The Soft Boys

The Soft Boys were a rock band led by Robyn Hitchcock primarily during the 1970s,[2] whose initially old-fashioned music style of psychedelic/folk-rock[3] became part of the neo-psychedelia scene with the release of Underwater Moonlight.[4]

The Soft Boys
Background information
OriginCambridge, England
GenresPost-punk, neo-psychedelia, new wave[1]
Years active1976–1981, 1994, 2001–2003
LabelsTwo Crabs, Armageddon, Matador
Associated actsKatrina and the Waves, Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians
Past membersRobyn Hitchcock
Morris Windsor
Andy Metcalfe
Rob Lamb
Alan Davies
Kimberley Rew
Matthew Seligman (deceased)

The band formed in 1976 in Cambridge, England as Dennis and the Experts comprising Robyn Hitchcock (guitar), Rob Lamb (half-brother of radio host and author Charlie Gillett) guitar, Andy Metcalfe (bass), and Morris Windsor (drums). Alan Davies replaced Lamb after only four gigs late in 1976, and Kimberley Rew eventually replaced Davies. Matthew Seligman replaced Metcalfe in 1979.[5]

The band broke up in 1981 after Underwater Moonlight. Rew formed the more mainstream pop group Katrina and the Waves, while Hitchcock went on to a prolific career with a similar whimsical, surrealistic style.[5]

They briefly re-formed for a UK tour in 1994 and then again in 2001 for the 20th anniversary of Underwater Moonlight and the release of a new album, Nextdoorland (in 2002). They disbanded once again in 2003.

Seligman died in 2020 of complications from COVID-19.[6][7]

Discography

Albums

Compilation and live albums
  • Two Halves for the Price of One (1981) (Studio rarities and live tracks)
  • Live at the Portland Arms (cassette, 1983; LP, 1988)
  • Invisible Hits (1983)
  • Wading Through a Ventilator (EP) (1984) (Contains Give It To The Soft Boys EP, plus extra tracks)
  • Raw Cuts (EP) (1989) (A retitled version of Wading Through a Ventilator)
  • 1976-81 (2 CD) (1993) (Best-of, plus rarities, out-takes and live tracks)
  • Where Are The Prawns (cassette, 1994)
  • Underwater Moonlight... And How It Got There (2 CD) (2001) (Contains all of Underwater Moonlight, plus an additional disc of demos, rehearsals, and out-takes)

Singles and EPs
  • Give It To The Soft Boys 7" EP: "Wading Through a Ventilator" b/w "The Face of Death" and "Hear My Brane" (1977)
  • "(I Want to Be An) Anglepoise Lamp" b/w "Fatman's Son" (1978)
  • Near the Soft Boys 7" EP: "Kingdom of Love" b/w "Vegetable Man" & "Strange" (1980)
  • "I Wanna Destroy You" b/w "Old Pervert" (1980)
  • "Only the Stones Remain" b/w "The Asking Tree" (1981)
  • "Love Poisoning" (1982)
  • "He's a Reptile" b/w "Song No. 4" (1983)
  • "The Face of Death" b/w "The Yodelling Hoover" (1989)
  • Side Three (CD EP) (2002)

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.

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References
  1. "Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians".
  2. Denise Sullivan. "Robyn Hitchcock | AllMusic". Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  3. Denise Sullivan. "The Soft Boys | AllMusic". Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Underwater Moonlight - The Soft Boys | AllMusic". Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  5. Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 1108. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  6. Irwin, Corey. "Bassist Matthew Seligman Dead of COVID-19". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  7. Crowley, James (18 April 2020). "Musicians Mourn the Loss of Soft Boys, David Bowie Bassist Matthew Seligman". Newsweek. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
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