The Quireboys
The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. When the band formed they were originally known as The Queerboys and later as the London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at last with their current name. The band were successful during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their debut album "A Bit of What You Fancy" reaching No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. Their highest-charting single in the UK Singles Chart was with the song "Hey You". In 1993, the Quireboys broke up but  briefly reformed live in 1995 with a new drummer. A more permanent reformation came in 2001 when frontman Spike & Guy Griffin put together a new line-up. They have played many gigs across the world and the UK cross the years. Several albums have been produced their latest being a remix of the A Bit Of What You Fancy to mark the albums 30th anniversary. This was delayed due to covid, along with their Orchestral Quireboys 35th Anniversary concert, having been postponed several times is now scheduled for Sept 2022. In March 2022 the band announced they were parting ways  with Spike due to an untenable working relationship following years of internal issues and would be continuing as a five-piece. They have recently played sold-out shows in France & Sweden and  have a US Tour coming up in May History. Vocalist Jonathan Gray (commonly referred to as just 'Spike') moved from Newcastle upon Tyne to London when he was 17 years old. Spike met guitarist Guy Bailey in a bar, through his older sister Julie, the two moved in together as flatmates, but did not even discuss playing music until a year later, when a friend brought a guitar  round and they began playing Chuck Berry songs. By the mid-1980s, the two decided to form a rock and roll band, the name chosen for the group was originally 'The Choirboys' taken from the 1977 movie of the same name, but they soon changed it to the Queerboys. Gray and Bailey were joined by bassist Nigel Mogg (nephew of UFO's Phil Mogg), Chris Johnstone on piano and Paul Hornby, who had previously played drums with The Dogs D'Amour and with Pete Burns in the Liverpool group Nightmares in Wax. The Queerboys started to build up a following, playing at  the Marquee Club. The band's drummer Paul Hornby soon left to join Dogs D'Amour, which contained future friends of the Quireboys, he was replaced by Nick Connell (known as Cozy). Connell, Bailey, Johnstone and Mark Sweetmore were old friends, having grown up together and attended Alleynes School in Stone, Staffordshire in the 1970s. On 28 March 1986, The Queerboys appeared with Bernie Torme and The Moho Pack at what was Klub Foot at the Clarendon Hotel, Hammersmith. In May of that year, they played support dates on a Cherry Bombz tour. By 1987, the band's controversial name was  starting to hinder them, it caused some of the gigs on their tour with Andy McCoy's band to be cancelled. They were also booked to play Reading Festival, on the understanding that they would change their name. Thus they changed it to the Quireboys and have kept the name ever since. They released two singles via Survival Records, entitled "Mayfair" and "There She Goes Again". Another musician from Newcastle was brought in on rhythm guitar, and Ginger made his performing debut at the Hammersmith Odeon, where the band were supporting Guns N' Roses. At the end of 1989, the  band released the single "7 O'Clock", which entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Sharon Osbourne was appointed as manager and The Quireboys were signed to EMI for the release of their debut album, "A Bit of What You Fancy". By 1990, the Quireboys had fired Ginger (who went on to form The Wildhearts), who they replaced with former Cradle Snatchers / Feline Groove guitarist Guy Griffin. Griffin has remained with the band ever since. For the debut album, Cozy was substituted by Ian Wallace who played with Bob Dylan. The debut album was produced by Jim Cregan and  George Tutko at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. Ron Nevison mixed the album. The band entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 2. "A Bit of What You Fancy" drew positive reviews and was compared favourably to British rock names such as Rod Stewart and The Faces. In support of the debut, the Quireboys toured for the next year. They enlisted American drummer Rudy Richman and played with a variety of bands in different settings in the United States, including L.A. Guns, Soundgarden, The Cramps and Iggy Pop. After the tour, they also played some gigs in the United  Kingdom; in Spike's hometown of Newcastle where they supported The Rolling Stones at St James' Park. Two months after the Stones show, they played in front of 72,000 people at Monsters of Rock at Donington with Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Poison and Thunder. The long touring schedule was finished off with a gig in Japan at the Tokyo Dome on New Year's Eve in front of 50,000 people. A live album was released following this long touring, entitled "Live (Recorded Around the World)". They began working on the follow-up, "Bitter Sweet & Twisted", which was released in 1993; but the  birth of grunge changed the music scene and they were left behind. Axl Rose asked them to join the "Use Your Illusion Tour" with Guns N' Roses, and they followed the band for a while during their 1993 summer European tour. The band reformed for a number of concerts in the mid-1990s and found themselves with a loyal following. A new line-up recorded and released "This Is Rock'N'Roll" in 2001 and followed it with the moderately successful "Well Oiled" in 2004. On 12 May 2008, The Quireboys released their next album "Homewreckers & Heartbreakers" on the Jerkin Crocus label. Talking  about the inspiration for the new album, Paul Guerin said "It's a funny story. We were in Malmö, Sweden in the dressing room. It was just before the show and we'd had a few frothy quenchers. We were trying to come up with album titles, and everyone was laughing at the suggestions. A certain member of the band was regaling a story about something he'd done, and another member of the band said "you're just a home wrecker," and someone else said "yeah, and a heartbreaker". We were just having a laugh, and bang, there it  was. It was as simple as that." In 2010, three members of The Quireboys (Guerin, Griffin and Weir) teamed up with Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott, to record an album under the name Down 'n' Outz. Two singles were released, both of which are covers of Mott The Hoople songs: "England Rocks" (June 2010) and "Overnight Angels" (which reached No. 1 in the US Rock radio chart in January 2011). Down 'n' Outz supported Paul Rodgers on tour in April 2011. They subsequently recorded "The Further Adventures Of" and, in 2020, released "This is How We Roll", with all original  material. The album was awarded Best British Rock album by PlanetRock radio. In March 2013, The Quireboys played aboard the Monsters of Rock Cruise, along with bands such as Cinderella, Tesla, Kix, and Queensrÿche. The band released a new single "Too Much of a Good Thing" on 15 May 2013, taken from their seventh studio album, "Beautiful Curse", which was released a month later in June 2013. They have consistently released material since then with the albums "Black Eyed Sons" (2014), "St. Cecilia and the Gypsy Soul" (2015), "White Trash Blues" (2016) and "Twisted Love" (2017). In late 2021 they  supported The Dead Daisies on their UK Tour. In March 2022 the band announced they were parting ways with Spike due to an untenable working relationship following years of internal issues and would be continuing as a five-piece. They have recently played sold-out shows in France & Sweden and  have a US Tour coming up in May