The Soft Boys were an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band led by guitarist

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) 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 ...

. The band formed in 1976 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England and released two albums before disbanding in 1981. Though the Soft Boys’ initial career was brief, their style of

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

and retro folk-rock had a big influence on the development of

jangle pop Jangle pop is a Music subgenre, subgenre of pop rock and college rock that emphasizes jangle, jangly guitars and 1960s-style pop music, pop melodies. The "jangly" guitar sound is characterized by its clean, shimmering and Arpeggio, arpeggiated ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, and

neo-psychedelia Neo-psychedelia is a genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the music production approaches and songwriting of 1960s psychedelia, either exploring emulations of the sounds of the era or applying its ethos to new styles of music ...

during the 1980s and beyond.

Early band history

The Soft Boys formed in 1976 in

Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...

, initially calling themselves Dennis and the Experts. Their first lineup comprised Hitchcock on guitar, Rob Lamb (half-brother of radio host and author

Charlie Gillett Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...

) on guitar,

Andy Metcalfe Andy Metcalfe (born 3 March 1956, Bristol, England) is an English bassist, keyboardist, and producer, who played mainly with The Soft Boys (with Robyn Hitchcock, 1976–1979), Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians (1984–1994), and with Squeeze ...

on bass, and Morris Windsor on drums. Alan Davies replaced Lamb after only four gigs in late 1976, and

Kimberley Rew Kimberley Charles Rew (born 3 December 1951) is an English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was a member of Katrina and the Waves from 1981 to 1999

eventually replaced Davies. It was this lineup of Hitchcock, Rew, Metcalfe, and Windsor that recorded the Soft Boys' debut album, ''

A Can of Bees ''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 19 ...

,'' released 1979.

Matthew Seligman Matthew Seligman (14 July 1955 – 17 April 2020) 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 ...

replaced Metcalfe on bass in 1979. The band broke up in 1981 after the release of their second album, ''

Underwater Moonlight ''Underwater Moonlight'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Soft Boys, released in June 1980 by record label Armageddon. The album received little critical notice and was a commercial failure, and the band split up a few months ...

''.

Post-Soft Boys and reunions

Rew formed the more mainstream pop group

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

. Hitchcock went on to a prolific career with a similar whimsical, surrealistic style. 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, Jim Melton and Seligman in a re-formed the Soft Boys for a UK tour in 1994 to mark the release of a box set of their work. They briefly came together 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 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (1979) *''

'' (1980) *''Nextdoorland'' (2002)

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-inch 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-inch EP: "Kingdom of Love" b/w "

Vegetable Man "Vegetable Man" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, written by the frontman, Syd Barrett, and recorded in 1967. It was considered for a release as a single or for inclusion on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'', but went unr ...

" & "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 Radar Records was a UK-based record label formed in late 1977 by Martin Davis (managing director) who had previously worked at United Artists Records, and Andrew Lauder, who had previously been head of A&R at the UK divisions of Liberty Recor ...

was recorded at Rockfield Studios in 1978, at the same time Rush was recording ''

Hemispheres Hemisphere may refer to: In geometry * Hemisphere (geometry), a half of a sphere As half of Earth or any spherical astronomical object * A hemispheres of Earth, hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphe ...

'' there. The resultant album was never released, although one or two of the tracks have had subsequent release as part of compilations.

References

External links

The Asking Tree
database of Soft Boys and Robyn Hitchcock live appearances and releases
The Glass HotelThe Soft Boys collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Soft Boys, The English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1980 Musical groups reestablished in 2001 Musical groups from Cambridge English alternative rock groups English neo-psychedelia groups Attic Records (Canada) artists Radar Records artists Rykodisc artists Matador Records artists