Punk Diary: 1970-1989
1994
by George Gimarc
Monday, December 31, 1973 (p. 9)
The Symptoms are playing their last-ever gig. Tonight's farewell show is opening up for Chilli Will And The Red Hot Peppers (Phil "Snakefinger" Lithman's band) at the London, British Council. They've been playing together for about two years under various names. For a while they were The Plums, their drummer Patrick "Patch" Fisher had them appear as Patchwork Quilt once, their drummer Simon suggested Four Ascetic Young Gentlemen, and their bassist Martin Stanway-Mayers came up with The Symptoms. The only problem is that at their farewell appearance their name is spelled incorrectly as the "Symptons". The guitarist-vocalist Robyn Hitchcock will later front the influential band The Soft Boys and later have a solo career of some repute in the '80s and '90s.
Wednesday, October 13, 1976 (p. 38)
Robyn Hitchcock finds himself fronting a band called Dennis And The Experts. Robyn himself is cast in the lead role as "Dennis", while the "Experts" are Rob Lamb, Andy Metcalf and Maurice Windsor. They play a few originals of Robyn's and some covers by artists like Little Feat, Steely Dan, and select bits of David Bowie. While Punk is screaming on in London, Robyn is stuck in Cambridge playing what he later described as "sedate hippie gibberish". The group would only be a brief stopping place on the way to becoming The Soft Boys, with quite a different style.
Saturday, November 27, 1976 (p. 41)
Robyn Hitchcock announced to the crowd onstage tonight in Cambridge, "We're The Soft Boys." It's a new direction for the group that was only hours ago calling itself "Dennis And The Experts". The new name comes from the title of a song that Robyn recently made up in rehearsal called "Give It To The Soft Boys". Rob Lamb left the group when he felt the band was getting to be too scrappy. The Soft Boys are Robyn Hitchcock on lead vocals and guitar, Maurice Windsor on drums, Andy Metcalfe on bass, and new guitarist Alan "Wangbo" Davies (who takes departing Rob's place). Why the name The Soft Boys? Robyn explains, "I'd had this concept of this thing called "The Soft Boys" -- like a William Burroughs amalgam. Soft Machine and The Wild Boys. The implications were, kind of, homoerotic and seedy: kind of, crawling, bloodless, colorless things that crawled around like filleted human jellyfish around the corridors of power. Soft Boys controlled things, but they had no spine. Basically, insidious people. And basically, that's what we were."
Monday, October 10, 1977 (p. 88)
The Soft Boys, a Cambridge-based band, have their debut EP released on Raw Records. The Soft Boys were formed out of the convergence of Andy Metcalfe and Robyn Hitchcock when Andy auditioned Robyn for a position as vocalist in a White Soul combo that became Dennis And The Experts back in 1976. The band then reformed with Kimberley Rew brought in on guitar and Morris Windsor on drums. A song that Robyn wrote called "Give It To The Soft Boys" gave the band their name. Their EP has the tracks "Wading Through A Ventilator", "The Face Of Death", and "Hear My Brane". All of the songs are Soft Boys originals. The other tracks from the sessions, "The Yodelling Hoover", "Vyra Knowl Is A Headbanger", and "Give It To The Soft Boys" are all left unissued until 1984.
Friday, May 26, 1978 (p. 129)
Soft Boys have their second 45 -- "(I Want To Be An) Anglepoise Lamp" -- released by Radar Records. It's backed with "Fatman's Son", both Robyn Hitchcock compositions. The Cambridge-based group is lead singer Robyn Hitchcock' along with Andy Metcalfe, Morris Windsor, Jim Melton, and Kimberley Rew. Hitchcock has been in bands for many years.
Sunday, February 4, 1979 (p. 169)
The Soft Boys have left Radar Records on the eve of the release of their debut album, when Radar decided that the recording for The Day They Ate Brick was too bad to release. Their single, "Anglepoise Lamp", was out last May. But their album will have to wait until they get their own record company, Two Crabs Music, together next month.
Tuesday, April 24, 1979 (p. 185)
The Soft Boys celebrate the release of 2,500 copies of their debut album A
Can Of Bees. It's a collection of eight studio tracks and three live recordings. Robyn Hitchcock has written a group of unlikely titles -- such as "Leppo and The Jooves", "Sandra's Having Her Brain Out", "The Rat's Prayer", "Do The Chisel", and "The Pigworker". The live tracks include a cover of Lennon's "Cold Turkey". The album is a re-recorded version of the album rejected by Radar a few months ago. Before settling on A Can Of Bees, the LP was briefly called Heat Me Up, And Tell Me You're Happy. A major tour follows today's release.
Friday, September 7, 1979 (p. 219)
The Soft Boys debut their new lineup. Bassist Andy Metcalfe left to join Telephone Bill & The Smooth Operators, eventually joining Squeeze. He is replaced by ex-Bruce Wooley Band member Matthew Seligman. Drummer Jim Melton left to start his own band and is having his duties heaped on drummer Morris Windsor. The Soft Boys are again a four-piece group.
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