BOYS WONDER TO REFORM FOR LONDON SHOWS

Iconic underground sensation Boys Wonder are set to regroup for 2 special London shows in celebration of the release of their ‘lost’ album “Question Everything” which is released on October 11th (details below)

The legendary 5-piece will be treading the boards at the Temple Of Music & Arts on October 2nd and the good old 100 Club on Oct 23.

Featuring the quintessential line-up of twins Ben Addison (vocals) and Scott Addison (guitar), Tony Barber (bass), Graham Jones and Pascal Consoli (drums) these gigs will undoubtedly showcase what the pop world missed first time around when Boys Wonder crashed onto the scene in the mid 80s. With a look and musical style that was just too ahead of its time they have often been described as ‘Britpop before Britpop’. The Boys Wonder sound combined perfect pop choruses with a high-fashion boot-boy image and barbed, laugh-out-loud lyrics: Queen meets the Sex Pistols. Had Boys Wonder appeared in 1995 on the cusp of the aforementioned Britpop, their career might have been different.

So, at last, in 2024 on October 11th  will see the launch of “Question Everything”. Lovingly released on the Scared Hitless label, it will be available digitally, on vinyl and 22 track CD.  “Question Everything” is a diverse collection of material from the various stages of the band’s career – more than half of which are demos, as the band only ever released three singles. It is, for all intent and purposes, their first album.

See Boys Wonder at the following venues, and bring your friends!

Interview with Ben Addison:

Since the inception of the band in 1987 Boys Wonder have been heaped with praise and plaudits for their energetic outlandish live performances and before its time indie pop guitar smashes. How did the band form back in the 80’s?

Ben: it was 1985 when we got the ball rolling. The first T shirt has 1986 printed on it. Scott and I met Graham Jones with Haircut 100 and we did a UK tour as backing singers. After which we ‘recruited’ Graham as lead guitarist, and auditioned Pascal Consoli as drummer. The first couple of gigs had Les Nemes (Haircuts) on bass, followed by Chris Tate and then we auditioned Tony Barber who somehow already knew all the songs note perfect. We weren’t ‘Indie’ at all, quite the opposite- we wanted to sell loud commercial records.

Who were the bands musical influences at the time?

Ben: We were influenced by everything we thought was cool, which was and is very diverse. From Beatles to Sex Pistols, Sinatra to Pilot, Queen to Tom Jones, T-Rex, Roxy Music, Lionel Bart, the Monkees, Bowie, Rogers and Hammerstein, and much more. We avoided as much as possible what any contemporaries were doing.

Who or what influenced the bands attire at the time? Poka Dot Shirts, Massive Ties, New Romantic type outfits and words written over shirts etc…

Ben: Vivian Westwood’s Seditionaries, Leigh Bowery, Rachel Auburn, Carnaby St tailors, Bodymap, Teddy Boy drape jackets, James Coburn suits, Bay City Rollers trousers and more. We avoided looking like contemporaries too.

How did the bands material come to fruition. Was it Ben and Scott working together mostly?

Ben: Yes. That’s where the diversity of ideas came from. Graham’s ‘Steve Jones’ guitar sound was a big inspiration, as was Pascal’s drumming. We jammed around but worked best with specific ideas.

I want ask specifically about a number of songs and their influences and creation if you can remember:

Shine On Me- Sex Pistols, Sergio Mendes, Bruce Springsteen and more. Madness’s producers were somewhat forced upon us (I wanted Marco Pirroni) so the added strings, piano and sax made it bigger I guess, but less tough.

Goodbye Jimmy Dean- The Who, Laura Nyro/the 5th Dimension, Rainbow and more. Produced by Pat Collier (RIP)- probably our best produced release.

Now What Earthman- Beach Boys, Slade, T-Rex and more. Produced by Andy Paley: a Beach Boys disciple and fun guy.

I’ve Never Been To Mayfair- As with most songs, this was worked out first on Dad’s piano, parts were established with the band in rehearsal, then recorded. This demo was with Mark Dawson at Golddust studios and Pascal played hi hat and cymbals over programmed drums.

How did the band sign to Sire Records?

Ben: We were recommended to Seymour Stein by an interested London label Countdown records. Stein compared us to the Cyrkle- Paul Simon’s first band. Stein was chiefly interested in I’ve never been to Mayfair but I persuaded him to let us release two rock singles first.

You appeared on the much lauded comedy programme Saturday Live. How did this TV appearance come about?

Ben: Someone cancelled. It was last minute, but we were ready for anything. We were subsequently complimented by Ben Elton, Harry Enfield and the MD of the South London Gospel Choir (I think) which was nice.

The likes of Jonathan Ross and Vic Reeves have heaped praise on the band for their live performances and sometimes chaotic surroundings. Was there any great plan to cause mischief or did things just naturally happen in and around stage time?

Ben: We performed with energy and confidence, as is the only way. Things happened naturally. At ULU (supported by Seymour/Blur) someone was throwing glasses at the (fairly high) stage. As the guy’s aim got better I wanted revenge and dived into the audience to find him. But didn’t. There was never any violence at our shows, just energy.

Are there any specific stand out live gigs that stick in the memory?

All were enjoyable but I remember a French festival which included the Gypsy Kings – we enjoyed speculating what their Spanish lyrics were, regarding their name. Vic Reeves came with us and did some documentary bits on film, including Tony dressed as British policeman, directing traffic in a Calais Hyper market car park.

We played a goth festival in Nottingham with the Fields of the Nephilim, who had covered themselves with talcum powder.

And a Mod alldayer that featured an ailing but capable Steve Marriott. We tended to stick out from a lot of bills we were on, like a bikers event in Birmingham, where everybody wanted to hate us for our appearance but they got off on the music.

That night we had (of course) a curry, where we had to pay before the food came.

And of course both shows introduced by Jonathan Ross and Vic Reeves.

Why did the band eventually call it a day? 

Ben: Another band wanted to poach Graham, Tony and Pascal. The other band’s manager offered them a wage, which was generally more than we could offer, so I didn’t blame them for that. But I was disappointed that they all believed we would never find out about it, which we obviously did. In time, Scott and I took on Richard Searle & Steve Macguire (Dr & the Medics) and Rory Lyons (King Kurt) and carried on with differing styles of writing. The others never stopped playing and recording with all sorts of acts. I have no idea what might have happened if we hadn’t split.

Fast forward to 2024 and the bands first official album Question Everything is on the verge of being released. Why release the album now?

Ben: Why not? It’s taken this long to avoid the huge fees to licence the few tracks we released and the ownership of these, the publishing and our own demos by any label is questionable, long after the standard 25 year contracts have ended.

Did some of the unreleased material come out of the woodwork on dat/cassette tapes?

Ben: Cassettes yes. DAT wasn’t invented at the time. Some were from demo studio recordings and some from Graham’s portable Fostex 4 track recorder.

Were all of the original band members involved in the release?

Ben: Well everyone obviously needed to be notified and asked if a show to promote the record would be possible, which fortunately is the case. But i’ve generally overseen the various processes involved: sleeve, mastering, etc.

Are there any plans to play any lives dates, who are in the live band line up and will the eyebrows make a reappearance?

Ben: We have London’s Temple of Arts and music Oct 2nd and the 100 Club Oct 23rd.

Finally, are Oasis supporting Boys Wonder on any live dates?

Ben: Nice question, thanks. No. And we’re only charging 25 quid a ticket.

 

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