Finally back at home in NYC. I can finally announce the Cloudberry Cake new release! It is by the superb 80s Swedish band Alfie!!!
There will be new info on the website no later than this weekend. Need to organize myself. But I have to say that the new CDs look amazing!!!
Check the blog for more info next week too!
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Another band I tried to interview last year, 2020, was the Scottish band The Boy Hairdressers.
I was in touch with Joe McAlinden who would be in the BMX Bandits, Nom, Superstar, The Groovy Little Numbers as well as having a solo career. From what I understand his first band was the Boy Hairdressers and I thought we had to start his story with this band, hopefully later on we’d learn more about the other bands.
It didn’t happen. Maybe I sent to many questions? Maybe life got in the way. Things happen. But I would still like to do a little more investigation and research about this band. I also know some people that are only discovering indiepop are reading the blog, so bands like The Boy Hairdressers, who might be known to many, are also unknown to many!
The band featured Francis MacDonald, Jim Lambie, Norman Blake, Joe McAlinden and Raymond McGinley. Royalty for Scottish pop.
MacDonald would be in so many fantastic bands afterwards, Astro Chimp, BMX Bandits, Cheeky Monkey, Nice Man & The Bad Boys, Speedboat, Speeder, Teenage Fanclub, The Radio Sweethearts, among others. A solo career too.
Lambie was in Playing Soldiers and also released records under his name. He is now of course a world-renowned visual artist.
Raymond McGinley was in Astro Chimp, Snowgoose and Teenage Fanclub.
Norman Blake was in Teenage Fanclub, The Famous Monsters, The New Mendicants, The Reindeer Section, The Pastels, BMX Bandits, and more. A solo career as well.
So yes, they become well known names. But probably back in 1987 when they were in The Boy Hairdressers they weren’t that famous?
In 1987 the band released their one and only record, the “Golden Shower” 12″ on Stephen Pastel’s label 53rd & 3rd (AGARR 12T). This record had the band photo on the cover, printed in black and white, while on the back we find the same photo with a posterize effect. Norman is credited for vocals and guitar. Francis MacDonald for drums. Raymond on guitar. Joe McAliden on bass guitar and violin. Jim Lambie on vibraphone.
Three songs were on this record. “Golden Shower” of course was the A side. The B side had “Tidalwave” and “The Assumption as an Elevator”.
Back then, in 1988, the band contributed “Assumption as an Elevator” to the compilation “Take 5” that was released by Backs Records on LP (Shelter 4). In 1992 the same song would be included in Avalanche Records’ compilation “53rd & 3rd Records – Fun While it Lasted: (ONLY 006). This one was released on LP, and then in 1998 in CD>
Avalanche Records would release another compilation featuring releases on their label, “53rd & 3rd Records Present – Agarr Retro (Fun While it Lasted Part II)”. ON this record, released in 2000, the band had the song “Golden Shower”. It came out on CD and vinyl with catalog number ONLY 16.
2006. Castle Music and Sanctuary Records releases “CD86 – 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop” (CMEDD1420). On this double CD compilation the song included is “Golden Shower”.
Lastly the band would appear on a few of Cherry Red box sets. First in 2013’s “Scared to Get Happy (A Story of Indie-Pop 1980-1989)” with “Tidalwave” and then in 2016 on the triple CD boxset “C87” with the song “Golden Shower”.
What else there is about them? There is a nice version of Joe McAlinden solo of “Golden Shower“. I guess that’s what inspired me to interview him. You can find it in his Facebook.
The other good find comes from Youtube. There there is a song that wasn’t included in the single. It is called “Don’t Need a Drum” and from what I understand it came from a 4-track demo from 1987. You wonder if there are even more unreleased tracks!
I look on Last.fm if there has been any scrobbles of other rare tracks. A track called “The Flying Helmet” appears. Who knows. Anyone has any information about this song? Another song that I see is called “Heavy Metal”…
Another thing I find online is that it mentions that Paul Quinn (Bourgie Bourgie) was at some point part of the band. Is that right?
And that’s all I could find. Strange for a band that featured so many well-known names. You’d expect interviews about this period of their music career. Or at least many blog posts. But nothing really. So here I am trying to do the right thing. And maybe some of you can help fill in the blanks with your memories!
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One Response to “:: The Boy Hairdressers”
Heavy Metal and Don’t Need a Drum were releases on early Teenage Fanclub albums. I have an early demo which is listed Magic Helmet, not Flying Helmet. The BMX Bandits Mother Nature was another Boy Hairdressers demo