City Boy were an English rock band formed in the mid-1970s. They were originally called Sons of Doloyne, then Back in the Band, and finally City Boy. They featured strong melodies, clever lyrics, complex vocal arrangements, and heavy guitars. The band consisted of Lol Mason (lead vocals), Steve Broughton (lead vocals, guitar), Max Thomas (keyboards, vocals), Chris Dunn (bass, acoustic guitar), Roger Kent (drums), Mike Slamer (lead guitar), and later, Roy Ward (drums, vocals). Their most popular songs were "5.7.0.5.", "What a Night", "The Day the Earth Caught Fire", and "Speechless".

History

thumb|alt=City Boy lineup|City Boy lineup, ca. 1978, left-to-right: Max Thomas, Chris Dunn, Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Mike Slamer, Roy Ward

Lol Mason and Steve Broughton (Lunt) met at 7 years of age, at school in Birmingham. They remained friends throughout the years and started writing and recording their early songs in their mid to late teens. In the early 1970s, Mason and Broughton started playing in a few acoustic clubs around the Midlands. At one of these clubs they met guitarist Chris Dunn, who became a third member. Soon thereafter they enlisted Lol Mason's friend, Max Thomas, to play 12-string guitar and bongos. The four of them toured the folk clubs for a while, until around late 1974/early 1975, when they made the decision to turn electric and added Mike Slamer (guitar) and Roger Kent (drums) to the lineup. Soon afterwards they secured a recording contract with Vertigo, a new sub-label of Phonogram Records, and changed their name from Back in the Band, to City Boy.

City Boy's first five albums were produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who was recommended to them by Phonogram A&R guy Chris Peers, and their debut album entitled City Boy, was the first full album that Mutt produced after relocating to the UK from South Africa. Lange became the de facto seventh member of the band, helping Chris Dunn hone his bass guitar skills and assisting with vocal arrangements. "Shake My Head and Leave", City Boy's first single off their eponymously titled debut album, was released in 1975. Their next single, "The Hap-Kido Kid" earned them an appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops.

City Boy's follow up album, Dinner at the Ritz, garnered a positive review from the NME, which wrote, "Not even the highest ballyhoo of praise could do justice to City Boy's masterwork, Dinner At The Ritz...you hear a composing style which has been influenced by, respectfully, Lennon and McCartney, novelist Ian Fleming, and Noel Coward. Very English...but very strange."

Chart success, however, still eluded City Boy. Roger Kent left the band before their third album, Young Men Gone West, and was temporarily replaced, for immediate recording purposes, by session drummer and ex-Crawler member, Tony Braunagel. Despite showing commercial growth this album also failed to supply the hit single they needed. Before the next album, Book Early, Roy Ward became the band's permanent drummer. Book Early yielded the international hit single, "5.7.0.5.", which reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.

Steve Broughton (Lunt) moved to New York and became a songwriter and producer, under the names Stephen Broughton Lunt and Steve Lunt. He co-wrote Cyndi Lauper's hits "She Bop" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", which was written for the Steven Spielberg movie, The Goonies.

After Jive Records, Steve Broughton went on to work as Vice President of A&R at Atlantic Records, where he produced and developed the career of the best selling a cappella group, Straight No Chaser. Broughton recently won 3 awards at the Independent Music Awards in New York, for his writing and production work on Seth Glier's fifth album, Birds.

Mike Slamer went on to record and work as a session musician and staff composer after a stint with American band Streets fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh in the early to mid-1980s. They recorded two albums for Atlantic Records, 1st and Crimes in Mind. Later with bass player Billy Greer (ex-Streets and ex-Kansas), he formed the band Seventh Key.

Chris Dunn moved back to the UK in 1982 and worked for Zomba on various projects including the Shape Up And Dance roadshow, and was personal manager to Jive Records artists Tight Fit, who had a number one hit with the remake of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", where Roy Ward was also lead session singer.

Roy Ward went on to release a remake of Del Shannon's "Runaway" under his band name Tokyo Charm in 1982.

! width="40"|<small>AUS</small><br>

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| rowspan="2"| 1976

| align="left"| City Boy

| 177

| —

|-

| align="left"| Dinner at the Ritz

| 170

| —

|-

| 1977

| align="left"| Young Men Gone West

| —

| —

|-

| 1978

| align="left"| Book Early

| 115

| 68

|-

| 1979

| align="left"| The Day the Earth Caught Fire

| —

| —

|-

| 1980

| align="left"| Heads Are Rolling

| —

| —

|-

| 1981

| align="left"| It's Personal

| —

| —

|-

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

|}

Compilation albums

  • Anthology (2001)
  • Anthology (2008)
  • Ten Best (2015)
  • BBC Live (2015)

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" colspan="4"| Peak chart positions

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! style="width:40px;"| <small>UK</small><br>

! style="width:40px;"| <small>US</small><br>

References

  • Detailed discography