London Cowboys

Biography

The London Cowboys were based around Dior & Jones who in 1976 were an integral part of London’s fledgling punk scene. They’d loosely rehearsed with Chrissie Hynde and Keith Levene and others until Barry started co-promoting the first 100 days of The Roxy Club, booking the bands and designing the flyers. His teenage pal Steve came down to see the Heartbreakers on a pre-opening gig and fell in with the band. When Jerry Nolan left the Heartbreakers in August ’77, he formed The Idols with Steve a...

The London Cowboys were based around Dior & Jones who in 1976 were an integral part of London’s fledgling punk scene. They’d loosely rehearsed with Chrissie Hynde and Keith Levene and others until Barry started co-promoting the first 100 days of The Roxy Club, booking the bands and designing the flyers. His teenage pal Steve came down to see the Heartbreakers on a pre-opening gig and fell in with the band. When Jerry Nolan left the Heartbreakers in August ’77, he formed The Idols with Steve and Barry; soon moving to New York where Arthur Kane completed the line-up.

The Idols recorded demos in London for Track Records and made waves in New York, releasing a single on Ork Records. When Sid Vicious came to NY, the Idols were his first choice of backup band (documented on the CDs and in Steve’s notes in ‘Sid Lives’, FREUDCD095), but planned recordings with Sid never got to happen. The Idols folded in 1979 when Jerry had work-permit problems getting back into the UK. Barry then got a job with Max’s Kansas City; Steve rehearsed with Jones & Cook’s Professionals.

The first incarnation of London Cowboys was in 1981, Steve together with the Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock and singer Russell King, issuing a couple of singles in France, the Krautrock-influenced It Never Ends and the goth-tinged Shunting On the Night Shift. But when it came to an album, Steve fell out with King and brought back Jones and Nolan who both had returned to the UK, taking over vocals himself and steering the band back towards a more punk and rock 'n' roll influenced sound. The band continued for many years with Dior & Jones as the nucleus, with the Matlock/Nolan rhythm section substituted according to availability – amongst others Tony James, Pete Farndon and Terry Chimes filled those positions. Albums ‘Animal Pleasure’, ‘Tall In The Saddle’ (the entirety of each were later compiled to the CD retrospective 'The Underdog Recordings') and ‘On Stage’ (eventually reissued on the Wow Wow Oui Oui compilation that also featured highlights from the two studio albums) Skydog gave them good success through Europe, along with the singles Street Full of Soul and Dance Crazy.

Later in the 80’s, the Cowboys’ brand of rock’n’roll found favour with major record co executives – bands such as Guns & Roses and Billy Idol had proved their dollar worth. The Cowboys went to LA, and MCA signed them with big plans that never materialised; then Chrysalis courted them. But no releases came out of that period, until now!

In mid ’86 Jerry Nolan, Barry Jones and Glen Matlock teamed up together with Johnny Thunders, for a tour of the world through to 1987. Johnny had guested on an unreleased Cowboys session; after he died Steve teamed up with Sylvain for a tribute song. Steve & Barry must be the only musicians who’ve played with both four band members of the New York Dolls and four members of the Sex Pistols!

Barry stayed in LA, working as an artist. Steve worked with LA Guns and Filthy Lucre, then took a break from music for a while but is back with a new band, The Delinquents.

www.myspace.com/londoncowboys
www.centralelements.com/barryjones
www.myspace.com/5delinquents
www.jungle-records.com

FREUDCD094Release date: September 8th 2008
LONDON COWBOYS
‘Relapse’

LONDON COWBOYS have a double-CD retrospective of their work – disc one is the ‘Best Of’ and disc two is all previously unreleased or rarities. It features 4 NY Dolls:- Jerry Nolan, Arthur Kane, Sylvain Sylvain & Johnny Thunders; plus Glen Matlock, Terry Chimes, Tony James, Pete Farndon - and many others!

London Cowboys’ core duo Steve Dior & Barry Jones were integral to the early UK punk scene, hanging out and playing music amongst that small underground fashion crowd. In 1976 Barry became partner, booker and artist for the now legendary Roxy Club. His mate Steve was the teenage NY Dolls fan who got to meet his heroes.

When Jerry Nolan left the Heartbreakers unhappy with the ‘L.A.M.F.’ mixes, he immediately formed The Idols with Steve & Barry, ending up in New York where they were joined by Arthur Kane and enjoyed a spell as Sid Vicious’s backing band. A 7” was issued on the trendy Ork label. Over time The Idols evolved into the London Cowboys, with Glen Matlock on bass. The rhythm section went through many changes, encompassing numerous punk luminaries. They had considerable success in France with 3 albums on Underdog/Skydog Records, and gigged regularly in the UK, Europe & Japan.

By the mid-80’s they’d decamped to LA and were signed by MCA, but corporate takeovers thwarted any releases. Then they started working with Chrysalis, until the EMI takeover ended that relationship. Much of the disc 2 unreleased sessions come from those undocumented periods.

An essential history lesson for all students of the punk-rock scene, the 2-disc set includes a 16-page booklet with notes by Steve Dior and Peter Gravelle.

Disc 1: THE BEST OF: 1. Dance Crazy, 2. Hook Line and Sinker, 3. Blue Murder, 4. Animal Pleasure, 5. Wow Wow Oui Oui, 6. Design for living, 7. Underworld USA, 8. Bleed Me, 9. Courtesan, 10. Centrefold, 11. Saigon, 12. Reggae Cop, 13. Going Through The Motions, Bonus IDOLS single:- 14. Girl That I Love, 15. You.
Disc 2: UNRELEASED & RARE: 1. Hollywood, 2. Overrated, 3. Comeback, 4. Better Still, 5. Dragging in the dirt, 6. After Midnight, 7. Overloaded, 8. Countdown Love #1, 9. Heavy Heart, 10. After A Fashion, 11. Riding Shotgun, 12. Backfires, 13. Without Your Love, 14. Countdown Love #2, Bonus IDOLS demos:- 15. Too Right Wing, 16. Bigger Splash

FREUD CD 094 (2xCD) Release date: Sept 15th 08
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