I don’t know what possessed me in 1976 to check out the first album by British rock group City Boy, but I’m really glad I did. It certainly wasn’t the album cover or song titles – see my article in Issue 223, “Judging Albums by Their Covers.” At the time, my musical focus was almost exclusively on progressive rock, and City Boy was not in that genre. Various web entries call their music “art rock” or “pop,” but it doesn’t fit neatly into any particular category.
The band featured two Birmingham vocalists/songwriters who had been friends from an early age, Steve Broughton and Lawrence Edward “Lol” Mason. Their initial work together was more acoustic folk than rock. They gradually added Chris Dunn on guitar and Max Thomas on 12-string guitar. After a period where they toured folk clubs under names like Sons of Doloyne and Back in the Band, they changed direction to become electric rockers when they brought in guitarist Mike Slamer and drummer Roger Kent. At this point, Dunn became the bass player and Thomas switched to keyboards.
They got the attention of A&R scouts at Vertigo Records, who gave them a recording contract. South African Robert John “Mutt” Lange produced their first five albums. He would go on to a distinguished producing career, counting albums by artists such as Shania Twain (whom he would wed), AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bryan Adams, and The Cars among his achievements.
City Boy’s self-titled debut album didn’t exactly catch fire, but it featured well-crafted pop/rock compositions full of wit and sophistication. Tight musicianship and imaginative vocal arrangements show up in nearly every track. Song titles such as “Surgery Hours (Doctor, Doctor)” and “Oddball Dance” hint at the humor to be found in the lyrics.
When a band has two lead vocalists, it can be tough to figure out which one is singing which line. On the first album, they solved that by printing Lol Mason’s lines in bold type to match his photo credit as opposed to Steve Broughton’s being in plain text. Most of their albums indicated who sang which songs or lines in a variety of ways (such as color-coding or direct attribution).
“Sunset Boulevard” is a masterful distillation of Norma Desmond’s sad portrayal of an aging film star in the movie of the same name.
Other standouts include “Deadly Delicious,” “5,000 years/Don’t know can’t tell,” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”
Dinner at the Ritz came out in 1977, and featured a harder rock sound. Despite some very positive reviews, the album didn’t take off. “Momma’s Boy” has some heavy riffing from guitarist Mike Slamer.
“Narcissus” is done in 3/4 time and is one of the heavier songs on the album. Here’s the chorus:
“Don’t need no audience round me, I’m fond of my own company
Who wants the birds and the bees when I’ve always got me up my sleeve
Who said that no man’s an island surrounded by nothing but sea
I tell you he’s wrong and misguided I stand here surrounded by me.”
Original drummer Roger Kent left the group following Dinner at the Ritz and was replaced by American session drummer Tony Braunagel for Young Men Gone West, their third album. Braunagel would go on to play with Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, and a host of blues artists, among many others. The album finds the band in top form with an expanded sense of humor. “Dear Jean (I’m Nervous)” relates a schoolboy crush in a far more clever way than, say, Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher.” The song also has one of my favorite guitar solos at 1:44.
“The Man Who Ate His Car” keeps the humor coming, with a chorus that sings:
“They said he couldn’t digest it, but he just went ahead and undressed it,
Mechanic in a panic, oh what a state, he ate his meal full of steel from a plate.”
After Young Men Gone West, Roy Ward took over the drum stool and stayed with the group until their breakup. Sadly, commercial success was still eluding the band. Their fourth studio album changed that a little. Book Early yielded a chart hit in 1978 with “5.7.0.5.” If you’ve heard anything by City Boy, it’s probably this song.
The uptempo “Cigarettes” is a standout track that has elements of the Kansas sound, along with more great guitar work.
“Summer in the Schoolyard” is a nostalgic look back at junior high in the early ‘60s.
“Moving in Circles” blends fine vocal arrangements and strings with a crunchy guitar riff.
Following the release of Book Early, City Boy left the Vertigo/Mercury label to sign with Atlantic Records. This time the band went with a concept album about the end of the world. The Day the Earth Caught Fire is arguably their masterpiece, with lush production and top-notch tracks. It was the first of their albums to be engineered by Tim Friese-Greene (who would go on to produce their next record). It was also the last to be produced by Mutt Lange. Although the title track garnered some airplay, once again City Boy failed to break through. Despite some touring success as an opener for artists such as Hall & Oates, the lack of recognition took its toll.
“Interrupted Melody” tells the tale of a young woman falling into prostitution. There’s a nice guitar solo at 4:07 and vocals that hint at David Bowie (especially at 3:09).
“Ambition” is the album’s magnum opus, a four-part composition clocking in at over 12 minutes. It opens with acoustic guitar and strings, before a reggae beat takes over. The backing vocals are exceptional, and the song goes in many different directions. Try listening to the section that begins at 6:41 and find the downbeat before the full band comes in. There’s even a sly nod or two to the Bee Gees at 7:53 and 8:09.
Heads are Rolling, also on Atlantic Records, marked the beginning of the end for City Boy. Founding vocalist Steve Broughton and bassist Chris Dunn had left the band. Now performing as a quartet (with guitarist Mike Slamer playing bass as well), they lacked the apparently invaluable input of producer Lange and the other members. The compositions seem uninspired. A couple of tracks (“Mr. Shoes” and “Speechless”) inexplicably caught on in the Philippines and were released as singles there.
For my taste, the only track that stands with the earlier material is “Life on the Balcony.”
The band released their sixth and final album, It’s Personal, in 1981 without the support of a major label. Slamer (now using the spelling “Slammer”) produced the album with a new engineer. The album cover itself seems to point to the dearth of ideas.
“The Blind Leading the Blind” is a fairly generic reggae-style composition, albeit with some nice saxophone.
The uptempo “Lovers” is one of the better tracks, featuring a lot of guitar.
Renaissance Records has reissued all six albums along with an anthology disc. A rumored reunion never took place, but several of the members continued creating music. Mike (back to one “m”) Slamer teamed up in the early 1980s with ex-Kansas vocalist/keyboardist Steve Walsh and well-traveled bassist/vocalist Billy Greer for two albums by the band Streets. “If Love Should Go” is a great hard rock track with a hot solo.
Slamer and Greer later formed Seventh Key, another hard rock entity. Here’s “You Cross the Line” from their 2004 album, The Raging Fire. It was produced, engineered, and mixed by Slamer.
Another project from Slamer was Steelhouse Lane. Although not listed as a band member, he is credited with all guitars, bass, keyboards, and programming on their album Slaves of the New World. “Addicted” is a fine track from the 1998 album Metallic Blue, on which he played all guitars.
In 2006, the album Nowhere Land was released under the name Slamer with vocalist Terry Brock. The guitar work is smoking on “Not in Love.” One of the comments on YouTube said, “Mike Slamer is the most underrated guitarist of the century.”
Original City Boy vocalist Steve Broughton moved to the United States, doing songwriting and producing before landing as VP of A&R at Jive records, where he had a hand in the careers of Britney Spears and N’SYNC. Lol Mason, the other vocalist in City Boy, had a one-off hit in England with “Heartache Avenue” by his band the Maisonettes. He then went into scriptwriting for radio productions, but passed away in 2019. Bassist Chris Dunn managed a recording studio in London and founded an audio equipment rental company with operations in England and America. Drummer Roy Ward formed a band called Tokyo Charm. I couldn’t find any information on keyboardist Max Thomas.
Header image: City Boy promotional photo. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Cdtheduck.
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