONDERFUL WORLD (Campbell/Adler/Albert)
7. SCRUBBER (Plain)
8. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED (Black)
9. GABRIELLE (Dangerfield)
10. MISS YOU (Plain)
11. LITTLE WHITE LIFELINE (Dangerfield)
12. LET IT RAIN (Steel/Dangerfield)
DISC THREE – RARITIES
1. SCHOOLGIRLS (Steel/Dangerfield/Plain)
2. JAP JUNK [1979 Demo] (Plain)
3. SEE YOU LATER [1978 Demo] (Steel/Dangerfield)
4. CRY TOMORROW [1979 Demo] (Plain)
5. LOVE IN PAIN [1979 Demo] (Steel/Dangerfield)
6. SCHOOLDAYS [1979 Demo] (Steel/Dangerfield)
7. YOU CAN GIVE IT [1979 Demo] (Walker)
8. TERMINAL LOVE [Original Mix] (Plain)
9. RUE MORGUE [Original Mix] (Dangerfield)
10. KAMIKAZE [Single version] (Plain)
11. TERMINAL LOVE [Single version] (Plain)
12. I LOVE ME [Single version] (Steel/Dangerfield)
13. YOU BETTER MOVE ON (Alexander)
14. WALK MY DOG (Dangerfield)
15. JIMMY BROWN (Steel)
16. LITTLE RUNAROUND [1980 Demo] (Dangerfield)
17. WEEKEND [1980 Demo] (Dangerfield)
18. LET IT RAIN [1980 Demo] (Steel/Dangerfield)
19. NOTHING VENTURED [1980 Demo] (Dangerfield)
20. WRONG ARM OF THE LAW [1980 Demo] (Dangerfield)
21. COOL (Dangerfield)
22. LUCY (Steel/Dangerfield)
DISC FOUR – THE YOBS CHRISTMAS ALBUM
1. RUB A DUM DUM (Davis)
2. THE BALLAD OF THE WARRINGTON (Dangerfield/Plain)
3. ANOTHER CHRISTMAS (Dangerfield)
4. DOGGY (Merrill)
5. JINGLE BELLS (Trad Arr The Yobs)
6. AULD LANG SYNE (Trad Arr The Yobs)
7. SILENT NIGHT (Trad Arr The Yobs)
8. SILVER BELLS (Livingston/Evans)
9. C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (Trad Arr The Yobs)
10. GLORIA (Trad Arr The Yobs)
11. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (Trad Arr The Yobs)
12. WHITE CHRISTMAS (Berlin)
13. WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS (Trad Arr The Yobs)
14. MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS & KEEP YOU (Wilson)
BONUS TRACKS :
15. RUB A DUM DUM [Single version] (Davis)
16. ANOTHER CHRISTMAS [Single version] (Dangerfield)
17. YOBS ON 45 (Trad Arr The Yobs)
DISC FIVE – BBC IN CONCERT 1980
1. FIRST TIME (Plain)
2. RUE MORGUE (Dangerfield)
3. YOU BETTER MOVE ON (Alexander)
4. KAMIKAZE (Plain)
5. COP CARS (Steel/Dangerfield)
6. NEW GUITAR IN TOWN (Plain/Stride)
7. BRICKFIELD NIGHTS (Steel/Dangerfield)
8. WORM SONG (Trad Arr The Boys)
9. TERMINAL LOVE (Plain) 
10. LIVIN’ IN THE CITY (Steel/Dangerfield)