The Soft Boys

Last updated
The Soft Boys
Softboyspic.jpg
From left to right: Kimberley Rew, Robyn Hitchcock, Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor
Background information
Origin Cambridge, England
Genres
Years active1976–1981, 1994, 2001–2003
LabelsTwo Crabs, Armageddon, Matador
Past members Robyn Hitchcock
Morris Windsor
Andy Metcalfe
Rob Lamb
Alan Davies
Kimberley Rew
Matthew Seligman (deceased)

The Soft Boys were an English rock band led by guitarist Robyn Hitchcock

Contents

The band formed in 1976 in Cambridge, England and released two albums before disbanding in 1981. [3] Though The Soft Boys’ initial career was brief, their style of psychedelic music and retro folk-rock had a big influence on the development of jangle pop, indie rock, and neo-psychedelia during the 1980s and beyond. [4] [5]

Early band history

The Soft Boys formed in 1976 in Cambridge, England, initially calling themselves Dennis and the Experts. Their first lineup comprised Robyn Hitchcock on guitar, Rob Lamb (half-brother of radio host and author Charlie Gillett) on guitar, Andy Metcalfe on bass, and Morris Windsor on drums. [6] Alan Davies replaced Lamb after only four gigs in late 1976, and Kimberley Rew eventually replaced Davies. [6] It was this lineup of Hitchcock, Rew, Metcalfe, and Windsor that recorded The Soft Boys debut album, A Can of Bees, released 1979.

Matthew Seligman replaced Metcalfe on bass in 1979. [7] The band broke up in 1981 after the release of their second album, Underwater Moonlight .

Post-Soft Boys and reunions

Rew formed the more mainstream pop group Katrina and the Waves. Hitchcock went on to a prolific career with a similar whimsical, surrealistic style. [7] In 1984, he formed Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians with fellow Soft Boys Morris Windsor and Andy Metcalfe and went on to tour and record for ten years. They were briefly joined by Rew and Seligman in a re-formed Soft Boys for a UK tour in 1994 to mark the release of a box set of their work. They reformed again in 2001 without Metcalfe for the 20th anniversary of Underwater Moonlight and the release of a new album, 2002’s Nextdoorland. They disbanded once again in 2003.

Seligman died in 2020 of complications from COVID-19. [8] [9]

Discography

Albums

Compilation and live albums

Singles and EPs

An album financed by Radar Records was recorded at Rockfield Studios in 1978, at the same time Rush was recording Hemispheres there. The resultant album was never released, although one or two of the tracks have had subsequent release as part of compilations.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katrina and the Waves</span> British-American rock band

Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Hitchcock</span> English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the influential Underwater Moonlight, Hitchcock launched a prolific solo career. His musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett, Captain Beefheart, Martin Carthy, Lou Reed, Roger McGuinn and Bryan Ferry.

Kimberley Charles Rew is an English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was a member of Katrina and the Waves from 1981 to 1999 and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys from 1978 to 1981. For Katrina and the Waves, he wrote "Walking on Sunshine" and "Love Shine a Light". The latter was performed as the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, taking the country to its first victory in the contest since 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Vibrators</span> British punk rock band

The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976.

<i>Fegmania!</i> 1985 album by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Fegmania! is the fourth studio album by Robyn Hitchcock and his first with his backing band The Egyptians.

<i>Underwater Moonlight</i> 1980 album by the Soft Boys

Underwater Moonlight is the second studio album by English rock band the Soft Boys, released in June 1980 by record label Armageddon.

<i>I Often Dream of Trains</i> 1984 album by Robyn Hitchcock

I Often Dream of Trains is the third album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 1984. It is Hitchcock's first acoustic-based album.

<i>Black Snake Diamond Röle</i> 1981 album by Robyn Hitchcock

Black Snake Dîamond Röle is the debut solo album by former Soft Boys frontman Robyn Hitchcock.

