Unable to secure a recording contract with any of the major labels, the band split up in 1982.Īfter the split, Lol Mason formed The Maisonettes and in 1983 had a top ten UK hit with " Heartache Avenue". Their final album, It's Personal from 1981, failed to attract any attention. The soft rock track "Speechless" made the band briefly popular in the Philippines. The remaining members of the group went on to release their next album, Heads Are Rolling, as a quartet in 1980. In December 1979, original members Broughton and Dunn parted ways with the band. However, this album would prove to be the last album with the six man lineup. They continued to tour heavily in Europe, the US and Canada. The album marked an early recording appearance by Huey Lewis, who played harmonica on the second track, "It's Only the End of the World". Their first album under this new deal, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, received strong reviews and produced a minor hit with the title song. In 1979, City Boy parted ways with their US label, Mercury Records, and signed with Atlantic Records for the US and Canada. In support of this album, they toured extensively in Europe and the United States, where they played 66 gigs, 56 of which were with Hall & Oates. Billboard Hot 100, and was a major hit in many European territories. Before the next album, Book Early, Roy Ward became the band's permanent drummer and fortuitously Book Early yielded the international hit single, "5.7.0.5.", which reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Despite showing commercial growth this album also failed to supply the hit single they needed. 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. Very English.but very strange." However, chart success still eluded them. The NME 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. Their first national tour saw them open for labelmates Thin Lizzy.Ĭity Boy's follow up album, Dinner At The Ritz, garnered powerful reviews. Their next single, "The Hap-Ki-Do Kid" earned them an appearance on BBC's Top Of The Pops, where they became the first act to ever perform 'live' on the show. "Shake My Head and Leave", City Boy's first single off their eponymously titled debut album, was released in 1975 and received decent airplay.
Lange became the de facto seventh member of the band, helping Chris Dunn hone his bass guitar skills and assisting with vocal arrangements.
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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.Ĭity 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.
The four of them toured the folk clubs for a while, until around late '74/early '75, when they made the decision to turn electric and added Mike Slamer (guitar) and Roger Kent (drums) to the lineup. Soon thereafter they enlisted Lol Mason's friend, Max Thomas, to play 12 string guitar and bongos. At one of these clubs they met ragtime guitarist Chris Dunn, who immediately became a third member. In the early 1970s, Lol and Steve started playing for beers in a few acoustic clubs around the Midlands. They remained best friends throughout the years and started writing and recording their early songs in their mid to late teens. Lol Mason and Steve Broughton (Lunt) met at 7 years of age, at school in Birmingham. 1978, left-to-right: Max Thomas, Chris Dunn, Lol Mason, Steve Broughton, Mike Slamer, Roy Ward
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