<i>Gotta Let This Hen Out!</i> 1985 live album by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Gotta Let This Hen Out! is a live recording of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians recorded in April 1985, shortly after the group had come together for Fegmania!.

<i>Element of Light</i> 1986 album by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Element of Light is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and his second with his backing band, the Egyptians. It was released in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Keegan</span> English singer, songwriter and guitarist

Tim Keegan is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. Vocalist and principal songwriter with Departure Lounge since 1999, Keegan has recorded and performed with various bands and as a solo artist. He has worked with a number of musicians including Robyn Hitchcock; he can be seen in Jonathan Demme's film about Hitchcock, Storefront Hitchcock – and played guitar on the Blue Aeroplanes' Rough Music album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Barbeau</span> American singer-songwriter

Anton Barbeau is an American psychedelic singer-songwriter and producer from Sacramento, California. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums, synthesizers, and Mellotron.

<i>Olé! Tarantula</i> 2006 album by Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3

Olé! Tarantula is the fifteenth studio album by Robyn Hitchcock, recorded with Peter Buck of R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Rieflin of Ministry. Together, they are known as Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus 3. It was recorded in Seattle, Washington, in 2006, the same year of its release.

<i>Jewels for Sophia</i> 1999 album by Robyn Hitchcock

Jewels for Sophia is the twelfth studio album by Robyn Hitchcock, released on Warner Records in 1999.

Andy Metcalfe is an English bassist, keyboardist, and producer, who played mainly with The Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians (1984–1994), and with Squeeze off and on during the period 1985–1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Seligman</span> British musician (1955–2020)

Matthew Seligman was an English bassist, best known for his association with the new wave music scene of the 1980s. Seligman was a member of the Soft Boys and the Thompson Twins, and was a sideman for Thomas Dolby. Seligman was also a member of Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club and the Dolphin Brothers, and backed David Bowie during his performance at Live Aid in 1985.

<i>Give It to the Thoth Boys – Live Oddities</i> 1993 live album by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians

Give It to the Thoth Boys – Live Oddities is a live recording of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians recorded in 1991 and 1992 at various locations. It was released on cassette only and sold on the Respect tour in 1993. It was compiled by Andy Metcalfe from soundboard tapes done by the band themselves. There is a companion cassette released of the reformed Soft Boys tour called "Where Are The Prawns?".

<i>A Can of Bees</i> 1979 album by the Soft Boys

A Can of Bees is the 1979 debut album by English rock band The Soft Boys. The album was reissued in 1984 with a different track listing on the second side. Both versions of Side 2 appear on the CD reissue first put out by Two Crabs in 1990, subsequently reissued by Rykodisc in 1992, and released again by Yep Roc in 2010.

<i>Propellor Time</i> 2010 album by Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3

Propellor Time is the seventeenth studio album by Robyn Hitchcock, the third and last recorded with The Venus 3. It was released in 2010 via Yep Roc.

<i>The Bible of Bop</i> 1982 EP by Kimberley Rew

The Bible of Bop is a mini-album and the first solo release by English guitarist and songwriter Kimberley Rew, released in 1982. It mostly consists of tracks taken from three singles Rew released through indie label Armageddon between 1980 and 1982: two under his own name, backed by members of the dB's and the Soft Boys; and one as part of the Waves. In 2010, the album was reissued on CD for the first time on the CGB label with three bonus tracks.

References

  1. ↑ "The Soft Boys | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians". Warr.org. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Denise Sullivan. "Robyn Hitchcock". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Denise Sullivan. "The Soft Boys". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  5. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Underwater Moonlight - The Soft Boys". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  6. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 261/2. ISBN   0-85112-579-4.
  7. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 1108. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  8. ↑ Irwin, Corey (18 April 2020). "Bassist Matthew Seligman Dead of COVID-19". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Crowley, James (18 April 2020). "Musicians Mourn the Loss of Soft Boys, David Bowie Bassist Matthew Seligman". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.